Introduction Imagine being scared to step foot outside your house and getting taunted on because of your color or being too scared to even step foot out of your house because your loved one just got killed the same reason you might. Well for Muslim Americans this was an everyday thing after the event 9/11. 9/11 is an event that even the new generation talks about and the only terrorist attack that killed thousands in the U.S. This event is still talked about and remembered but something that many Americans don't talk about and know was what happened to the Muslims after 9/11 and how hundreds of lives were taken all over America just because they were same ethnicity as them. In this essay I will go in depth on how Muslims were racially profiled …show more content…
Muslims have been discriminated since the mid 90’s and especially post 9/11 era. In this section I will explain the life of Muslim in the U.S and how Muslims have been and still are getting racially discriminated. There will be four major factors I will talk about in this section on racial profiling of muslims, which are before 9/11, after 9/11, the current lives of Muslims, and what we can do to help racial profiling on Muslims. Starting with how Muslim discrimination started even before 9/11. Many people think that racial profiling started happening to Muslims post 9/11 because of the modern movies that show racial profiling after 9/11 but that's false, racial profiling started happening in 1997 a year after the group Al Qaeda was formed. The name and title that was given to the muslims and the middle easterners is extremely racially profiled ever since the terrorist group was formed. The group was formed by a Usama Bin Laden who opposed the United States and many other countries for many reason, one being because of the country's ideological views. Bin Laden was not happy with all the racial views and freedom in other countries thus at the same time middle easterners started migrating to the U.S as refugees because of all the negative impacts Al Qaeda was doing to the Middle east. For example attacking small villages in Iraq, extremist views,forcement by the government. Not only that but because of the poor living conditions in the east like poverty, loss of water, deaths, and one of the biggest issues Muslim Feminism. Feminism was on a rise. This was the women wanting their independence and the time muslim women started rising and seeking for equality Jolls et al. quoted something similar in her article saying “Muslim American women were owning their ethnicity, while questioning
In the article “Modern-Day Witch Hunts”, Jamie Dailey focuses the attention on problems that Muslim Americans commonly face on a day-to-day basis. He first paints a picture by comparing the violent acts performed on Muslims to the Salem Witch trial in 1692. The Salem Witch trials resulted in 19 deaths of innocent individuals, because they were accused of witchcraft. Dailey goes on to explain in America, the type of persecution Muslims endure has many forms. A more recent controversy towards this religion involves the building of the Ground Zero Mosque in central New York. The name of this building is very misleading, especially to the eyes of an American. Even though this structure is actually built a few blocks away from where the former World Trade Center stood, problems have still risen from the public. Americans often mistake Muslims as the group of people who had performed acts of terrorism on American soil, when it was actually an Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Mosques all across the United States started being vandalized by people protesting against their religion. This article shows how irrational fear can corrupt the thoughts of people.
In this article, Kasam explains her experience being a Muslim American on a college campus and the challenges she her and fellow Muslims face on campus. She explains how she is a club leader at Quinnipiac University for a Muslim group. She claims that there is not a lot of Muslims who attend that University. She also believes that many Muslims at the school are afraid of coming out and telling other people on campus that they are Muslims; keeping a low profile. She provides statistics on hate crimes against Muslims around the world, and she also expresses her concern to her Muslim friends on campus. This article was published in the College Xpress for mainly college students to view. Kasam is a staff writer for the Quinnipiac Chronicle who mainly writes stories about incidents on and around Quinnipiac University. This article will help me explain the various problems that Muslim students around college campuses face
Imagine being discriminated anyplace you went, with glares from many and you haven’t done anything to receive those judgments. Muslim Americans in the U.S. have to deal with that discrimination every day post the events that happened on 9/11. Some take drastic measures such as changing their birth name, in hopes that they can avoid being judged by others. Muslim teenager Alisha, told her story that while visiting Six Flags with her family, an American man yelled at her father with the racial comment, “F**k you Osama!” She would also get asked offensive questions, like if she hated Jews too. People who engage in relationships with someone from the Muslim population are harassed for having a romantic affiliation with someone who they would call a “terrorist”. Along with getting called horrific names, many have become objects of suspicion.
The way Muslims have been treated after the 9/11 incident is very different than before. Before 9/11 there was certainly some discrimination towards Muslim Americans, but after the attacks happened, between the years 2000 and 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 1,700 percent increase of hate crimes against Muslim Americans (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). “While trying to adapt to the outcome of 9/11, Muslim Americans dealt with an increase in negative stereotypes spoken by the common culture, and Muslim immigrants faced more negative attitudes than any other immigrant group” (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). Since the 9/11 attacks, people who dress with a substantial resemblance to Muslims worry about the upcoming hatred and unfriendliness from people of other ethnicities (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). While listening to the media, one can hear reports of negative stereotypes towards people who resemble the Muslim religion, which may be assumed that these people are violent. Negative attitudes that Muslim Americans experience may have detrimental effects on their success in America and their success of achieving the American Dream.
Racial profiling has existed since biblical times, and is still present in today’s society. Recently in history we had the tragic terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. It did not take long for the fear of anyone from the Middle East to ripple through America. Wearing a turban in public would get people falsely accused of being violent terrorists. Over and over again, people foolishly stereotype and judge individuals based on their race or appearance.
...erica. As of now, they are the dealt the majority of it, however. African American, Hispanic Americans, and others are dealt their share, but Muslims seem to get the worst of it. This can be concluded simply because of 9/11. Post 9/11 left Muslims at the bottom of the totem pole and they were blamed for the events. People see Muslims in airports with bombs strapped to their chests weapons bursting from their luggage. Realistically this is not the case, and they are just ordinary people. The racism toward Muslims is potent and still very much present today. It is hard to believe that masses of American citizens are still judging others for events that occurred more than ten years ago. 9/11 is a day that will live in infamy in our nations history, those held responsible for the events have paid their dues, but the dust has yet to settle for countless others.
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
Islam is the religion that provides a complete code of life including social as well as personal spheres. Islam has been targeted by many stereotypes including extremism since last few decades. The reason behind these stereotypes are on some facts and to some extent widely propagated through media. Many people involved in criminal activities, get highlighted easily by media and catch the attention of general public if they are Muslims. A major role behind these stereotypes is played by the outcomes of the 9/11 attacks. Muslims have been targeted with stigmatization and other forms of racial discrimination. They have to face tight security at international airports. Employers have also been showing concerns or hesitation while hiring Muslims especially the immigrants. Many reasons beside 9/11 attacks behind Muslim stigmatization in United States have been in existence since many decades.
There will always be this kind of racism in the nation, and in all honesty, will keep on growing. Muslims nowadays are defending themselves against the crude and harsh racism in some parts of America; it is up to the point where Muslim kids aren’t even safe in an environment like school. Something we could do about this growing racism is to slow it down. What I mean by that is, we need to teach our children to respect the people around, Muslims in this case, spread awareness of it, either by digital or physical. The most important and easiest way to do this, though, is to report any of the racial injustices and anti-Muslim actions to a person of higher
“The political, social, and legal pressure on Muslim communities in the name of “national security” has created a new form of American legal exceptionalism” (Elver 139). Since Arab immigrants where viewed as potential terrorist threats they were legally placed under surveillance as they could be a “national security threat” (Elver 139). The government started ‘taking suspected terrorists in violation of the law off the streets and [kept] them locked up” (Elver 140). These individuals who where taken into custody were targeted because the government was going after “Muslim-looking” people.” (Elver 144). By incarcerating Arab immigrants, the United States government as well as some citizens, thought they would be safe from terrorism. A few weeks following the attack on the Twin Towers, there was a survey that found Americans believed “Arab and Muslim Americans should be profiled and targeted for surveillance and interrogation in the name of national security” (Cook 3).
I found the reading for this very interesting! When I arrived to the US in 2004 I didn’t speak any English, but the first significant event I learned about was what occurred on 9/11 and the racial profiling that occurred after. What I wasn’t aware of was the hate crimes that occurred with such frequency against South Asians that had no affiliations with the individuals who were actually responsible for it. In Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire after 9/11, Marr’s points out how after the occurrence of 9/11, hate crimes increased by a whopping 1,600% and so did the harassment, profiling, and surveillance of those considered “Muslim”, South Asian, and Arab.
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
Post September 11, 2001 the life of a Muslim women living in America changed forever. Islamophobia is the prejudice against Islam or Muslims. Islamophobia is not a new concept, it has roots hundreds of years ago, however after 9/11 it became much more prevalent in America. Following 9/11 Western media used Islam and Muslim women who covered to inflict fear in American citizens. Western media framed Islam as a dangerous and hateful religion that needed to be stopped. At the same time the media became obsessed with Muslim women who veiled and wanted to save these women from their oppression. However, these articles written about the oppressed Muslim women did not feature Muslim women and their experiences veiling. They were not given a voice
...lim violence mentioned in class lectures include a taxi cab driver in NYC who identified himself as a Muslim and was shot dead by the passenger, four pieces of construction equipment was destroyed at a future mosque site in Tennessee also in Tennessee, a pipe bomb went off in a mosque in Jacksonville killing somewhere around 60 people. This is only a few example of the many hate crimes committed against Muslims in the United States. Muslims not only face hate crimes in the U.S., but all over the world today which is particularly disturbing in the U.S. which has a Constitution that states all citizens are free to practice their own religion, but clearly as of late, this is not true for Muslim Americans.
September 11, 2001 forever changed the landscape of the generalized view of the Muslim community in the United States; these acts created a defining stereotypical image that all Muslim’s are extreme terrorists, or condone such behavior. Although this view of the Muslim community was not necessarily new, it was not widely acknowledged in America until the events of September 11th as it was continually thrust upon the public by print and news media. This study will discuss the dichotomy between representations of the Muslim community held by many in the Western culture as well as the psychological cause and effect of such depictions. The sociological “norms” as determined by popular American culture, the development of “terrorist” stereotypes through modern media, and the cause and effect postcolonial literature has had on the subject are all topics that will be evaluated. The objective of this research is to provide enhanced comprehension of the situational attitudes held by Muslims and Americans alike. Also, this will offer an educated understanding of the gap between what is believed and what is factual, in hopes of creating emphasis for the need of a new approach in creating a discrimination free partnership with the Muslim community while maintaining awareness and security.