A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing is defined as a stereotype (“Stereotype” Oxford). Islam is one out of a plethora of religions that has negative stereotypes surrounding its beliefs and customs. Islam is the religion of Muslims: a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah (“Islam”). As of 2010 there are 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide. Out of that 1.6 billion, 3.3 million Muslims live in America (“Myths and Facts”). Despite the large amount of followers many still have negative views towards Muslims and Islam in general. Issues and stereotypes really came to light after 9/11. September 11th, 2001; 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist …show more content…
group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Later on it as released to the public that these terrorist were Muslim. Muslim terrorist use Islam to justify their actions. Stereotypes such as all Muslims are violent, all Muslims are terrorist, Islam teaches you to kill, and women in Islam are oppressed. These stereotypes creates falsified views and perspectives for Americans who do not know the facts. Therefore, widespread stereotypes of Islam negatively affect the way American society perceives Muslims. Muslims are often negatively portrayed in news and social media. Erin Kerns and her colleagues at Georgia State University state that there is a systematic way in which terrorism is portrayed in the media. Terrorism is often reported on and brought to light when the perpetrator is Muslim. Statistics show that a perpetrator who is not Muslim would have to kill on average about seven more people to receive the same amount of coverage as a perpetrator who's Muslim (Kearns). When all terrorist attacks that are done by Muslims are reported on and attacks done by others are not society will start to connect the attacks directly to Muslims. American society is being shown only those attacks that portray Muslims as negative, violent terrorist. Muniba Saleem is social psychologist at the University of Michigan who recently has conducted a study that shows how different clips that depict the character of Muslims affect the way American people perceive them. Some volunteers were shown news clips of Muslims being terrorist, the second group was shown news clips that depicted Muslims as a neutral people and the third group showed news clips of Muslims volunteering. Immediately after, they were asked different questions on how they perceive Muslims to be. The group who was shown Muslims as terrorist thought of Muslims as a violent people who needed to be controlled by unconstitutional policies. When not given the full facts or details people decide their viewpoint and stance towards a topic off what little knowledge they have. Americans are not given the full story on unbiased coverage when it comes to news They are purposely showing Muslims as terrorist and are manipulated into taking a negative stance on the issue. Hence, false media portrayal of Muslims defends the negative stereotype that all Muslims are violent and are terrorist. The widespread false stereotypes lead to violence and hate crimes towards Muslims.
The Pew Research Center conducted research analyzing new hate crime statistics from the FBI. The number of hate crime has risen higher than in 2001: after 9/11. In 2001, the number of hate crimes towards Muslims was 93. In 2015 the number of hate crimes was 91. But in 2016 the number of hate crime surpassed both years with a total of 127 crimes in that year alone (Kishi). Hate crime not only consist of physical harm but mental harm too. Many Muslims are intimidated by others because they are afraid someone might inflict bodily harm. Intimidation is a form of a hate because it does not allow the person to feel safe. Anti- muslim intimidation also increased in 2016, with 144 reported victims (Kishi). Amid the recent rise in incidents of hate crimes, most Muslims in the U.S. say their community faces discrimination. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in early 2017, ‘three-quarters of Muslim American adults (75%) say there is “a lot” of discrimination against Muslims in the U.S.” Half of U.S Muslim adults state that recently it has become harder to be Muslim and 10% state that reasoning is either discrimination, racism and prejudice. Now how is this related to stereotypes. Well a hate crime consists of two key components. One component is the actual crime itself and the second is the motive behind the crime. Often times the motive is a bias caused by false widespread stereotypes. This is …show more content…
what makes a crime a hate crime. People read the censored news in which they only talk about those muslims who are terrorist or think about ISIS. ISIS, or The Islamic State, is a militant organization that emerged as an offshoot of al Qaeda in 2014 . ISIS has made public videos of them beheading and killing many with no mercy. These videos also spread around the thought and stereotype of Muslims are terrorist and violent. But these people can not take their anger or hatred out on terrorist or ISIS so they take it out on Muslims that live down the street. Therefore, hate crimes are born. Lastly, that is how widespread stereotypes are negatively affecting the way American society perceives Muslims because they see us as people who are ruthless and need to be dealt with. Stereotypes of Muslim women have been in news and media more recently. Stereotypes that consist of “Muslim women are oppressed” or “Muslim women are only property for their husband” or “Muslim women are forced to be veiled.” These stereotypes have been floating around for years and depicted as true because they have proof. The women of Islam wear a head covering,or scarf, called the “hijab.” The hijab is used to cover your hair, neck and chest. Some muslim women, along with their hijab, also wear “abayas” which are long, often black, robes that are free flowing and go from head to toe (“A Brief History of the Veil in Islam”). After 9/11 many had started to notice and take interest in the veiled women walking down the streets of New York. Americans then came up with their own reasoning as to why Muslim women were veiled. They are oppressed. They are being forced to cover by teme in their life: whether it be a brother, father, or husband. False. In many case the veil is a choice for Muslim women but there are always those exceptions. For example, Saudi Arabia is a Islamic State and will not allow women out of the house without being accompanied by a male family member and or without being veiled. However, many Muslim women America are allowed to decide if they want to be veiled or not. Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American sabre fencer, and a member of the United States fencing team. She is best known for being the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab while competing for the United States in the Olympics. This is not oppression. Nura Afia is a 24 year old Muslim woman who is the first hijabi to be featured in a CoverGirl commercial. This is not oppression. The false claim that all Muslim women are oppressed routes from the different way we present ourselves in society. In the source “Attitudes Toward Muslim Women in the West” Lila Abu-Lughod explains her views on Islam and Muslim women in AMerican society. Lila Abu- Lughod has worked on Women’s Issues in the Middle East for 20 years. She is also Professor of Anthropology and Women's and Gender Studies at Columbia University in New York. In an interview done after 9/11 Lila Abu-Lughod talks about the veil and what it represents. She thinks of the veil as “mobile home.” It allows women to move freely in areas where men are surrounding you and your worth is based off of who your father. She believes the veil is a form of expression. Not all Muslim women wear the veil the same way. Some cover from head to toe, some just effortlessly throw a scarf around their hair and call it a day. How can you be oppressed being veiled when your veil itself is a form of expression? False stereotypes regarding Muslim women and oppression causes Muslim women to be seen in a different light. They are thought of as helpless by American society. The source “Attitudes Towards Muslim Women in the West” and “Historian As a participant” both go hand in hand when supporting my argument and regarding their themes..
“Attitudes Towards Muslim Women In the West” clearly states that Lila Abu-Lughod believes Muslim women are not oppressed just thought to be because of the way they present themselves in society. The American society only has one perspective and it has been developed by the widespread stereotypes regarding muslims and muslim women in general. The source “The Historian As A Participant” explains how one's perspective of a historical event affects the way they perceive it. He believes yes, an eyewitness account is a good and reliable source but, the way a Historian might view an event would be different. From this I can infer that he too believes one's teaching and prior knowledge or perspective affect the way they perceive events. This is my argument exactly. Stereotypes of Islam teaching violence, Muslims being terrorist and Muslim women being oppressed spread and create a preexisting perspective in ones head. Then when reading the negative news report about Muslims they tend to believe it right away without fact checking or seeing if the information giving was true and unbiased. Both sources explain my argument and have the common theme that perspective and prior knowledge affects the way you perceive events. The American society is bombarded with negative news about muslims and what they have done but are not
often show the good the day or are not often taught how peaceful the religion of Islam is and therefore they negatively perceive Islam and Muslims in general. The most well known terrorist groups all consist of Muslims. Al-Qaeda consisted of Muslims and now ISIS, which is branched off from Al-Qaeda, is also a Muslim terrorist group. So yes to a certain extent most terrorist are Muslim however, these Muslims are not “regular” Muslims. They are known as Muslim extremist. Muslim extremist are best defined as any form of Islam that opposes "democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs” (Radical). Muslim or Islamic extremist take what is in The Quran ( Islamic religious book) and twist its words to help justify what they do. Therefore, not all Muslim are terrorist but all Muslim extremist are terrorist. Overall, the widespread stereotypes regarding Islam and Muslims negatively affect the way American society perceives Islam as a religion. Stereotypes give the notion that islam teaches violence and oppresses its women. When in reality the main base of the religion is to promote peace and forgivingness. No one is more respected in Islam then the women. They are considered strong and independent. As previously stated, not all Muslims are terrorist just Muslim extremist are terrorist. They twist and manipulate the words of the Quran in order to justify their actions get others to agree with what they do. No one group should be classified as anything because that is virtually impossible. One solid solution to fixing the false stereotypes from spreading is for Muslims to be the solution. Muslims need to prove these stereotypes wrong in the public eye. Those who are considered the problem need to become the solution. Hijabis should become apart more communities many do not think a hijabi can become apart of. Muslims need to get more positive coverage in media.
The first thing that every person says when you mention stereotypes being mean or hurtful to people is that stereotypes don’t really affect anyone or the way that people act towards them and treat them. However, after 9/11, Muslims in America quite often felt that the people around them were constantly judging them. This however is true for in the story
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.
Hate speech directs people to commit hateful crimes. The difference between hate crimes and regular crimes is that hate crimes are committed to a person because of his/her differences. Some examples of differences would be their gender, race, hair color, body shape, intelligence, sexual orientation, etc. Hate speech doesn’t have to be direct talking. Hate speech can now be down on the Internet or through magazine; and more people are using the Internet to publicize their vile beliefs. In the last five years, the number of hate crimes that have been reported to the FBI has increased by 3,743 (FBI statistics). That means that 11,690 hate crimes were reported in 2000 in only 48 states and not all police forces released their data. Imagine how many other hate crimes were committed that weren’t even reported to the police. Ethnic and racial violence or tension has decreased in Europe due to newly implemented hate speech laws (ABC News).
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.
All in all, Running into offensive stereotypes is common among Arab Muslims. People will not stop making new stereotypes, and the only way to stop them from being spread is by correcting them. Stereotypes are basically wrong information based on an sophisticated perception. It is critical to deal with these situations with reason and intellectuality. People may have different ways to solve these kinds of problems, but it is important to make sure it is in a healthy and effective manner. Stereotypes are wrong information that needs to be corrected, so it is very important to educate society about the misunderstandings associated with the stereotypes.
...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.
Can you recollect a time that a mainstream news resource covered a positive news piece anything even remotely related to Islam? Or an anti-war movie that was released without the plot involving Middle Eastern terrorists? The answer would be closer to a ‘No’ than it would be a ‘Yes’. The modern media portrays Muslims in the most negatively stereotypical of ways. The basic picture painted is- veiled, angry, illogical, radical, gun wielding, war waging, and the strongest word of them all- terrorist. However, to give news channels their due, they cannot possibly cover all aspects of Muslims. As American political commentator Walter Lippmann said, “One must distinguish between news, and truth.” Not every piece done by a news source is biased, but they do frame their reporting in such a way that it fits into a framework along the beliefs of our society’s majority groups. This framework is seen in the choice of words and language they use, the kind of images they display and the way they cover issues. By broadcasting in such a manner, the media successfully creates an outline that they want us to see, perceive, and ultimately believe and abide by. Thus, stereotypical perceptions are ingrained in our minds as we view such content. This has been the case in reference to Muslims, especially after 9/11. I will now be projecting some examples from the media that support my stand of Muslims being portrayed in a negative light.
Islam: suppressor of women, enemy of Western nations, and breeder of terrorists. The West has many stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam that are due to the media, prejudice, and ignorance. Islam is often seen as an "extremist" or "terrorist" religion. Often, the media's reports about Islam are incorrect due to ignorance or not wanting to acknowledge its true teachings. This is one of the reasons why Westerners are often wary of Muslims. In contrast to what the media portrays, Islam is a peaceful religion, which does not promote violence or terrorism.
In the essay, the writer acknowledges the misunderstandings that come from media images by explaining the contrasts between these images and the teachings of the faith to support her claim that fear is the reason for this misconception. The conception that many people have of Muslims is that they are terrorists, anti-Semites, and fanatics. This conception exsists because television news and newspapers support that stereotype. The broadcast of such stereotypes encourages fear and accusations of the Islamic relegion's teachings. The writer explains that Islam teaches peace, tolerance, and equality. She further states that Muslims shown in the media have violated these teachings ...
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
Islam is a religion that creates many different thoughts when it is mentioned, especially in America. Unfortunately it is subject to many unfair stereotypes, stemming from the attacks on September 11, 2001. The attacks were committed by Muslims, albeit radical Muslims, so many people associate the Islamic Religion with terrorism. Since it was founded, Islam has been the fasted growing religion in the world, becoming the second most populous Religion in the world (Van Voorst 292). Over the years Islam has faced an uphill battle, in terms of public opinion, because of its association with Terrorism. However recently it has begun to pick up steam as stereotypes begin to diminish. The Islamic religion is similar to my own religion of Christianity, because it is considered an Abrahamic Religion, which means that it traces its roots back to Abraham. It is also a monotheistic Religion. When one would examine the Islamic Religions it is important that they look at these three important aspects: the origin and history of the Islamic Religion, the practices and belief systems that it has, and where it is most popular in our world today.
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
Most people believe that all Arabs are Muslims, and all Muslims are Arabs...but, there are millions of Arabs that are not Muslim, and vice versa. Actually, Muslim is a religion and Arab is used to describe people from the Middle East. Here’s a couple examples of things that we stereotype when it comes to Arabs. “The Terrorist”, we think is a mad dog who is happy to sacrifice his life to kill woman and children, because he’ll get 79 virgins in heaven. “The Arab Street”, we believe to be full of angry people shouting “Death to America” while shaking their fists and beating themselves with chains. Last, the “Bellydancer”, women who dance provocatively and are sexually available. Most people think these stereotypes are true because of the way that our media portrays them. It’s also very funny that most people think all Arabs are Muslim, when they’re not at all. 40% of Lebanon's population, 10% of Syria, and 10% of Egypt’s population is actually Christian. I do hear this stereotype often, especially after the attacks in Paris. It’s almost like the first people we try to blame for any sort of attack like that, is anyone Arab or Muslim. It’s sad, and if people would take some time to do research on the things they are so quick to believe, maybe that wouldn’t
I want to clarify that prejudice does lead to violence. Prejudice means the way someone acts towards someone else because of who they are either their race , religion , or even how they act. I want to convey people about how the world could be better than what it is today.
They have different ways that it’s expressed, whether it’s in violence, harassment, discrimination when it comes to hiring or choosing people to fill people of power, vandalism, arson, destruction of property and many others. Another more common way that Islamophobia is shown is by the negative, stereotypical presentation of Muslims, Arabs, and aspects of Islam in the media. The negative and stereotypical presentation of Muslims, Arabs, and different aspects of Islam in the media is the reason that many Americans are ignorant about both Islam and it’s people, which made it easy for them to believe all the misleading, false and one-sided news that they present. It’s been reported that 80% of news coverage in America about Islam is negative, creating the American “close-minded” views of Islam. Most of the Muslims and Arabs on television are portrayed as the villains The racial stereotypes that are actively endorsed in Hollywood shows, movies, and cartoons are bombers, billionaires, and belly dancers.