9/11: Islamophobia In The United States

Sara Elgayar
Mr. Tracy
English 3
11 December 2015
Islamophobia
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have indeed affected the lives of Americans all over the United States. Everyone is aware that the events that took place on September 11th 2001 were a series of horrific tragedies, but they also brought a sense of unity amongst the nation, making Americans, in a sense, more patriotic. Along with this feeling of American pride and ‘standing as one’, Americans suddenly found something to unite against. While our military and government started a war in the Middle East, it seemed as if it became normalized to target anyone who shared the characteristics, religion, or background of al-Qaeda, those who were actually responsible for the September
11th attacks. One month after the attacks, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee received more than 700 reports of hate crimes. The Council on American-Islamic Relations had received 785 reports. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ hate-crime hotlines received 70 calls per hour. Americans empathize with the number of victims and lives affected by the attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and flight 93, but they fail to realize the number of victims and lives affected by the backlash of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is the alienation, discrimination, harassment, and violence towards Muslims.The underlying question is did these acts that are defined as Islamophobia become more prominent in the aftermath of 9/11.
This is imperative to comprehend that the events have vastly affected American society in many different ways; statistics show the average American has little to no contact with Muslims on a day to day basis (Ghazali). The government classifies Arab Americans as ‘white’ but popular U.S discourses tend to represent Arabs as ‘different from and inferior’ to whites (Amaney). The fact that the country’s opinion has been so sharply altered and their opinions drastically shaped on the feeling towards Muslims solely based on the principle of ‘guilt by association’ is central to this
research. Muslims rights and faith suddenly became under attack; they were accountable for not only their personal actions but the actions of those who shared the same race or beliefs as their own. There are hundreds of accounts of vicarious retribution after September 11th, most if not all stem from this guilt by association premise, it is an “avalanche” of stories that basically show that Americans minds are now lead to believe that Islam equals terrorism. 45% of Americans polled said they had an unfavorable view of Islam, and 39% say they hold some prejudice against Muslims. These statistics are somewhat appalling to read – 22% of Americans wouldn’t want Muslims as neighbors, 22% supported racial profiling in order to prevent possible terrorist acts, 39% supported requiring even US citizens who were Muslim to carry an I.D to prevent attacks (Ghazali). As a result of hate crimes against islamic minorities are increasing.
victim’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and/or disability. Before September 11th Muslims were the least common religious group targeted for hate crimes: 28 in 2000 jumped to 481 in 2001 an increase of 1600%. Within 6 days of the 9/11 attacks the FBI already had 40 hate crime investigations going including 3 murders and 35 cases of arson. Crimes against all other races fell as hate crimes against Muslims and other Middle Eastern immigrants “skyrocketed” subsequent to September 11th. Murder, beatings, arson, attacks on mosques, shootings, and verbal threats are all included in these hate crimes (Ghazali, April 2008). Before September 11th , usually reported hate crimes typically included young male offenders and male victims. But after the events both perpetrators and victims included women, children, senior citizens, and business owners (Coryn, Chris L.S, and Catherine Borshuk, Sept. 2006). Within hours of the attacks physical assaults on American citizens of Arab, Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, even Hispanic descent were targeted for perceived physical similarity to those responsible for the attacks (Coryn, Chris L.S, and Catherine Borshuk, Sept.
2006).