In recent years, more of America has become prejudiced against Islam. From states passing laws that ban parts of the religion to representatives calling on Muslim leaders to assist law enforcement officials in seeking out extremists, we as a country have managed to convince ourselves that Islam requires its followers to commit acts of violence. A 2009 Gallup poll found that Muslims are the most racially diverse religion in the United States, with 28% of them white. They are people we see every day, yet we remain scared that they will commit an act of terror in our own backyard.
After the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, unfounded hatred was directed at Muslims. For many days, Muslims were abused by members of the general public, although there was no evidence that connected the destruction to their religion. When the perpetrators of the crime were convicted, background checks revealed no ties to Islam.
The 9/11 attacks had the same effect as the Oklahoma City Bombing. Although al-Qaeda is an Islamic group, they are militant extremists. Despite this, hate and prejudice quickly spread against Muslims. From 2000 to 2001, the number of hate crimes committed against Muslims increased by more than 1600 percent, while the number of crimes against whites, blacks and Asians fell drastically. America banded together against a common “enemy”, which was not al-Qaeda, as it should have been, but the Islam religion in general.
Nine years after the 9/11 attacks, the Dove World Outreach Center church in Gainesville, Florida announced plans to burn hundreds of copies of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book. This drew protests from national and international organizations, including leaders of more than eleven countries. When Pastor Terry Jones declared that he had changed his plan, and would never burn the Qur’an, a sigh of relief could be heard across the world.
The question is, why does the hate of Islam persist? The 9/11 attacks have been the only mass destruction committed by Muslim extremists in America, and we responded appropriately by entering Afghanistan. No more major crimes of mass destruction have been committed, so why does the hate for Muslims in this country persist?
It certainly cannot be that Islam is a religion that opposes Christianity. After all, almost all the moral teachings in the Bible appear somewhere in the Qur’an, including the Ten Commandments. The view of God is almost identical through the two books, including his wishes, Heaven and Hell, and the meaning of life. Extremists interpret the Qur’an differently, claiming it allows them to commit acts of destruction. The same must be said about Christian extremists though, or extremists of any other religion.
I believe that when Americans do not understand a widespread idea or culture, we tend to fear it. After the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 we knew little about Islam, and so we tried to villainize it. It stems from xenophobia, the fear of people or cultures from other countries. Islam was just something we didn’t know about until 9/11, when we realized what the extremists were capable of.
America is xenophobic, in my opinion. Two decades ago, Islam wasn't a widespread religion in America. The Oklahoma City Bombing was our first national “impression” of them, or so we thought, thus we took them at what we thought was face value: terrorists and violent extremists.
The prejudice has only grown since then, prompting government officials to create bills against Muslim culture. As a country, we should be ashamed to be so hostile against the culture which 21% of the world practices. After all, 43% of Americans said they felt at least “a little” prejudice against Islam, compared with 18% against Christianity and 15% against Jews.
Recovering from this prejudice will take work. The first step is to treat Muslims like everyone else, and act like following Islam is the same as following Christianity.
Some Muslims may never forgive us, because of the abuse or cruelty they received from other Americans. We can only hope that this prejudice will be forgotten, and that we will welcome the Muslim community back into America.
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