Causes of Psychological Trauma and Its Effects on Young Arab Americans Post 9/11

1061 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of hate crime

According to the report of FBI(2000), the number of anti-islamic hate crime incidents prior the terrorist attacks were 28. In the immediate year after 9/11, 481 incidents were reported against the Muslims and Arabs(FBI 2002). The hate crime statistics of FBI conforms a staggering increase of 1617 percent in such a short period of time. The Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) reported that over 700 violent incidents were ruthlessly targeted against Arab Americans within the first 9 weeks after the 9/11(Ibish 2003). These incidents included physical violence, death threats, harassment, mockery ,hate mails and many others. Suddenly, an unknown society was brought into the negative spotlight due to the actions of a handful of people. Several cases of discrimination were being recorded increasingly. Government's actions such as detentions and deportations were immensely growing. The racial identity of a community was the main basis to direct the mass deportations. Muslims and Arab societies became the center of focus for the media to negatively stereotype(Hamza and Yaseen 2009).

Such activities tends to be associated to cause psychological trauma, mental illness and behavioral changes. The vast psychological effect of such activities was seen on the young Arab-Americans, including children.

Muslims and Arab American students have faced intense hate crimes in their schools. These hate crimes were reported from college to high school students and even children. According to the congress, hate crime is defined as, “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation”(FBI.gov). These hate crimes were targeted to ...

... middle of paper ...

...a to the young Arab Americans.

Works Cited

FBI. Hate crime reports of 2000, 2002 and 2010. Retrieved from

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes/overview

M. K. Hamza, Niveen Yaseen, Ashraf F. El-Houbi, Betty Duncan, Carlos Diaz: The Psychology of Media Bias and Its Impact on Arab-American and Muslim Psyche The Arab Journal of Psychiatry (2009) Vol. 20 No 1 Page (18 -33)

Rabby, Faisal. Post 9-11 U.S. Muslim Labor Market Outcomes. Bonn:IZA, 2009. Print.

Ibish, I. (2003). Report on hate crimes and discrimination against Arab Americans: The post-September 11 backlash, September 11, 2001– October 11, 2002. Washington, DC: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Ibish, I. (2008). Report on hate crimes and discrimination against Arab Americans, 2003-2007. 2008 Washington, DC: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Show More
Related

  • Muslim American Women On Campus By Shabana Mir

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Life of a Muslim in the U.S. after 9/11

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    On September 11, 2001, since the terrorist attacks, many American Muslims have been stereotyped negatively in the United States. Salma, a Muslim woman, says that the way Muslims have been recognized in the media has played a big role in the antagonisms directed to her. “I don’t know how many time I heard my classmates accuse me of being al-Qaeda or a terrorist” (Mayton 2013). Salma, along with other Muslims, even after a decade, are still struggling with trying to find their “American” and “Islamic” identities, while facing verbal attacks for their ethnicity. Too often, the general Muslin population gets lumped in with the immoral acts of a few because of the lack of knowledge about their culture.

    Read More

  • People Wearing Turbans are Stereotyped as Terrorist

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stereotyping of Arab Muslims in the New York Times for the Past Forty Years

    3581 Words  | 8 Pages

    Has the New York Times negatively stereotyped Arab Muslims for the past forty years? The goal of this research project is to reveal the negative stereotypes directed towards Arab Muslims in the New York Times. The critical focus of the research is the consistency of the negative stereotypes. The underlying focus is what theoretical and historical effects result from the negative stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Racial Stereotypes In Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns?

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Post 9/11 Racial Profiling of Muslim Americans

    2655 Words  | 6 Pages

    For a second, the U.S. stood still. Looking up at the towers, one can only imagine the calm before the storm in the moment when thousands of pounds of steel went hurdling into its once smooth, glassy frame. People ran around screaming and rubble fell as the massive metal structure folded in on itself like an accordion. Wounded and limping from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, America carried on, not without anger and fear against a group of innocent Americans, Muslim Americans. Nietzsche’s error of imaginary cause is present in the treatment of Muslim Americans since 9/11 through prejudice in the media, disregard of Muslim civil liberties, racial profiling, violence, disrespect, and the lack of truthful public information about Islam. In this case, the imaginary cause against Muslims is terrorism. The wound has healed in the heart of the U.S. but the aching throb of terrorism continues to distress citizens every day.

    Read More

  • Profile of a Hate Crime Offender

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term hate crime first appeared in the late 1980’s as a way of understanding a racial incident in the Howard Beach section of New York City, in which a black man was killed while attempting to evade a violent mob of white teenagers, shouting racial epithets. Although widely used by the federal government of the United States, the media, and researchers in the field, the term is somewhat misleading because it suggests incorrectly that hatred is invariably a distinguishing characteristic of this type of crime. While it is true that many hate crimes involve intense animosity toward the victim, many others do not. Conversely, many crimes involving hatred between the offender and the victim are not ‘hate crimes’ in the sense intended here. For example an assault that arises out of a dispute between two white, male co-workers who compete for a promotion might involve intense hatred, even though it is not based on any racial or religious differences... ...

    Read More

  • American Stereotypes of Immigrants

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shaheen, Jack. “The Media’s Image of Arabs.” Writing on the River. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw,

    Read More

  • The Problems with Hate Crime Legislation

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the topic of hate and bias crime legislation is brought up two justifications commonly come to mind. In her article entitled “Why Liberals Should Hate ‘Hate Crime Legislation” author Heidi M. Hurd discusses the courts and states views that those who commit hate and bias crimes ought to be more severely punished. She takes into consideration both sides of the argument to determine the validity of each but ultimately ends the article in hopes to have persuaded the reader into understanding and agreeing with her view that laws concerning the punishment of hate and bias laws should not be codified. Hate crime is described as a violent, prejudice crime that occurs when a victim is targeted because of their membership in a specific group. The types of crime can vary from physical assault, vandalism, harassment or hate speech. Throughout the article Hurd tried to defend her view and explain why there should be no difference of punishment for similar crimes no matter the reason behind it. Her reason behind her article came from the law that President Obama signed in 2009 declaring that crimes committed with hatred or prejudice should have more sever punishments. While the court has their own views to justify their reasoning behind such decisions, in the article Hurd brings up points and facts to prove the wrongfulness of creating such a law. However, though Hurd has made her views clear in the following essay I will discuss reasons why the penalties are justifiable, why they should receive the same degree of punishment, less punishment and my personal view on the topic.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Stigma for Muslim Americans Post 9/11

    2518 Words  | 6 Pages

    Muslim children face high level of discrimination at their schools as they are welcomed with negative comments about their religion by the children of other religions. Though abnormal but normally Muslim students are labeled as Terrorists and they are often verbally coerced and mocked to migrate back to their native countries. The overall conclusion can be drawn as the study that United States suffered a lot during the attacks of 9/11 but the ones who are still facing the aftermath of that incident are the Muslims around the globe and especially those present in United States. Various reasons other than 9/11 attacks behind Muslim stigmatization around globe include stereotyping against Muslims in terms of non-flexibility, uncommon culture, simple life style and aggressive behavior.

    Read More

  • Arab Immigrants: A Rhetorical Analysis

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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).

    Read More

  • Hate Crimes Must Be Punished

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is not to say that neo-Nazis or skinheads do not partake in criminal hate activities. By far the largest determinant of hate crimes is racial bias, with African Americans the group at greatest risk. In 1996, 60%, were promulgated because of race, with close to two-thirds (62%) targeting African Americans. Furthermore, the type of crime committed against this group has not changed much since the 19th century; it still includes bombing and vandalizing churches, burning crosses on home lawns, and murder. Ethnic minorities often become targets of hate crimes because they are perceived to be new to the country even if their families have been here for generations, or simply because they are seen as different from the mainstream population.

    Read More

  • Arab American Stereotypes

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the most difficult problems Arab American youth face is the stereotype that all Arabs are terrorists. Most are depicted as villains, evil, having bad behavior, or the enemy in many movies, television shows, and cartoons. Many people assume that women and girls who cover their hair with the traditional scarves called hajib are forced to wear them when in actuality it is a personal choice.

    Read More

  • Comparing Zoroastrianism and Christianity

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Media Bias

    2488 Words  | 5 Pages

    Media bias is any stereotype set forth by the media that portrays individuals to society in a certain way. Media bias doesn?t even have to be a negative portrayal, but more of an inaccurate portrayal of people that helps aid to the ignorance of individuals in society. In the following paper, I will give specific instances where media biases have occurred as well as show that it is a common occurrence that we may not realize. I will also show you why individuals believe that media bias is not a problem because if you can?t blatantly recognize it, how can it be there. I will also show how stereotypes set forth by the media sometimes mirror stereotypes that are set forth by society, and they only exist to help form the belief and value system of society. I will also offer possible solutions to such problems. Media bias is a large problem, in that its? existence is not blatant nor is it one that many people feel threatened by.

    Read More

More about Causes of Psychological Trauma and Its Effects on Young Arab Americans Post 9/11

Open Document