After the horrific attacks of 9/11, the idea of what constitutes a terrorist became set in stone. The American political climate had people from both sides of the aisle looking at the Muslim-American community with suspicion. A typical terrorist was perceived as a Muslim man who flaunted a thick beard, had “too foreign” of an accent, and someone who had a deep hatred for the West.

    

American media took this conceptual terrorist and overplayed it. The result was deep-seated Islamophobia that is as present today (if not more) than it was the early years following 9/11. Islamophobia is defined not only as the fear of Islam, but the fear of its followers as well, making Muslims everyday targets.

    

The 9/11 attacks created a societal rhetoric of Islamophobia that extended to government actions too; Islamophobia is deeply rooted in both foreign and domestic US policy. Established under the Bush administration, the NSEERS (National Security Entry/Exit Registration System) program made it legal for the US government to surveil Muslim-Americans. This led to many being wrongly accused of conspiring with terrorists and landing in prison. Beyond that, the PATRIOT Act was another form of policy that targeted American Muslims of all backgrounds, from Arabs to South Asians, and made it legal to potentially use torture tactics against them .

 

The United States’ invasions abroad similarly demonstrates Islamophobic-rooted inclinations. More specifically, the US invasion on both Iraq and Afghanistan was approved by Democrats and Republicans alike on the basis that another 9/11-like event was bound to happen again. This existential fear of terrorism meant that Islamophobia was now deemed a rational reaction to both 9/11 and the ensuing Global War on Terror. Yet of the Al-Qaeda members who executed the attacks, none were from either Iraq or Afghanistan. The invasions which followed indicate that the American thirst for a punitive response fit within the “rational” framework of post-9/11 America - Muslims needed to be punished for the crimes of the few, regardless of their origin or nationality.

 

Muslims domestically and abroad have dealt with the ramifications of US Islamophobia since 9/11. There does not seem to be an end in sight, but the hope for a more welcoming America remains within the Muslim-American community.

 

Sources:     

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CAIR Ohio: About Islamophobia

Daulatzai: With Stones in Our Hands: Writings on Muslims, Racism, and Empire

Beydoun: "Between Indigence, Islamophobia, and Erasure: Poor and Muslim in “War on Terror” America"