Is Islamophobia Real?
Islamophobia is the irrational fear of Muslims and Islam. It has been debated whether it is present in the United States and if U.S. citizens actually have Islamophobia or not. The real question is not whether it exists, but how Islamphobia came to be and what can be done to stop it.
Ever since 9/11, Muslims in the United States have been labeled as terrorists and there has been a fear of Muslims nationwide. Anti-Muslim rallies have occurred, and the media has portrayed many Muslims as terrorists.
Not surprisingly, Muslims in the United States have been facing an increase in hate crimes and anti-Muslim rallies ever since 9/11. While some might argue that Islamophobia does not exist and Muslims are just victimizing themselves, the statistics in the United States prove otherwise.
Since 9/11, hate crimes towards Muslims have increased five times the number they were before 9/11. Both acts of terrorism and war have constantly fueled Islamophobia by continuing to portray Muslims as terrorists.
Islamophobia has gone from an idea that started in the early 2000’s to a dangerous phobia in the United States. As Islamophobia in the United States continues to grow, the anti-Muslim rallies also continue to spread.
In May of 2015, an anti-Muslim rally occurred outside of a mosque in Phoenix. Hundreds of people attended, some with guns and others in uniform. Biker gangs also attended this rally to protest against the mosque and Islam in general. During the protests, Muslims attempted to enter the mosque to perform prayers while protesters chanted anti-Islamic slogans.
Such behavior towards Muslim only shows the prevalence of Islamophobia in the United States which seems to grow constantly.
The American media also helps to fuel such Islamophobic reactions. Whenever there is a terrorist attack by a a non-Muslim, the media often fails to use the term terrorist. For example, when a white man entered a historic black church in South Carolina and killed nine people during 2015, the media called him a white man, suffering from depression. In 2015, after a Muslim man targeted U.S. military service members in a military recruiting service center in Tennessee the media called the attacker a devout Muslim and also a terrorist. Later reports revealed, however, that he was not a devout Muslim and that the man was dealing with drugs, a sin in Islam.
In both cases, the men were terrorists, as they committed violent acts of terror. The media, however, portrays only one as a terrorist and such presentations help to establish a constant fear Muslims in the United States, while excusing similar terrorist acts of whites. The result is that the media helps add to fear mongering and prevailing stereotypes.
In the United States, as a result of the real and ongoing growth of Islamophobia, there has been an increase in hate crimes toward Muslims since 9/11.
Just look at the numbers:
Before 9/11, the FBI reported about 20–30 hate crimes towards Muslims each year. After 9/11, the FBI reported 150 to over 200 hate crimes towards Muslims in the following year.
In February of 2015, a man shot three Muslim students in the head, execution style at the University of North Carolina. The students all attended UNC and two routinely wore a headscarf. While the FBI ruled out the event as a hate crime, the family and friends of the three students reported that the neighbor of the three Muslim students was always angry with the students and his Facebook page was filled with anti-Islamic posts.
Most recently, in September of 2015, Ahmed Mohamad, who was part of the STEM program at his local high school in Texas, brought in a clock to impress his teacher. The teacher immediately assumed it was a bomb and called the authorities. Shortly after, local police arrested the 14 year-old boy.
In the end, however, the authorities found that it was just a clock and released Mohamad. The teacher not only humiliated the boy, but also showed the entire country how Islamophobia affects even young Muslims in the United States.
There is an estimated 3–6 million Muslims living in the United States today. While the media portrays these numbers fearfully as simply many more Muslims in America, the numbers are much lower than most Americans believe. In the United States, the Islamophobic society has already been created. Perhaps the only way to stop it is to face it head on.
One of the best ways to stop such hysteria is to talk to a Muslim or visit a local Muslim community center. Simply by talking to a Muslim about Islam and what they think about Islamophobia can help reduce the fear of Islamophobia and ensure that Muslims can live in peace with all their fellow American citizens.
