Sociology Persecution Of Muslim-Americans And Resulting Attitudes

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Persecution of Muslim-Americans after 9/11 and Its Influence on Their Attitudes

Introduction

Occurring in a series of four coordinated and connected assaults, the Tuesday, September 11,

2001 Al-Qaeda sponsored attacks remain the biggest, most expensive, and most destructive in

the history of terror attacks. In total, approximately 2996 people were killed and 6000 injured.

The economic damage of the infrastructural property attacked including planes and buildings

was estimated at $10 billion while the extended overall cost to the United States and other

countries ran up to $3 trillion (Burkeand Cary 153). Immediately after the attack, many media

outlets, political personalities, and key governmental officials set out to condemn the attackers.

With the ultimate claim of the Al-Qaeda taking responsibility of the attack through Osama Bin-

Laden, anger, frustration, and accusations were targeted at Islamic terror groups and Jihadists for

not valuing the lives and property of Americans and others. In the traditional belief that violent

Muslims hold the same beliefs as the rest of Muslims; especially with reference to the concept of

Jihad and a holy war that must be fought (Gunaratna and Stefanie 353), many Americans and

others meted out their anger on Muslim-Americans. Persecutions faced by Muslim-Americans

included being placed under siege by security officers, drop in wage-limits, open discrimination

in public affairs, harassment, and subjection to psychological torture among other challenges.

This paper reviews the cases of persecution faced by Muslim-Americans after the September 11,

2001 attacks, their extent, and the influence of such acts on the attitudes of the affected.

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Background

As explained by Khan and Kathryn, animosity and severed relationships between Americans,

American administrators and the Muslim world had existed even before the attacks in 2001 (2).

In many cases, these attitudes were reciprocal and both sides of the divide expressed hate and

discomfort with the other. According to Smith (587), hate towards America was mainly because

it leads the West which is seen as a meddler in Middle East politics and economic affairs. Other

major reasons for these perspectives include America’s continued support for Israel in the

Middle East and their extended antiterrorism campaigns across the world which appears to target

Muslims. On the other hand, America’s stance on democracy, immigration policies towards the

Middle East, and the strictness in the hunt for terrorists has generally emerged discriminative and

hateful towards the Muslim world in general (588). Although these perspectives existed long

before 9/11, this event heightened them as America reconstructed its security system and policies

to fight terror.

Persecution of Muslim Americans after 9/11

With a background link to the animosity existing between Americans and Muslims, Disha,

James, and Ryan pointed out that any time a terror attack has been staged in the United States,

stereotypes have led the larger part of the majority group to believe that the other Muslims in

America support such attacks and approve of them (21). Because of this, they have endeavored

to retaliate with a wave of varying negative attitudes and hate crimes that have persecuted

involved Muslims in divergent ways.

Negative Attitudes

An analysis by Khan and Kathryn reveals that Muslim-Americans had to deal with

extensive levels of negative and hateful attitudes from the rest of Americans who believed that

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the former were responsible for their dead relatives and losses in the 9/11 attacks (1). Their

review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) analysis and report on negative attitudes and

hate towards Muslim Americans revealed that these limits increased by at least 1,700% after the

bombing, a situation that left many Americans seeking opportunities for revenge and denying

Muslim Americans opportunities whenever they could. In essence, animosity and the potential of

conflicts existed between other Americans and those perceived to be Muslim-Oriented including

Arabs and other Middle Easterners. Although substantial declines in these attitudes have

continued to occur, they still exist and many Muslim-Americans find it a challenge going about

their day-to-day activities in the United States as they face the potential of suffering from the

consequences of these challenging opinions.

The opinions of other authors like Kalkan, Geoffrey, and Eric do not reflect deferring

perspectives in relation to these beliefs (2-4). In their reviews, they also indicate that negative

attitudes directed towards Muslims were mostly incited by media results and political outrage

towards Muslims and associated groups. They point out that a few factors that remain distinct

about Muslims in the American society did and continue to fuel the existence of these attitudes

after the 9/11 event to date. These encompass the distinctiveness of Muslims in terms of

dressing, culinary trends, religious trends, culture, and their personal and communal stances on

various issues like politics and terrorism. Thus, many non-Muslim Americans remain

outstandingly prejudiced against Muslim Americans since the occurrence of 9/11 and express

open biasness in their opinions towards this group.

Discrimination, Harassment, and Dehumanization

One other very worrying trend of persecution resulting from the 9/11 an attack is that of

discrimination, harassment, and dehumanization of Muslim Americans in the American society.

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To begin with, the overly anti-Muslim stereotyped community overlooks numerous issues while

judging Muslims in relation to the 9/11 events and other situations. One such outstanding case is

that of Mohammad Salman Hamdani who died during the attacks in 2001. After the attack on the

first tower, this man rushed to help those who had been injured in the crash unaware that another

attack was imminent and would happen soon. When the second attack came, he was buried in

rubbles and died as a heroic result of his well intentioned good deeds. However, the authorities

initially believed he was a terrorist until five months after the attack when conclusive

investigations revealed he was not (Otterman 1).

On the other hand, a rise in the limits of harassment experienced by Muslim Americans at

home and in public places has continued to exist I the society since the 9/11 attacks (Peek 60).

The analyses of many professionals indicate that most law enforcement officers and immigration

officers among other public officials developed negative attitudes towards Muslims in America

and have continuously subjected them to unlimited personal and group torment to place them

under siege. In the case of police, Muslim Americans in excess of hundreds of thousands have

had to go through searches without warrants, unnecessary and intimidating interrogation on

terrorism, rampant arrests, and general discriminated trends in the public sector. This has proved

frustrating to many of them and made them subjects of dehumanized processes. In the view of

many scholars, at least 75 percent of Muslim Americans, whether elitist or non-elitist, have

either gone through these procedures or seen others go through the same processes.

A further review by Khan and Kathryn reveal that even Muslim American prisoners are

not exempt from these discriminative, dehumanizing, and harassment trends. In many cases, they

experience similar trends of hatred with most of the other prisoners either ganging up against

them or simply avoiding their company and groupings. For cases of legal treatments in which

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prisoners are assigned tasks or subjected to punishments, it is common for these Muslim

Americans to be assigned more difficult tasks and humiliating duties compared to the other

prisoners. At times, they get harassed and given extreme illegal treatments by prison authorities.

In many media reports, individuals on the Internet and political leaders in public news

continue to dehumanize the Muslim community in America and Elsewhere. One typical example

of such a case is the reaction of Franklin Graham who in his response to the 9/11 attacks took

himself out on all Muslims rather than the perpetrators of the crime. He is reported to have

described Islam as a "very evil and wicked religion", thereby associating it with violence and

terror. In general, many Muslim Americans continue to face discrimination, harassment, and

dehumanization as a result of the occurrence of the 9/11 attacks.

Political Disempowerment, Economic and Career Impacts

Soon after the 9/11 events and in the durations that would last the aftermath, Muslim

Americans were generally depicted as having lost the political goodwill of the rest of the

American society. In the year 2004, the hotly contested political campaigns involving

presidential aspirant John Kerry revealed this situation. In a popular media skit showing that the

Muslim Americans were willing to offer him support for his political bid, Kerry reacted by

showing outstanding limits of indifference and dissatisfaction at the thought. Perhaps indicating

the extent of disempowerment American Muslims had experienced since the occurrence of 9/11.

In general, the lasting years after 9/11 have seen the Muslim American community silent over

political matters because they bear the view that their opinions are neither required nor accepted.

In the case of careers and economic impacts on Muslims, 9/11 brought a lasting

nightmare that has haunted many Muslims since its occurrence. In summary, Muslim Americans

suffered at least 10% drop in their economic potentials because of reduced career and business

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opportunities. In many cases, Muslim Americans rarely get hired when others are being hired.

Their names get considered as options of last resort making them come last in the process of

hiring while they easily get fired for minor reasons and mistakes at work. Typically, a group of

five individuals with similar qualifications with one Muslim among them may have the Muslim

hired last or left out in case the available vacancies end at four. The names of Muslim Americans

get discriminated upon openly while individuals also avoid Muslim American business deals and

enterprises.

One example of this trend reported in the media is the case of Suriyah Bi who was a

teacher at the Birmingham’s Heartlands Academy. She taught young children, and as a result of

her professional consideration for the children of 11 years of average, Suriyah Bi objected to

these children being shown a traumatizing video of the 9/11 events. Apparently, this act landed

her into trouble and she got fired by the school administration. She later went to court to pursue

her rights for unfair dismissal from the institution of earning (Wade-Palmer 1). This is a clear

indication of the limits of intolerance the non-Muslim community in America developed towards

the Muslim-American community after the 9/11 occurrence. Perhaps, the employers acted in the

belief that Suriyah Bi’s reactions were meant to protect the Muslim ideology rather than the

interest of the children’s emotional security.

Influence on Muslim-American Attitudes

As a result of the outlined perspectives and attitudes, many Muslim-Americans initially

developed the responding attitudes of fear from the challenges and frustrations they experienced

from the system. Because of increased police presence and the probability of being profiled,

many stopped voicing their concerns over various issues and participating in events in which

they would conspicuously stand out. While a good number were afraid to leave their houses,

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others developed a sense of self-consciousness and caution with every word they spoke in public.

Some of these trends have continued to exist long after 9/11. This trend of frustration would

affect some to the extent they would ultimately withdraw from going to the mosque for prayers

for fear of being profiled to the pint of changing their dress codes (Rabasa 6). In general, most

Arabs and Muslims in America lived in a world of hiding where they would destroy all the

physical evidence of Islamism in their homes for fear of victimization. This also affected their

personal relationships as they became less trusting to people and revealed less and less

information about their personal and religious identities. In the initial stages, many Muslim

Americans became invisible and stopped talking about Islam altogether. They desired to be seen

as non-Muslim to escape the discrimination they witnessed from the non-Muslim American

society.

Adjustments in Muslim-American Attitudes

As Rabasa explains, these attitudes of fear and withdrawal from the society would soon go on a

declining trend to allow the Muslim-American community a better chance of coping with the

environmental challenges they faced. Many would soon notice that hiding, changing their dress

codes, and disguising themselves as non-Muslims did not change people’s opinions about them.

That is the reason many latter adopted the trend of self-defense in teaching others the good side

of Islam and maintaining their Islamic culture, practices, and religious activities like going to the

Mosque. Although the stereotypes on Islam and negative attitudes directed towards Muslim

Americans continue to exist, Muslim Americans attempt to adopt a realistic perspective of

remaining Muslims while they fight for their rights when anyone offends them as in the case of

Suriyah Bi who chose to go to court when her employer fired her unfairly.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the bombing of the Twin Towers and other locations within America by Al-Qaeda

on the 11

of September 2001 resulted in numerous challenges for Muslim Americans. Because

the bombers were, or claimed affiliation to Islam, many Muslims were believed to harbor similar

intentions and opinions of harming the American community. Soon, the government, media, and

political arena would open a war against perceived opponents of the American State. However,

these responses would leave the rest of the Muslim Americans stereotyped and subjected to

unwarranted persecutions. These included negative attitudes, discrimination, harassment,

dehumanization, political disempowerment and the loss of career and economic opportunities. In

the initial response, most Muslims were so frustrated that they went into hiding, withdrew from

going to mosques, changed their dressing codes, and acted as though they were non-Muslims.

However, these perspectives would soon change with most of them developing improved self-

worth and standing up for their rights whenever necessary.

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Works Cited

Burke, R J, and Cary L. Cooper. International Terrorism and Threats to Security: Managerial

and Organizational Challenges. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2008. Print

Disha, Ilir, James C. Cavendish, and Ryan D. King. "Historical events and spaces of hate: Hate

crimes against Arabs and Muslims in post-9/11 America." Social Problems 58.1 (2011):

21-46.

Gunaratna, Rohan and Stefanie Kam. Handbook of Terrorism in the Asia–Pacific. New York:

World Scientific, 2016. Print.

Kalkan, KeremOzan, Geoffrey C. Layman, and Eric M. Uslaner. "“Bands of Others”? Attitudes

toward Muslims in contemporary American society." The Journal of Politics 71.03

(2009): 847-862.

Khan, Mussarat and Kathryn Ecklund. "Attitudes toward Muslim Americans Post-9/11". Journal

of Muslim Mental Health 7.1 (2013): Web:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0007.101/--attitudes-toward-muslim-

americans-post-911?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Nacos, Brigitte L., and Oscar Torres-Reyna. "Framing Muslim-Americans before and after

9/11." Framing terrorism: The news media, the government, and the public (2003): 133-

158.

Otterman, Sharon. "Sept. 11 Memorial Obscures A Police Cadet’S Bravery". Newyork Times,

Nytimes.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 2016:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/nyregion/sept-11-memorial-obscures-a-police-

cadets-bravery.html

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Peek, Lori A. Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 9/11. Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 2011. Print.

Rabasa, Angel. The Muslim World After 9-11. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2004. Print.

Smith, Donald. Innocent Blood: America's Final Trial. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Xlibris, 2010.

Print.

Wade-Palmer, Charles. "Muslim Teacher Claims She Was Sacked After Objecting to 9/11

Footage Being Shown To Class of 11-Yr-Olds". The Sun. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Nov. 201:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1849325/muslim-teacher-claims-she-was-sacked-after-

objecting-to-911-footage-being-shown-to-class-of-11-year-olds/

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