Essay Example Dedicated to Islamophobia in the United States

Islamophobia is a discriminative practice and biasness against the Muslims. The term emerged during the 1970s and became salient during the 1980s and 1990s. The attack on the World Trade center on September 11, 2001, marked a watershed moment for the relationship between the United States and the Arabs. The incident resulted in heightened levels of hate crime and even killings of the Muslims. However, some researchers attribute the discrimination against Muslims to the increasing numbers of immigrants from Arab countries in the United States and numerous incidents of terror attacks. Islamophobia manifests itself in several ways, such as prejudicial criticisms of Islam, discriminative regulations, and any other form of hate crime. The westerners assume that the immigration of Muslims to their countries will result in heightened levels of terror attacks. Islamophobia is one of the practices that influences discrimination against the Muslims, inequality in access to government services, and different forms of hostilities.

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Causes of Islamophobia

The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was the main cause of extensive discriminatory practices against the Muslims. The Westerners express Islamophobia in either discriminative language, verbal violence, or other forms of prejudicial views. The 9/11 terror attack resulted in well-funded and organized Islamophobia movements both in the United States and other parts of the world. Religious segregation started immediately after the emergence of Islam practices. However, the term Islamophobia became popular after the resurgence of the Cold War and the 9/11 terror attack. In the contemporary world, Muslims encounter various forms of discrimination, such as the provision of healthcare services, immigration to the United States, and the vandalizing of their properties.

The Muslims in the United States have encountered instances of religiously motivated hate crimes, which have affected them negatively. The discriminative practices rose in 2016, especially harassment that accounted for almost 18% of the incidents. The American Muslims endure different forms of hostility in public places, such as airports. The government perceives them as a threat to the national security and, thus, need frequent surveillance. As a result, the security personnels treat the Muslims with suspicion. After the 9/11 incident, most Sikhs contend that they feel no safer in the country as a result of racialization of Muslims. According to Kurien, "Sikhs faced citizenship restrictions and exclusion acts in North America" (85). Most of the Sikhs in the United States immigrated to the country before 1965. However, they became targets of discrimination and hate crimes after the incident in September 2001. In fact, the Muslims had to form organizations to air their grievances and seek recognition of their rights.

Historical Background of Islamophobia

The Islamophobia in the modern world has its antecedents during the crusades of the medieval era. The crusades were an extension of military campaigns to reoccupy the territories of the Muslim rulers in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Spain. The European rulers perceived the Muslims as enemies in order to occupy their territories. The Europeans used the same logic to colonize the Muslim countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East during the 20th century. Currently, immigration is one of the main routes of Muslims relocating to the United States to either further their studies or to find employment.

Islamophobia is not based on the incompatibility of the Muslims and other religions but was an invention of the West to dominate the Arabs. The Westerners perceived the Muslims as inferior, which made it easy for them to colonize them. Islamophobia started in the 20th century and later escalated during the 21st century. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, United States had an opportunity to dominate across different areas in the world. However, they had negative attitudes towards the followers of the Islamic religion. Currently, the US President Donald Trump has campaigned on the idea that Muslims should not immigrate to America. Besides, the President enacted a regulation that all the occupants should be registered in the national registry.

Consequences of Islamophobia

The Americans Muslims face hostility from the Westerners, which has negative effects on their lives. In the current era, Islamophobia and Orientalism have resulted in extensive racialization of the Muslims in the United States. The American government excludes Muslims from any state protection and expose them to different racist activities. One of the common perceptions among the Americans is that Muslims are likely to cause terror attacks just like the incident on September 11, 2001. However, the Muslims encounter several challenges in the country. President Donald Trump enacted a law to ban the immigration of People from Muslim countries (Iftikihar). It is clear that one of his main focus is to fight against any other form of a terror attack. However, that is one form of biases against the Islam religion followers.

The people from the European countries perceive the inflow of refugees from the Arab countries as a terrorism risk factor. According to Choi, President Donald Trump enacted an executive order to block the entry of citizens from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq from immigrating to the United States (14). The president contended that the policy would be a strategy to prevent the entry of the Americans from foreign nationals, who intend to commit terror attacks. Also, it was a strategy to prevent people from exploiting the immigration laws for malevolent purposes. The border regulations are effective mechanisms to prevent any instances of people who would wish to take advantage of the loopholes in immigration to commit crimes. In some instances, some of the Muslims choose to abandon their religious practices and remove the hijab resulting from extensive segregation from the Americans (Ali). It is a clear illustration of the challenges that the Muslims have to endure.

One of the common synergies is that the Americans perceive the Muslims as a threat to the national security whether or not they are citizens in the country. The Democrats deny the Muslims the right to vote. In some instances, the security personnels target the people from Arab countries for screenings to ensure the safety of their flights. According to Skinner, "Some acts of Islamophobia do not involve physical violence of the threat of violence but instead consist of discrimination" (492). One of the major problems is that Americans fail to recognize Americans as citizens, who deserve dignity and respect. However, the Chief justice emphasized that the travel ban is for security reasons and not any form of hostility towards the Islamic religion. The whites perceive the Muslims as a security threat, which is a characterization that perpetuates discriminatory practices against the people from the Arab countries.

Anti-Muslim bigotry is pervasive during President Trump's era of leadership. Some of the whites argue that Muslim leaders support violence against people from other religions. Muslim Brotherhood is one of the Organizations that advocate for the rights of the Muslims and condemn any acts of segregation against the religious group. The Muslim Brotherhood started in Egypt with an objective to facilitate the spread of Islam in different parts of the world. In the contemporary world, the American government perceives any Muslim group as a threat to the government and the national policies (Beinart). The security team reports that the increasing number of mosques in the United States is a threat to the country.

The government enforces strict immigration laws to deter the Muslims from immigrating to the United States. Choi contends that "deportation can serve as an effective strategy to prevent any form of illegal immigration to the country" (16). Besides, the government can enact other measures, such as border patrols, amnesties, and sanctions for the Muslim citizens of the United States. America is one of the countries that have strict regulations among all the developed nations. The highly populated nations, such as the United States are at a greater risk of terrorism than the lowly populated countries. Therefore, imposing restrictive border regulations is the only effective strategy to prevent cases of illegal immigration and instances of terror attacks.

In conclusion, Islamophobia is one of the main practice that affects Muslims in different parts of the United States. The Americans perceive the people from Arab countries as terrorist and threats to the national security. As a result, the government perpetuates discrimination against them and denies them some of the privileges, such as the right to vote, and to access healthcare services like the rest of the citizens. The government ought to promote equality and address the issues of prejudice against the Muslims. The Democrats should accord equal opportunities and rights to the people from the Arab countries just like they do to the whites. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should recognize Islamophobia as a crime and find effective strategies to address biasness against the Muslims.

Works Cited

Ali, Saba. I've Worn A Hijab For Decades. Here Is Why I Took It Off. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/ive-worn-a-hijab-for-decades-heres-why-i-took-it-off/2018/08/16/96cace1e-a095-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a_story.html?utm_term=.74ed2efcd1ec. Accessed 29 Nov 2018.

Beinart, Peter. "Mike Pompeo's Allies On The Anti-Muslim Right". The Atlantic, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/pompeo-muslims/555680/. Accessed 29 Nov 2018.

Choi, Seung-Whan. "Does Restrictive Immigration Policy Reduce Terrorism in Western Democracies?." Perspectives on Terrorism 12.4 (2018): 14-25.

Iftikihar, Alsalan. President Trump Whole Political Career Has Been Built On Islamophobia. 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/30/president-trumps-whole-political-career-has-been-built-on-islamophobia/?utm_term=.5dbc4775d631. Accessed 29 Nov 2018.

Kurien, Prema. "Shifting US Racial and Ethnic Identities and Sikh American Activism." RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4.5 (2018): 81-98.

Skinner, Claire. "Islamophobia". Cengage Company, Accessed 29 Nov 2018.