One of the most dangerous mentalities people throughout the world can adopt is blaming a whole group for the actions of the few. These days, it feels like Islamophobia has become a socially accepted form of bigotry. That people just have to put up with it and smile. The nasty stares, the fear when boarding a plane, The “random” pat downs at airports that happen 99% of the time. Politicians have been reaping political and financial gains off of the backs of Muslims. In the United States, we have presidential candidates like Donald Trump casually calling to register American Muslims and ban muslim immigrants from entering the country. It is no coincidence that the hate crimes rise with election cycles. Fear is a natural uncontrollable response. But what we do with that fear becomes a choice. Society has allowed Islamophobia to fall as an issue in crime, class, and capitalism.
The least that society can do is call it what it is, a hate crime. Violence and hatred do not just happen with no reason. Everyone in society has experienced microaggressions at least once in their lives. Whether it was for race, gender, sexuality, or religious beliefs. All of society has been in a situation where they witnessed hatred and did not speak up. Due to the fact that they weren’t fully comfortable or equipped at the moment, or were not even aware of their own explicit biases.
Societies silence was the gate to what allowed Islamophobia to become a comfortable complication. With that being said, Crimes regarding islamophobia have affected the lifestyle of many Americans withholding consequences for who they claim to be. Anti-muslim hate crimes have flourished over the years in a way that has some of the population saying “its a bad time to be Muslim.” Anti-Muslim hate crimes often have unique characteristics that differentiate them from other types of hate crimes. These hate crimes target people or property associated, or perceived to be associated with Muslims.
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Hate crimes towards Muslims had varied in several forms such as assaults, intimidation, and vandalism. 9/11 is said to be the spark of Islamophobia and where the microaggressions towards muslims started to increase rapidly. Databases from Pew Research Center states, “Overall, the FBI reported 257 incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2015, a 67% increase from the previous year. These incidents included 301 individual crimes, 71% of which were crimes against people, as opposed to property. (Incidents can encompass more than one crime.)” Suzanne Barakat a Muslim women who is on a voyage to change the way society looks at her faith tells the story of her brother and family, being murdered in their own home. ‘They were murdered by their neighbour because of their faith. Because of a piece of cloth they chose to don on their heads. Because they were visibly Muslim,’ she said.
But assaults are not the only form of hate crime carried out against Muslims. The most common is intimidation, which is defined as reasonable fear of bodily harm. Anti-Muslim intimidation also increased in 2016, with 144 reported victims, compared with 120 the previous year. Certain types of crimes that damage or destroy property, including vandalism, also have risen, from 70 cases against Muslims in 2015 to 92 last year.
Government officials in some areas of the country have yielded to this religious bigotry, treating mosques and Islamic centers differently than other proposed houses of worship and denying zoning permits without the compelling interest that is required by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (a federal civil rights law that affords heightened legal protection to the use of property for religious purposes). Even worse, the acts of burning mosques have also occurred in the United States such as the incident in Texas in 2017. A federal jury found Marq Vincent Perez guilty of the use of a fire to commit a felony and possession of an unregistered destructive device in addition to the hate crime, according to the Department of Justice.
An article from Gale Databases “Anti-Muslim hate crimes continue to rise” states, “In 2015, the FBI reported a 60 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes, with the reported 257 incidents being the highest since 2001, in which 481 hate crimes were reported. Similarly, Southern Poverty Law Center reported that in 2016, anti-Muslim hate groups increased from numbering only 34 to 101..” The thought that is often looked down upon is if the roles were reversed and a muslim or muslim appearing person, had killed a white family, execution style, in their home, what would we call it? A terrorist attack. When white men commit acts of violence in the US, they are lone wolfs, mentally ill, or just a “killer.”
Class is the system of ordering a society into sets based groups on perceived social or economic status. Over the years, US muslims were starting to get concerned about their place in society and considered being Muslim as hard in this day of age. Half of U.S. Muslim adults (50%) say that in recent years it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. In general, nearly a quarter of U.S. Muslim adults (23%) view discrimination, racism or prejudice as the most important problem facing American Muslims today. Islamophobia is reifying the second-class citizenship status for American Muslims today. Actions such as banning Sharia Law have played a role in categorizing muslims into a different social class.
The so-called threat of Sharia Law in the United States is largely the work of anti-Muslim groups. A paper from Berkeley Law states, “In 2010, Oklahoma passed the “Save Our State Amendment,” becoming the first state to officially ban “Sharia law.” Despite the fact that a federal court issued an injunction blocking the measure— holding that the ban violated the Establishment Clause—nearly two dozen state legislatures have since proposed similar measures.” Banning Sharia law is like asking a Muslim to stop believing in their faith. It is a blatant attack on religions liberty. Taking away someone’s right to practice what they please, belittles their social status from other members in society. Not one individual should have more or less than what another has. Banning Sharia Law helps exemplify how Islamophobia is based off of class.
Gendered Islamophobia consisted of violence against muslim women that were based off racist and gender-class prejudice. Through gendered islamophobia, Muslim women are portrayed as weak, oppressed, and helpless victims. An American study on Islamophobia found that “a significant larger proportion of women (86.3%) than men (54.9%) had experienced hate crime.” Muslim are being attacked on the streets and humiliated on account of their faith. If you are a Muslim woman in leadership, you’ll have a number of false accusations levelled at you. Yet the discrepancy in class involving muslims went far beyond just gendered bearings. Equal education to be given in peace has also been an issue due to Islamophobia.
Muslim children are more likely to be bullied in school than children of other faiths. A new survey by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding reveals that 42 percent of Muslims with children in grades K–12 schools report bullying of their children because of their faith, compared with 23 percent of Jewish and 20 percent of Protestant parents. Implications have been made that students feel oppressed when showing they are muslim visibly. Researchers have interviewed female muslims who wear the hijab and ask if they have ever thought twice about going to school or out in public with the hijab.
“It’s not more of that we think twice about putting it on, it’s more of thinking twice about how we deal with others,” A highschool student says from a Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture. Whether its occupation social status, being recognized as a Muslim always raises question marks. Muslims are looked upon as the universe’s clear and present suspects until they manage to clear themselves and attain a better status than “to be watched carefully.” This thought process originated from Islamophobia and created class disassociation.
Racism and capitalist exploitation have always gone hand in hand with strengthening the powers of the capitalist classes in the United States. Racism carries with it the ideas of white supremacy. Islamophobia has increased as the years went by. However, it is safe to say these last few years have changed the way society views islam as a whole. A leader should be someone society looks up to and has an acceptable ethical code of conduct contributing positively to society. Back to when former president Bush was in office, the idea of registering people in the United States always targeted muslim countries.
After 9/11, a “special registration” system was introduced which was very selective. It only applied to men over the age of 16 who were on non-immigrant visas. The people targeted through the idea were from a list of countries the Bush administration considered “havens for terrorists.” Years after, Donald Trump also called for a Muslim registry endorsed by him and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. They concluded Sharia as a “root cause of the global war on terrorism.” The article “Donald Trump Proposed Muslim Registry,” explained ‘There were 25 countries on the “special registration” list.
Twenty-four were majority-Muslim countries. The 25th was North Korea.” But the idea being introduced years back, supports the statement that Islamophobia has only increased since then. Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pursued tactics against Muslims as part of his approach to national security. President Trump has had several accusations in which the definition of leadership has been questionable upon his presidency. “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,” Stated in a Gale research article. About a week after taking office, Trump signed an executive order suspending immigration from seven Muslim countries.
Trump subsequently signed two more executive orders, in response to multiple lawsuits challenging their legality. With that being said, the controversy on who causes the most harm and white supremacy uproared. The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major nations combined. All of which were done by a white “ill” men. White supremacists like to manipulate crime statistics in order to claim that nonwhite minorities, particularly Muslims, are far more crime-prone and the source of most violent crime against whites. Newt Gingrich is a former Speaker of the House who was on Trump’s short list of candidates considered to be Donald Trump’s vice president. He broadcasted his views on Islam as well. “Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be. Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in sharia, they should be deported,” said Gingrich. Nonetheless, these racial outlooks is the start of the intersection between islamophobia and capitalism.
Anti-muslim associations have been businesses ran for quite some time now. The CAIR report identifies 37 groups that is known as the ‘inner core’ of the U.S. Islamophobia network. Another 32 groups make up the ‘outer core.” The purpose of these two groups was to have a structure for the the sole purpose of discriminating against Islam and demonstrates or supports Islamophobic themes. These groups included organizations, funds, endowments and radio shows. Jihad Watch, ACT! For America, Atlas Shrugs and the Investigative Project on Terrorism are among the more influential of these groups. Middle East Forum has earned nearly $2 million to just seven groups among the inner core.
All of which are known for harsh criticism of Islam and Muslims in general. An article from Socialist Worker states “Pipes’ organization financed Steve Emerson Investigative Project on Terrorism to the tune of $1.2 million between 2009 and 2011. Emerson made headlines in April following the Boston Marathon bombing when he falsely claimed that a Saudi national was responsible for the attacks.” The relationship between inflated profit and Islamophobia have affected capitalism and imperial aggression globally. This is an era where the fight against racism, bigotry, and xenophobia, have only allowed Islamophobia to increase as a whole.
Hate Crimes against the islamic community have created a political dispute driven to the nation causing discrimination, hatred, and fear. When one person has preconceived notions about a whole group of people, they are perceived to be racist and close-minded. But when an entire countries government sets out beliefs revolved around a social issue, that’s life threatening to many civilians. The last fifteen years have revolved around demonizing and dehumanizing the majority of Muslims all over the world. Muslim Americans should not have to go through life having to repeatedly answer the question “How are you American?” A more crucial question to ask society as a whole would be “What makes you American?” Faith should have nothing to do with how you are perceived as in a nation.
Unfortunately Such implications have only gotten worse due to hate crimes, class discrimination, and capitalist exploitation. Islamophobia has become a socially accepted form of bigotry. The reason why Islamophobia continues to increase is due to the silent, scared, uncomfortable society we live in. Eliminating Islamophobia will consist of a lot of dialogue needed to be done throughout every society. Voices need to be heard, in order for change to take place. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
