The term Prejudice can be defined as, “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. ” Ever since the birth of the United States, the phenomenon of prejudice and discrimination alike has always played a significant role throughout the course of American history and its development, especially against minority groups. While each minority group has felt their fair share of discriminatory pain at one point in time in American history, there is one group in particular that arguably has been the most excessively targeted minority group since the tragedy that was of September 11, 2001; that group being Arabs, individuals of Middle Eastern descent and or Muslims-those who practice the sacred religion of Islam. Evidence of hardships experienced by this minority group can easily be dated back as early as the 1900s; however, it was not until 9/11 that a sharp increase in racial and other discriminator profiling toward Middle Eastern began to emerge.
September 11 2001, would forever be known as the day that changed American lives. Livelihood in America would never be the same after the World Trade Center was decimated by an extremist group who forcibly hijacked multiple commercial aircrafts, and subsequently crashed them into the twin towers, killing thousands of innocent Americans in the process. There were many victims of the attacks, the innocent who died, first responders who risked their lives, and a whole minority group who was alienated from the rest of Americans. It was a mark in history that altered our security measures and procedures, such as the crack down on Airport security. The government passed laws such as the Patriot Act, legislation that granted the federal government permission to invade our privacy and legally profile those who posed a threat and demonstrated “suspicious activity”. “Suspicious,” being a very loose term used by our government to profile individuals who seemed as though they could be associated with one of the extremist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, those who were profiled as individuals from the extremist group all had similar features, resembling those of Middle Eastern decent and or Muslim background, which essentially targeted a minority group based off of their ethnic background and religious beliefs. Despite the fact the U.S. had been actively working toward the restoration of equal and fair treatment through legislative efforts, like the civil rights movement, this account of American history still occurred. Essentially contradicting everything that America stood for, the American people blatantly allowed for prejudice and discrimination to run rampant throughout the nation. The events of 9/11 created a backlash in cultural tolerance of anyone who looked Middle Eastern. The government’s labeling, such as the “War on terror” inadvertently allowed the practices of stereotyping and prejudice against Middle Eastern Americans to be socially acceptable.
Along with the prejudice and discrimination came the phenomenon of uniformed stereotypes- “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” One stereotype that many came to associate Middle Easterners with was the notion that all individuals of Middle Eastern decent actively practiced Islam and was of the Muslim faith. Contrary to popular belief, 76% Middle Eastern Americans (Arabs) are Christian. While a majority of Middle Eastern countries are indeed Muslim, there is still a significant Christian population within those countries as well. Another uniformed stereotype formed against this group is that all Arabian women are oppressed. While there are Arab countries that are behind on the progressive movement of women’s right, that does not apply to all nations. In fact, there are plenty of educated and successful women in the Middle Eastern countries. This stereotype also held the notion that all Arab women are forced to wear a veil/hijab- “a traditional scarf worn by Muslim women to cover the hair and neck and sometimes the face .” While this may apply to some, that number is decreasing with the rise in education. The fact of the matter is, people tend to view the hijab differently; to some it may stand for oppression and to others it may be the liberation from sexual objectification. The last and arguably the most damning stereotype is that Middle Easterners are extremist/terrorist. It is the stereotype that caused the rift between Middle Easterners and the rest of the American people; it dehumanized them and put them in the same category as the extremist responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attack. As a result, the American populous feared Middle Easterners, all because of this label society have given them.
To add onto the pressing matters of prejudice, discriminatory practices and the use of stereotypes, there came an overwhelming increase in hate crimes against Middle Eastern American’s after 9/11. A hate crime can be defined as, “a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability .” Prior to the terrorist attack, there was less than 20 hate crimes reported a year against Middle Eastern Americans. In 2001 alone there were 481 incidents reported, with at least an average increase of 100 hate crimes every year after that. Since 9/11, the total number of hate crimes have spiked, and while the numbers may have dropped in the recent years, it has never returned to the levels reported prior to the 9/11 attacks. These hate crimes can be vicious and deadly. For example, in 2015 there was a shooting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that left 3 Muslim students dead. At its surface it seemed as though the students could have coincidentally been at the wrong place at the wrong time; however, with closer examination the shooter openly expressed his hate for Muslim people on personal social media forums. The victims were hunted and shot in the comfort of their own home, over an argument about a parking space and the argument was escalated because of hate and prejudice.
Currently, there is little being done to address the discrimination against Middle Eastern Americans and Muslim people. One of the ways the American people could tackle this issue within our society is through academic education, as the premise behind prejudice is unfavorable opinion without proper knowledge. We could push for Middle Eastern Studies in schools as well as reintroduce their culture to Americans, so that they can see them for more than their stereotypes. In my opinion, exposure to different cultures and religious backgrounds builds up tolerance and understanding. Those who’ve never encountered someone of Middle Eastern background or Muslim faith are more likely to believe what the media portrays. Since the media associates terrorism with Muslim faith, many people have a distorted view and overgeneralize a population unjustly. In my opinion, if the media were to be exposed to people of Middle Eastern descent or Muslim faith, they would see that they are people too. As a nation we should be tolerant of those who are indifferent and recognize that, at the end of the day we are all people and do not deserve to be discriminated against and generalized by our physical features or our religious beliefs.