The Islamic culture is one of the world’s most stereotyped ethnicities in America, the most common stereotype consists of Muslims being terrorists. Since 9/11 discrimination and prejudice became more directed towards people of Islamic descent, however, this is not fair. The Muslim stereotype of being terrorists has caused a phobia known as Islamophobia. According to gallup.com Islamophobia is, “An exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social, political, and civic life.” The world has been being very discriminatory and disrespectful towards people of Islamic descent and Islamic culture, …show more content…
Gissou Nia is “an Iranian-American of Muslim faith”, she experienced the transformations of most Americans from being welcoming, nice people, to being rude and discriminatory. Before 9/11, Nia witnessed how people did not have to identify themselves as their religion. She described it as even though she was Muslim I did not change her as a person, or her personality.(Nia). However, after the attacks, the American people needed someone to blame. Even after Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, was found and killed prejudice and discrimination towards Islamic people still lingered. Hurtful stereotypes were created such as ‘terrorist’, which is hinting towards the belief that most, if not all Islamic people, are terrorists. Even though a few Islamic people planned and carried out 9/11 does not mean that every single Muslim is a terrorist or is associated with a terrorist organization. In fact, according to this statistic by Gallup.com, “Of those who say Muslim countries have unfavorable views of America, more than one-half (57%) say it is based mostly on misinformation provided by the media and government in those countries about what the U.S. has done, while about one-third (32%) say it is mostly because of what the U.S. has done.”, therefore, America is not well-received by Islamic
The media has been known to portray or show many “Muslims” as terrorists, and several times they fail to show the peaceful Muslims. Furthermore, the media affects the perception of many Americans, and when they portray Muslims as scary and dangerous people, this causes many stereotypes to form. This in turn, makes it common for people to accept and believe in the various stereotypes of Muslims. Also, countless Muslims are ethnically profiled based on their religious appearance. To be more specific, numerous Muslims are stereotyped due to their long beards and cultural robes. Stereotypes, such as these, are affected by the descriptions of other notorious terrorists, such as Osama Bin Laden, who was well known for his long beard. Additionally, a number of people have become irrational and unreasonable when it comes to preventing Muslims to affect America, such as many protests “to ban Sharia law in any American court” (Azlan). Sharia is basically the law of an Islamic government, and the protest is illogical, since Sharia law has never been practiced in any American court and there is no indication, that there will be (Azlan). Many of these labels are unfair, and the media unjustly portrays and connects innocent American Muslims to terrorists which is
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.
Following the 9/11 attacks, classmates, employers, and to a certain level the US government have shown bias against the Muslim religion. Muslims working in the US have been under fire. Hundreds of Muslims have been discharges and harassed by their employers based on their faith since the attacks took place. Trans State Airlines laid off First Officer Mohammed Hussein because of his Arabic appearance and Islamic beliefs. Hussein had an exceptional work history and was unable to reason with the charges which caused him to be laid off. Muslims going to school throughout the United States have also encountered discrimination. School children of Middle Eastern origin have been beaten and abused by their own classmates. An Iraqi boy that happened to be named Osama was repeatedly harassed because of his name. The Unites States government has also been antagonistic towards the Islam religion since the attacks took place. Some Muslims applying for citizenship had their background checks illegally deferred. Federal raids aimed at “terrorists” in the US targeted people recognized as Muslim leaders. None of these Muslims had any connection terrorism. One of them, Dr. Al Alwani, was an outspoken critic of extremism and ...
As the racial targeting, hate-crime increased, racial discrimination bullying, becoming victims of prejudice, and having unequal publicity because of bias racial after 9/11 towards the Islam-Americans. It was often proven how Islam-Americans have become pariahs in all religion that are in the categories of Islam, because of the similarity in the image that a Sikh-American or Muslim-American holds. However this bias view in society towards the Islamic-American is certainly wrong because it has created an unfair environment in communities for them which leads them to become and feel pariahs, as it should be change by speaking up, changing the way we socialize around the topic as it may spread.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
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.
In America, there is a hatred lurking around in almost every corner of the nation; a discrimination and social bias that preys on the lives of innocent Muslims. Some people fear for their lives when they see a Muslim board a plane that they’re going to go on. Politicians are using that fear to fuel their popularity in elections. This prejudice even started to become a form of patriotism in the eyes of a concerning number of Americans. A lot of Muslims fear for their own lives in America because they are being looked down upon and even targeted by some people. This fear and hatred against these innocent Muslims are defined as Islamophobia. I believe that this amount of Islamophobia that is happening in America
September 11, 2001 America was hit by terrorist attacks. American citizens were shocked, outraged at the attack on our own soil. After initial hours of shock, grief, and anger it became apparent that the suspects in the attacks were Arab Muslims—American Muslims and Arab Americans. For American Muslims and Arab Americans the tragedy was doubly painful. The whole World watched in the horror that the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked. There were a lot of calls, questions if any friends or loved ones were in these planes or inside these buildings. Muslim Imams gave a lot of speeches, articles, lectures that to prove that Islam is not evil religion, they say that “terrorists were Muslims, but these people do not belong to our community here; they used Islamic names and did evil”. In their lectures they cited in Qur’an to support their statements “Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace. In our sacred book, the Noble Qur’an, we are taught the value of innocent life in these words: ...
This all started on September 11, 2001 when 4 airplanes were hijacked. Two crashing into the twin towers, one into the Pentagon, and one into a field that was either heading towards the White House or the Capitol. A total of nineteen terrorists from Middle East, who were a part of a terrorist group known as al-Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden, were involved in this attack. Killing almost 3,000 people and destroying some of America’s most known buildings left Americans hurt, scarred, and afraid. Since September 11, 2001, Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorists on daily basis and especially on every September 11th after the attack and while Americans fear Muslims, Muslims fear Americans.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 changed America and the world forever. When we hear about terrorists in the news, most often the media is referring to a person of the Islamic descent. The actions of a small group of radicals caused society to generalize about the entire Muslim community. Research done by Jack Shaheen, a professor of Mass Communication from Southern Illinois University and a consultant to CBS News, showed that the media has the ability to create false stereotypes of Muslims. The government enforces stereotypes here at home, which influence policies. During times of conflict, the media functions as the carrier of government policies. (Alexandar, Hanson, 64). Through this form of mediatization, prejudice and misconceptions about the Muslim community has risen.
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
While Islamophobia is not based on overtly biological prejudices, it’s a form of racism because it divides the world on the basis of superior and inferior cultures (Lean, 2012). The division of the globe based on superior and inferior cultures due to Islamophobia is evident in the fact that Western countries, especially the Bri...
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 ...
The contributing factors that led to the growth of Islamophobia in America post 9/11 are a mass hysteria caused by media, influential voices speaking against Islam and an increase of biased stereotypes. Some of the news’s greatest ways of contributing to the rise in Islamophobia is by giving unrealistic over-exaggerations and non-legitimate statistics in order to display an overall false narrative of the actual matter at hand. For instance, Tom Shillue (stand-up comedian) stating on Fox’s The Five that if there is a moderate Muslim voice “out there” now is the time to speak up and Sean Hannity calling for a “Jihad rising worldwide”.