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Islamophobia in europe essay
Islamophobia in europe essay
Impacts of stereotypes
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Shortly after the shootings on July 16, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, my father went to have dinner at a local restaurant in the town he had lived in for over 30 years. My father, with cleanly shaved brown skin, wore khaki pants and a short sleeve polo. While he was having dinner, a stranger walked up to him, and asked, “So, how many people have your people killed today?” Even though, my father is not Muslim, the stranger used “your people” to insinuate that my father was a Muslim and the shooters were his people. However, if I had gone to dinner that night instead of my father, I would not have received the same backlash that my father did because I would have been perceived as a Muslim woman. Western Islamophobia, and white racism carry …show more content…
The process of racializing Muslims has developed into two types of racism comparing “good” and “bad” Muslims through inclusivity and exclusivity. Meer claims that the “construct differentiated social collectivities as races,” which acknowledge the features of ideational, structural, and institutional racism. The racialization process of Muslims acknowledges the deeply embedded racial issues that are intertwined in a historical, structural, and geopolitical layout throughout the United …show more content…
Islamophobia has occurred because of anti-Muslim attitudes, and transformed into to deep cultural divides that depicts Muslims and people who are brown as outsiders and more specifically, terrorists, immigrants, and minorities—all of which have negative stigmas within the Western Hemisphere, and especially in the United States contemporary political debates. These discourses have created the framework that alienates those who are brown skinned on the basis of race. The concept of Islamophobia has been imposed on racial minorities, when “minorities should not be mixed up with faith communities…freedom of religion is not the same as minority rights.” Raymond Taras claims a valid point, by stating that individuals have the option to choose their faith, but racial categories are forced upon them without a freedom of choice. Furthermore, brown as a racial category is a socio-political identity that infringes upon the freedom of those who are brown by recognizing Islam as a culture instead of a
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much of the theology was based on the simple facts that: "Allah is god, the white man is the devil, and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic black people, the cream of the earth."(1) And, in accordance with their bizarre view of creation, involving a mad scientist creating the white race from the black race, the twentieth century represents the time for black people to regain their rightful position as god¹s chosen people. (1) The Nation of Islam was spawned from Orthodox Islam, an age-old religion. However, Orthodox Islam has openly denounced the NOI as a heretic sect for three main reasons: the NOI¹s rejection of the belief in an afterlife, its tendency to view human leaders as deified figures, and its strong racist attitudes. (2) For a brief time, during the seventies, Wallace Deen Muhammed became the leader of the NOI and tried to take it in a new direction, more conforming to "true Islamic beliefs." This group is now called the American Muslim Mission and still exists in small numbers today. (1) ...
... another post 9/11. Furthermore, through both Amaney Jamal excerpt Civil Liberties and the Otherization of Arab and Muslim Americans (chapter four), and Nadine Naber excerpt Arab Americans and U.S. Racial Formations (Introduction), we see just how this clash came about pre and post 9/11. That while the aftermath of 9/11 saw the rise in the racialization of Muslim and Arab Americans, we must not forget that these groups of people were not so much invisible due to the fact that America (i.e. “dominant mainstream” (Jamal 119)) has always viewed those they deem as “other” (i.e. minority) as inferior. Due to this framework, they have racialized any group of people that are not considered American as “other.” However (as stated) following an event like 9/11, the racialization of Muslims and Arabs Americans became perpetuated more so; and at an even more dangerous level.
Sherman Alexie’s Flight Patterns, which discusses racial stereotypes, relates to the effects of 9/11 on American citizens, who tend to inappropriately judge Muslim and other cultures in the world today. Although 9/11 was a horrible day, it still should not be used to categorize and stereotype people. Stereotypes do nothing but harm to the people who receive it and to the people who dish it out.
For example, Ahmed Mohammed from Irving,Texas, was arrested in his middle school for creating a ‘bomb’ as a project, when in reality he has built a clock. The young boy was abruptly introduced to the racial discrimination muslims undergo such as being called a ‘terrorist.’ The labelling of this kind, or even just the thought of it and assumption, not only teaches young people the strong cultural intolerance in the U.S. but also the impact such have in a certain community. Whether it is simply marked to offend in a school environment around children,or help carry out a racial hate crime, these labels if not used properly could become a weapon that tears communities apart and creates deep quarrels among people. The bad reputation this news received was so prominent and obvious, that Ahmed was later personally invited by President Obama to the White House to show his clock. However police reports later victimised themselves by setting that the child was creating on purpose, a ‘hoax bomb’ to terrorise his classmate and teachers. The labelling and hostility this innocent child suffered lead to more extreme measurements such as him requesting a school transfer, these ‘incidents’ may impact people further into their lives creating a correlation between their problems, and the racial discrimination they
Although the United States has taken a big step towards accomplishing King’s version of The American Dream, everyday many African Americans, immigrants and other minorities are stereotyped because of their race and ethnicities and are frequently subjected to discrimination and prejudice. Today, Muslims are one of the largest groups who face discrimination for their beliefs; in fact, they have a hard time practicing their religion freely because of society’s prejudgment of them. They are mostly stereotyped as terrorist because of the actions of some individuals such as the ISIS terrorist group. Another group that endures racial discrimination is African Americans. Blacks have been fighting for their freedom, equality, and justice for over two-hundred years; in fact, the fourteenth amendment granted them citizens’ rights as Americans. However, there are many blacks who are constantly treated unfairly because of the color of their skin and are often classified by society as ghetto and a menace. Furthermore, many often become victims of police brutality. For
Said explains how Muslims have been dehumanized and categorized as an inferior group (their superior being USA Christianity due to the ideological hegemony that our country enacts) and how this leads to seeing one’s self as the ‘other’ because of these circumstances. Said, just not in so many words, describes Du Bois’ double-consciousness while also bringing in Hall’s concept of encoding. The USA sees all Muslims as terrorists because of the actions of a few, and has even started a war, within and outside of its borders, against this religion. Not only has this occurred because of the stereotypes and prejudices placed upon Muslim people, but the media propaganda reinforces this viewpoint in such a way as to encourage it, as well. “Orientalism as a tool of power works to distribute knowledge, to control, to manipulate, and to incorporate notions of difference into the hegemony of Europe” (Garner 2014), simply by using these aspects of double-consciousness and encoding/decoding. The West is the creator of Orientalism in the sense that its power has influenced more than one society & those society’s views. Authority “is formed, irradiated, disseminated; it is instrumental, it is persuasive; it has status, it establishes canons of taste and value; it is virtually indistinguishable from certain ideas it dignifies as true, and from traditions, perceptions, and judgments it forms,
Charles M. Blow takes a passionate stance on the poor social treatment of Muslim Americans and Islam in his column “Anti-Muslim is Anti-American”. His use of direct and indirect, and quotations are powerful allies to his opinion, automatically refuting any argument contrary to his. The prevalence of negativity toward Muslim Americans shows a troubling trend of scapegoating the most controversial minority within the country. Blow points out the considerable Constitutional and legal issues that stem from anti-Islam rhetoric, namely within conservative groups.
In today’s world people judge others just by looking at them and making decisions based on their appearances and actions. Misconceptions are caused by making assumptions firsthand, receiving incorrect information from a source or seeing a few members from a specific group commit an action which is attributed to the whole group. Most of the assumptions made are almost incorrect because the people who judge do not follow through to see what the truth is regarding their observation. Misunderstandings are caused by how the spectator interprets the expression of the group causing confusion. These misunderstandings often times go viral and are sometimes even carried on from one generation to another. Several religious groups are often perceived in a different light than their true identity. American Muslims, followers of Islam, are one of the major groups who are victims to this mass misconception.
Segregation has and still affects perceptions of Blackness inside and outside the Black community by making Black people see themselves as White people see them. Many of Black people have accepted the fallacy that they were inferior to White people at a young age, and Whites learned that Blacks were lower then Whites at a young age as well.
In the years after 9/11, sentiment toward American Muslims has become hostile. In 2002, violence against Muslims in the United States went up an astonishing 1600 percent (Lean 3). Statistics give a good idea of the overall effect of 9/11 on Muslim violence, but narratives can provide a much more personal and compelling account. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers present a frightening (yet real) story of dramatic injustice against a Muslim Syrian American during Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, the main character, is profiled, embarrassed, and jailed unjustly. In the text, we see that islamophobia manifests itself in the form of violence and discrimination. Kathy, Zeitoun’s wife, even says in Zeitoun that “any trip to the grocery store or mall presented the
In relations to this article, I had recently seen a video made by Comedy Central’s Hasan Minhaj on how islamophobia targets America’s Sikh (non-Muslim) residents. In this video, Hasan randomly selects candidates on the street, he holds up a poster with four photos on it—a bird, binoculars, a Sikh man, and kids playing hide and go seek—then, he asks a simple question, “which one of these is a Sikh?” The first man points to the bird, meanwhile the second one points to the kids playing hide and go “seek”. Clearly, the media has had significant influence on how Muslims or should I say “terrorists” are portrayed throughout the United States of America. Media outlets have long instilled a fear of terrorism in American people without educating them; the portrayals of Muslims in the media have contributed to the construction of precarious Muslim stereotypes. I am baffled knowing some Americans accept everything they hear the media—they assume that a man wearing a turban with a beard automatically must mean that he is a Muslim, a terrorist or even
Racism and prejudice has been present in almost every civilization and society throughout history. Even though the world has progressed greatly in the last couple of decades, both socially and technologically, racism, hatred and prejudice still exists today, deeply embedded in old-fashioned, narrow-minded traditions and values.
Research has shown that all this is possible because of scientific racism and the specific characteristics of races. The troubled topic is something that would be better off, without. Works Cited Ali Rattansi, Racism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 14. Rattansi, Racism, 13-14. Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005), 5.
Islamophobia is a newly coined term that is used to describe the growing fear of Muslims or specific groups that are considered to be associated with Islam. As a new term, the validity of Islamophobia is still a subject of huge debate even as its causes and characteristics are also controversial. This term was coined to refer to the events in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in light of people’s attitudes towards Muslims and those associated with Islam. Actually, after the dust settled following the attacks, a new gesture of nationalism was witnessed across the United States and racism soon followed, which are usually faces to the same coin (Rose, 2013). In light of these developments on the question on whether Islamophobia is a form of racism has generated arguments and counter-arguments in support and opposition to the claim. People who consider Islamophobia as a form of racism have supported their argument through various reasons including the division and exclusion associated with the fear of Muslims. On the contrary, opponents have argued that Islamophobia is not a form of racism because of lack of a clear link between the term and racism as well as the fact that Islam is not a race but religion. An analysis of these arguments and counter-arguments reveals that Islamophobia is a form of racism, particularly cultural racism.
Islamophobia has become a new topic of interest among social sciences, political leaders and media commentators. People amongst society have developed this phobia towards Islamic religion and people. It has become a novel “form of racism in Europe and American based on discrimination ...