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A stereotype is a widely held and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. “People do stereotype. That seems to be a part of human nature; judging all people in a certain category based on the appearance or acts of a single or small minority group of people from the same group.” Affecting the Muslim community are the stereotypes that “Muslims are terrorists” or “Islam is a terrorist religion” and many others. Appealing to readers, newspaper headlines often print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Islam is now presented as a security risk in the first line. Overall, the main challenges Muslims in America face are stereotypical discrimination and generally based on a characteristic of one or few well-known Muslim groups who manage to grasp attention. Rather than sulking and disassociating from non-Muslims, Muslims in America need to …show more content…
overcome the challenges they face which include, negative media portrayal of Islam and acceptance by society in ways which include setting a positive image of Muslims by conducting themselves in accordance to the principles of the Quran and the Sunnah. Statistics from 2011 present that about 55% Muslim Americans think that the coverage of Islam and Muslims by news coverage and media is generally unfair. About 80% of media coverage about Muslims or Islam is negative. Ostensibly, Muslims could take this pessimistically and assume that everyone is deliberately trying to set a bad image of them. However, we cannot blame Americans for their perception of Muslims and Islam because they have not been well educated about Islam and Muslims. As Muslims, we may privately condemn the actions of terrorists, but if we do not express to the public that we do not share the same belief as those radicals, we cannot blame the non-Muslims for their ignorance or unawareness. In 2011, 43% of Muslims reported that they have been treated or viewed with suspicion, called offensive names, singled out by airport security, singled out by police, and or physically been threatened or attacked. Many Americans believe that Muslims are coming and trying to implement “Sharia Law” and take over the world, which we know is not true. Therefore, many American natives show hostility towards Muslims because they have trouble finding common grounds between them and us. Even if the non-Muslims refuse to mingle with us, it is our duty as Muslims to make efforts to associate with them. In Surah Nisaa, Allah (SWT) says “When greeted with a greeting, you shall respond with a better greeting or at least an equal one. Allah reckons all things.” (Qur’an, 4:86) As the main problem Muslims face are stereotypical, the only way to diminish them are to by our actions.
To make people aware of the practices of Islam, Muslims need to show them what Islam teaches through their actions. For instance, to publicly display Islamic principles, Muslims can join local protests, volunteer at aid centers and food pantries, and attend multi-religious events. Muslims and non-Muslims should not be dividing because of our difference, but uniting because of the principles we share. For example, in Luke 6:31 it says “Do to others as you would have them do to you” and in the hadith it says “Do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you; and reject for others what you would reject for yourselves.” (Abu Dawood) Many non-Muslims back away from Muslims because the media portrays Muslims as terrorists, but when we do our part as Muslims and show them who we really are through our actions, it will not be as hard for them then to determine the evil of some Muslims from the good of the rest
majority. To overcome the challenges Muslim Americans face which include negative news coverage of Islam and tolerance by society, they need to set a positive image of Islam by conducting themselves in accordance to of the Quran and the Sunnah. News personnel like to rant on about how Muslims are terrible because that is all what viewers want to see and are attracted to. They refuse to accept that there are any good Muslims in the world because they do not see any. Furthermore, when they do see Muslims, they refuse to accept us into their society because they are afraid that we will corrupt their children’s’ minds with our so-called “terroristic ideas.” However, once we start living by the teachings of our Quran and Sunnah, we will be walking on a path to ending all the stereotypes about Islam and Muslims.
(Chermak, 2006) The media is one of the leading causes of stereotypes, and what influences our beliefs today. When you think of a terrorist, you may think of either a middle-aged Muslim male or a middle-aged white male with some sort of mental or social disorder. This isn't always the case. A terrorist can be of any race, age, and social class.
...ld want to avoid, stay away from, and keep maximum distance between. Since September 11th, people say those same things in our modern society. Those wearing turbans are often looked down upon and cause people to feel nervous around them. Another way people are stereotyped compared to those in the past are by an individual’s religion. Before September 11th, Muslims were seen as peaceful people; however since that eventful day, they are not looked at the same. People see them as different and many see them as a threat to security, harmful to our society, and not those of the type of people that can be trustworthy. They are currently being stereotyped just as those who had “illnesses” and were accused of witchcraft in the past.
After the terrorist attacks, they’ve brought worry and fear to many Americans in the past years and even up till today, They put blame on the Government for not increasing our security and privacy. All though it’s natural to think negative and believe the worst about Muslims after the horrific attacks, we need to at least give them a chance and move away from 9/11. Americans know little about the ways of being Islam.
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.
As an Asian American, I have several points to discuss in terms of stereotypes. Through a variety of media, Asian Americans are portrayed by socially constructed stereotypes that are either positive or negative to our community. By explaining the definition of a stereotype and listing three specific ones identified, these points reflect our cultural values. These stereotypes include the concept of model minority, the insinuation that Asians are highly skilled at mathematics, and assumptions of our food ways. In each stereotype, I integrate my own experiences to provide a deeper depth of meaning that will allow one to evaluate whether these stereotypes do mirror our society’s customs.
...owledge is unavailable to an individual such as a language barrier or rare interaction with one another, television provides society with images that influence and shape their perceptions. The higher the exposure, the more people are inclined to recall what they have viewed and apply it to their everyday lives and scenarios. Bill Cosby stated in 1994 that blacks in the media tended to be “menacing, untidy, rebellious, disrespectful, buffoonish, sexual, immoral, hopeless, untrained, uneducated and noisy” (Punyanunt-Carter 243). He concluded that most black roles were negative and stereotypical. These damaging –portrayals that do not shed a positive light on African Americans often focus on reaffirming harmful racial stereotypes.
Stereotypes about the African American culture have existed since dispersal of African descent, dating back to the colonial era. They have evolved from slavery, to black face shows, to the modern drug lords and welfare queens. But one stereo typed that has remained constant is that African Americans are inferior to white people in every aspect of life. Through this very stereo type black people are forced to combat prejudice and discrimination in their everyday routine.
For as long as I could remember plenty of races are being stereotyped, but African Americans are one of the most frequent racial groups stereotyped against. African Americans have been portrayed on television and other forms of media unfairly and unrealistically. Movies and TV shows have played a major role in stereotyping African Americans, mostly reflecting them as being less intelligent, more vulgar, poor, uneducated, and more violent than other ethnic groups. African Americans have been perceived to be someone they are not in the media, history, and in everyday life. Although some stereotype portrayals made about Africans Americans may have some truth to them many on the other hand are harmful and inaccurate. Africans Americans are mainly in the spotlight of the news, when involved in crimes. When an African American becomes successful they are glorified, and seen as the person who made it and got out the “hood”, as if all black people are poor and living in rundown neighborhoods. Television networks depict whites as the perfect family with no problems and blacks with a household with only one parent and a long list of problems. Many African Americans believed that in order to be successful in the media industry they had to portray themselves as being idiotic and lazy. African Americans are mainly portrayed in the media as a pleasing aspect. Rather than focusing on the positive and good side to African Americans, the media would rather on the negatives. One of the main reasons why it is so easy to target an African American is because; it is so much harder to point the finger at a more dominant power ethnic group, Caucasians. I think this alone tells us a lot about where our society is and that racism still does exist.
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.
Islamic teachings that are followed by Muslims around the globe do not have same context and applicability like other religions of the world. Islam not only tells about the way of worshiping the Lord and behaving like a good human being but it also give a complete code of life. It includes political, military, social, financial, legal and governance systems. Non-Muslims normally con...
Since the beginning, America has always been a nation of immigrants, but many times the very same America seems to forget. As of today there are millions of immigrants who are looked down upon by American-born citizens who were freed by their immigrants ancestors generations ago. Today in the year of 2016 immigration is a burning topic in American politics and in regular discussions around the country. Many allege that Immigration has and continues to ruin America others disagree. Most of the time the people who are against immigration are the ones who only know the single stories about immigrants or simply aren 't educated enough on the topic. Unfortunately out of these single stories believed about immigrants and immigration as a whole stereotypes
Imagine that you are of Arab decent you being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967).
However, the adverse impact has outweighed the positive results. For example, the stereotype belief that all black people are thieves or associated with all the social evils in the society has led to police brutality (Couillard, 2013). Police officers discriminate and falsely accuse black forks of a crime they might not have committed. It has led to African-Americans becoming bitter and resenting the police department officials. Effects of Prejudice on Me Prejudice always makes me feel aggrieved since it violates my human rights.
Stereotype is a wide topic that covers many aspects in the society. Stereotypes are harmful because it makes an impulsive judgment based on immediately observable characteristics such as race, gender, and religion. Stereotype can be defined as a common belief towards a certain group of people or an individual. There are many types of stereotype and the major ones are race, gender, religion, income and age and disability. There is negative and positive stereotype but many people ignore the negative side of it and they divert their attention on positive stereotype, this i causes many problems because many people suffer because of negative stereotype. Stereotype
“Stereotyping is a three-part process” (Floyd, 61). In the first stage, we identify a group to which we believe another person belongs. For example, if a man is wearing a turban, one might assume he is a Muslim. In the next stage, we recall a generalization others often make about the people in that group. For example, many people in the United States generalize all Muslims as terrorists or haters of America. The last stage in the process of stereotyping is applying the generalization to that person. “You are Muslim, therefore must be a terrorist.” Obviously, these assumptions are not accurate, but are examples in the process of stereotyping (Floyd, 61).