Muslim Injustice

 

Islam is the second largest religion with 1.9 billion followers yet we constantly receive hate. Muslims have had the short end of the stick due to past attacks from extremists thus painting a negative image of Islam as a religion. They get harassed on the daily by ignorant citizens who are turning a blind eye to the true beliefs of Islam and its teachings. The Islamic religion and its followers promote nothing but peace into today’s world and get nothing but backlash by the United States general public. There are tons of statistics and evidence to show how the world’s 2nd largest religion is negatively being impacted by the actions of terrorists who are extremists.

Even the current President of America, Donald Trump, paints a negative image on Islam as a religion. He trolls the internet feeding his followers negativity about Muslims which is unfair. Earlier this year, in Christchurch, New Zealand, a mosque was shot up, killing 49 Muslims. After this terrorist attack, Donald Trump being the man he is, only expressed negativity about the situation. According to Brian Klass’s article, “Short History of President Trump’s Anti-Muslim Bigotry” he states, “As news of the attack was unfolding, President Trump tweeted a link to Breitbart — a far-right “news” site. Breitbart has published vile anti-Muslim hatred, including calling Muslims “rapefugees,” mocking the notion of Islamophobia, and absurdly claiming that terrorist attacks are “an expression of mainstream Muslim values.” It’s a site where Muslim-hating white supremacists — like at least one of those who allegedly carried out the attack in Christchurch — would find writers who gave them rhetorical ammunition for their ideologies of hate. (Trump has since deleted the tweet.)” As the President of the United States, a country known for its freedom and opportunity, he shouldn’t feel comfortable publicly saying such opinions. I and my religion cannot force Donald Trump or the rest of the world to like us but maybe President Trump’s view can be altered if he would just take time out of his life to just research about Muslims and Islam as a whole. It isn’t right to judge us as a whole based on a small portions ignorant decisions. The people who do know about Islam and its beliefs know that it is a religion of peace and unity. We do not focus on discrimination or hate, which is predominantly what we receive.

The general public also has their own view on Muslims and Islam as a religion. It’s a lot of mixed emotions. Most people think Islam is a terrorist organization. It’s understandable that they may assume based off of past terrorist attacks but these types of people know nothing about the religion and its beliefs. The other half knows that we are peaceful, modest, and united. These types of people know what Islam is about and can separate the terrorists from the actual Muslims, so it’s kind of 50/50. According to “U.S. MUSLIMS CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, BUT CONTINUE TO BELIEVE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM” the author states,  “In general, Americans continue to express mixed views of both Muslims and Islam. But on some measures, opinions about Muslims and Islam have become more positive in recent years. More Americans express “warmer” feelings toward Muslims on a thermometer scale than they have in the past, while there has been a decline in the share who say Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers. In addition, most say there is little or no support for extremism among U.S. Muslims. And a large – and growing – majority of the public says that Muslims in the United States face a lot of discrimination, while roughly half of U.S. adults say media coverage of Muslims is unfair. This shows how most people who are finally starting to open their minds to the religion are seeing the true side of Islam and not allowing Donald Trump and the media cloud their judgement.” The graph below shows the information given in the quote.

 

 

 

Statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• This graph is an example of how Americans feelings have changed to Religions.
• You can see Islam at the bottom due to previous events making people dislike them.
• But you can see the difference with 40 at June 2014 to 48 as of January 2017.
• Showing a steady increase in the positive feelings for Muslims and Islam as a religion.
• Still rated negatively when compared to other major religions being under all of them on the graph.

Besides the U.S. public Republicans and Democrats have their own views on Muslims and Islam as a Religion. Democrats feel that Muslims don’t promote violence and wouldn’t encourage it while Republicans think the total opposite. They feel as if Muslims are all terrorists and want to spread violence and hate throughout the world. According to “U.S. MUSLIMS CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY, BUT CONTINUE TO BELIEVE IN THE AMERICAN DREAM” the author states “Responses to this question have become substantially more divided along partisan lines. When it was first asked in 2002, just 11 points separated Republicans and Democrats. By December 2016, the partisan gap had grown to 44 points: 70% of Republicans say Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence, compared with 26% of Democrats who say the same.” This shows how Republicans and Democrats have a different view on Muslims. According to “Muslim Schoolchildren Bullied By Fellow Students And Teachers” AKINYI OCHIENG states “According to the SPLC’s study, “The Trump Effect” arises from comments the President has made about immigrants and minorities, which have emboldened politicized bullying in schools. Muslim children, in particular, have been primary targets for hate incidents. While the SPLC’s results are not scientific, the organization says a “tremendous number of responses as well as the overwhelming confirmation of what has been anecdotally reported in the media cannot be ignored or dismissed.” This goes back to the Donald Trump perspective and shows how his influence on the perception of Muslims is more crucial than ever, including the fact that he is the current President of The United States.

Even everyday activities like attending school are hard for Muslims kids. As we all know, kids only know what their taught. Therefore, children growing up with Islamophobia parents will express this to their fellow Muslim classmates which is bullying. According to “Muslim Schoolchildren Bullied By Fellow Students And Teachers” AKINYI OCHIENG states, “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 (ISPU) reveals that 42 percent of Muslims with children in K–12 schools report bullying of their children because of their faith, compared with 23 percent of Jewish and 20 percent of Protestant parents.” Muslim children shouldn’t be treated like this. No child should be getting bullied. Need to be aware of how we up bring our children. A little girl shouldn’t have to get bullied for wearing a hijab (a Muslim custom for females to wear on their head to represent modesty) to school. Yet we can’t blame the children, we have to blame the parents. If a child goes home to parents installing hatred then they’re going to express that outside of their home.

I had an interview with one of the staff at CAIR-New York. They explained to me the hardships that they faced when they were starting the organization. She explained that as America’s premier Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has worked for more than 25 years to defend the constitution.  The New York chapter is one of the busiest and most dynamic of CAIR’s thirty-five nationwide affiliates, defending, representing, and educating nearly one million Muslims in the New York area. Their vision is to lead advocate for justice and mutual understanding for Muslims. They want people to protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

CORE INITIATIVES

Supporting victims of hate crimes and discrimination

Ending unjust profiling and surveillance

Countering Islamophobia rhetoric through media relations

Educating New Yorkers through workshops and publications

Promoting community activism and civic engagement

In conclusion, more people should open their minds to the true teachings of Islam and treat American Muslims better. The media will always try to portray the negatives of Muslims and Islam as a religion and we should be moving past that. There are many ways to go a search what Islam is here to promote. All you have to do is get a device with Wi-Fi and in the 21st Century that shouldn’t be so hard. Everyone has access to Wi-Fi and should really look into Islam and what it is trying to say to the world.