Ferry terminals in New York normally have cabs that line up to transport arriving passengers to their destinations, but on a website called "snopes.com" rumor had it that in the early hours of September 11, 2001, nearly no cabs were available which suggests that Middle Eastern cab drivers had gotten an advanced notice of the attacks and that they should keep away from the area that morning ("Snopes.com: No Taxis at WTC"). This claim of there not being any taxi cabs around The World Trade Center the morning of the attacks is absolutely false and ridiculous. The individuals saying these things are not only stereotyping cab drivers being Muslims but also assuming that they all have ties to radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda. In the …show more content…
Muslims Americans became the enemy in their own country overnight, not just because of a shortage of information, but also misinformation, and media reports sharing only the negative stories about Muslim-Americans. Just because a particular group of Islamic people act a certain way doesn 't mean that everyone who follows Islam acts in the same manor. People who believe that this is true judge all Muslims based on misconceptions, what they see in the media and lack of education on the religion. According to the article, "Islamophobia," the author Carl Coon simply defines what Islamophobia in America is. He explains, "Islamophobia is raising its ugly head in the US... it 's beginning to metastasize into a virulent form of xenophobia, an eruption of the atavistic human tendency to pick sides and then if necessary fight to the death for the side one chooses, and to not reason why." His explanation is precise and is exactly the case. Islamophobia is developed when individuals pick sides against Islam without knowing much about the religion and/or its followers. Having heard about Muslims through things such as media and other people is not a good enough source to help one in choosing a side to stand by in a situation like this. A little less than fourteen years later these misconceptions about Muslims are still popular in the southern states of America. In the movie, The Muslims Are Coming! a group of
Islamophobia, the term that was not very well-known before September 11, 2001, is now known to almost any individual of any age. After September 11th, islamophobia became a part of many Muslims’ daily lives (O’Connor “How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Not only did Muslims have trouble going through customs and security at the airports, but they also encountered islamophobia in their daily routine. Since September 11th, terrorist jokes became popular among many non-Muslim Americans who oftentimes did not understand the seriousness and the offensiveness of those jokes. Some found the “Muslim terrorist” stereotype to be somewhat justified and did not consider it to be as insulting as, for example, the representation of Black and Asian Americans in 1920s and 30s cartoons. However, the two are equally abusive and it is horrible to realize that in some ways, the American
After a horrible terroristic attack that shocked the whole world on September 11th in the center of New York City, Muslims in the Western world have been constantly fighting against prejudice. After September 11, media interest in Islam increased, where Islam was usually portrayed in a negative way. Before 9/11, many Muslims lived the normal, everyday life. However, the attack has changed lives of many people that belonged to the Muslim community, where they were the victims of guilt. Unfortunately, many Americans were introduced to Islam, after the 9/11 attack, thus even till today, Islam is associated with terrorism. For the past ten years, Muslims felt excluded from the American society by being rifled, attacked, discriminated, checked
In this tedtalk, Melissa Boigon, who studies Islam and its relationship to the Arab-Israeli conflict, talks about how Islamophobia has become more of a fear of Arabs over the last 10 years. She thinks that has to do with the connotation to terrorists groups such as Al-Qaeda, and the way middle east conflict is portrayed in The United States today. She also discusses how American Entertainment portrays Arabs, saying that it's propaganda in the form of entertainment.
Muslims are one of the most marginalized people in the U.S for their beliefs and their religion but after 9/11 discrimination and hate crimes against them had become even worse.Throughout the U.S people have been “Anti-Islam” and believed that the Muslim’s religion is absurd, want muslims to change their beliefs or, leave the country.According to “Anti-Islman Discourse in the United States in the Decade After 9/11:The Role of Social Conservatives and Cultural Politics”by David D.Belt on page 211-212, talks about how a post on Charisma News with an article title “Why I am Absolutely Islamophobic” was urging at the fact that Muslim-Americans needed to be deported as soon as possible ,or go under sterilization.Also Belt talks about one of Bush’s family friend being,Franklin Graham saying that he thinks the muslim’s religion is “very evil “and “wicked”.One last example a man named Gabriel had said Islam is the real enemy of America and that we supposedly “we will be doomed in war if we don’t realize it”. People are so brainwashed it honestly insane and very ignorant at the things people think about Muslims, its barbaric.They believe what Muslims believe in and their religion is wrong and they should switch to “Christianity” because it is the “American way “ or have them deported because the do not belong there and are “terrorist”.
Today one does not even have to wait for a movie to be released. Simply click the “ON” button on a remote and suddenly, thousands of news and television shows are available for one to enjoy. Muslims are also the target of prejudice in these news broadcasts and programs. One such television program released was a drama titled “24.” Issues and Controversies reports: “The show, which deals with a counterterrorism unit based in Los Angeles, featured a group of Muslim terrorist characters who were plotting to detonate nuclear weapons in the U.S. At the end of one episode, the terrorists successfully detonated a small bomb in a Los Angeles suburb, killing about 12,000 people” (“Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment”). This fictional show wrongly spreads the stereotypical image of Muslims and their clichéd image of the fundamentalists on 9/11. By adding the title and image of “Muslim” to the phrase “terrorist” the program wrongly advertised that potentially every Muslim could be a terrorist. This stereotypical image is similarly expressed in news broadcasts through the use of terrorism news. By increasingly using terrorism and Muslims in top
Although Islamophobia stems from religious differences and oppression today's it is present because way too many people have the perception that Muslims and anyone from the Middle East is a terrorist and has an evil agenda. "Although every Muslim is not a terrorist, every terrorist is a Muslim" (Gul,2011). This view of Islamic and Middle Eastern people is present for many reasons. One being how they are being portrayed in the media. Whenever something ISIS related is reported the views of non radical Islamic people are rarely shown and if it is it's a two or three minute segment (Obeidallah, 2014). Of all violent crimes committed in the US each year the crimes of Muslims are bring to public attention more than others yet they only account for 160 of thousands (cite). In most Hollywood movies you will find nothing but Muslims being portrayed as the assailant. Another cause for Islamophobia in our society is how the government portrays people in predominantly Islamic communities. The US is constantly in need of oil and many other natural resources that are in abundance in the Middle East. With someone these countries refusing to share for the proposed prices the US has waged war against them to gain control over these
The topic of Islamophobia is still a taboo for some people because they don’t want to admit that a form of discrimination is rapidly growing and is not truly frowned upon by most people. The truth is, is that Islamophobia is a big deal that most Americans won’t bring up. A good portion of our current Presidential candidates have the fear of Muslims. This shows that a good portion of the country is having the same discriminatory feelings that people had during the Civil Rights movement.
Islam is a monotheistic religion, centered around the teachings of the Qu’ran and serving Allah (meaning God in Arabic). However, this Abrahamic religion has been harshly discriminated against in the United States for years. Most prominently throughout the last twelve years, post September 11th, 2001. Unfortunately, issues such as socialization through the media, power distribution, religious ignorance, stereotyping and visible differences have contributed to the ill attitudes towards Muslims. This paper will examine how Americans have been socialized in islamophobia within the United States.
Islamophobia is the fear of Muslims, or the religion of Islam, according to BBC (2017). Some people blame all Muslims for terrorist attacks, that are caused by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Isis, and Boko Haram. These organizations allegedly follow Islam, I say they allegedly follow Islam, because if they had indeed studied Islam, they would understand that Islam is a religion of peace, not terrorism. The word “Islam” means submission to God’s will and obedience to God’s law. It derives from an old Arabic word meaning “peace”. (What is Islamophobia? – CBBC News Round. (2017, June 19).
Ultimately, Islamophobia is an issue that needs to be banned because it is causing discrimination against Muslims in the US based on their race and appearance and belief, it violates rights of Muslim-Americans and lastly, it sets a bad impression on the Muslims. Again, there are many Muslim men or women who have been discriminated because of how they look. Islamophobia is a serious issue because thousands of Muslims are being targeted every day by getting picked on and being discriminated. As a result, Muslim rights are being taken away from them because they are not allowed to attend specific places or do specific things. Thankfully, there are organizations who are aware of this issue and are aiming to solve it immediately, like CAIR. CAIR
Islamophobia is an exaggerated hatred towards, or fear, of Islam and Muslims or an ethnic group that is perceived to be Muslim. A phobia is an irrational fear. Some people say that it’s not irrational to fear Muslims. Many others say that this fear has led to prejudice against Muslims, who are unfairly judged by their religion and their race. It is said that the United States is responsible of islamophobia. Islamophobia existed before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but increase during the past decade. It has been estimated that 2.7 million Muslims lived in the United States as of year 2k11. 55 percent of those Muslims have found it difficult to live in the United States since 9/11 because of the way Muslims have been viewed by the Americans. 16 percent felt that their lives haven’t changed since the occurrence of 9/11, they have not faced or encountered any problems in their lives. Many Muslims report saying they don’t feel respected by those in the western countries. Post-reflective personal Islamophobia is a discrimination because the person believes that the ideas of Islam are lower-ranking to those of the West. About 52 percent of Americans and 48 percent of Canadians also say that the western countries don’t respect Muslims. Smaller percentages of Italian, French, German, and British also agree with Americans and Canadians. According to Alan Johnson, Islamophobia can also be nothing more than racism, “Wrapped in
American scholars sought to demonstrate that there was a divide between the Middle East and the west, between Muslims and Americans. It was also stressed that America was one of the leaders of western Culture and norms, while Muslims were the “others” interfering with western ways. Which is the baseline of the divide that leads to Islamophobia. These following American Historians define the binaries that separate Muslims from Americans, which adds to what they
“Islamophobia is prejudice towards discrimination against Muslims due to their religion, or perceived religion, national, or ethnic identity associated with Islam because Muslims have different beliefs and values”. (Islamophobia wikipedia 1) Like anti-semitism, racism, and homophobia. Islamophobia describes mentality and actions that domain an entire class of people. Jews, African-Americans, and other populations throughout history have faced prejudice and discrimination. Islamophobia is simply another reincarnation of this bigotry. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary,a phobia is an exaggerated, usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. It may be difficult to determine or communicate the source of this fear, but it exists. From this definition we can see how is so unfair to connect the word phobia to Islam specially because the word Islam in arabic means peace and safety. All that means that a lot of people don’t know nothings about Islam and the unknown can easily provoke fear.
Americans are saying that Islam goes against Americas way of life, thus disowning the Muslim culture. By simply rejecting the Muslim people, America is going against its fundamental ideal of unity that goes beyond any race, religion, and background. With many diverse cultures and religions in America, it is unrealistic to ostracize Islamists and deny them the right to live in a free country. Though time has elapsed since 9/11, Americans still view Muslims as a group that can never fully
In Oxford English Dictionary, Islamophobia is defined as “intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force, hostility or prejudice towards Muslims.” This term was first used in 20th century and had its’ own definition at 1970s. Particularly, after the 11 September events -which a radical Islamic group claimed its responsibility- in U.S.A. most of the non-Muslims in the world knew the Muslims with violence. The Berkeley Institute on Racism Studies says that Islam is often seen as a religion of violence which supports terrorism and has a violent political ideology. This perception of Islam is enlarging globally more and more because of some reasons such as terrorist attacks in non-Muslim countries, effect of media on the people, misunderstanding of Islam, and lack of the true representative