As I scoured the internet for new political news, I began to see a theme that is almost too common now in american politics. Terrorism, Muslims, the Middle East: Islamophobia. This issue is one that is often talked about, but not really dealt with. What I mean by this is that a problem that rises from prejudiced, racist fear is not easily fixed because the solution deals with changing people’s mentality. In a country, that preaches freedom of speech it seems almost hypocritical to try to stop hate speech.
This has been an ongoing problem throughout our country’s history, whether it was racism against people with dark skin, or campaigning for kicking immigrants out of the country. However, due to the rise of terrorist attacks from Middle Eastern terrorist groups like ISIS, it seems that hate against Muslim-Americans is not only growing, but is also being represented more and more in politics. It is very disappointing that in a country that preaches equality and freedom, there are political leaders campaigning for the opposite (Trump being a good example of this). This terror in politics against Islam really began after the 9/11 attacks, but due to groups like Al-Qaeda and now ISIS/ISIL, the hate has only gotten stronger. Why is that? Uniformed people. From the point of view of Americans that have Islamophobia, the religion is based on violence and hatred for anybody who is not Muslim. However, what people who believe this and the politicians who use it in their campaigns don’t realize is that not only do these groups not represent what Islam is actually about, but they target and harm more Muslims in their home countries, than actual Americans. The worst part of this problem though is how no one was born fearing Muslims or hating Islam, most of them were influenced by another source. Whether that source was the media, or just friends and family, Islamophobia’s roots began in government and were spread by strong political leaders. The power politicians have is that they are influential, and have the ability to not only reach a large group of people, but to also inspire those people’s views. These politicians have blurred the line of fighting terrorist groups and fearing a group of innocent people. People who are suffering and have received some of the worst terrorist attacks in history. With the recent Brussels attack, it is clear that terrorist attacks will not stop entirely, and even with the many safety precautions we have issued, there is still a chance that they could happen. What we can do though, is educate people, and blame the terrorists, and not condemn a group of people who might just share the same religion or race as those causing the attacks. American politics should go back to focusing on how to better the country, representing its core beliefs of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and not about what specific group is to blame.
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Katie says
I really couldn’t agree more with your point of view you expressed in this weeks blog. I think most people who hate Islam are ignorant, and only preach what they hear from the media, political figures, and other ignorant people. The United States of America is quite literally a melting pot of cultures and beliefs, and it is so upsetting to me when one of the more ignorant beliefs overshadows sentiments with much more credibility , such as the true teachings of Islam.
ecc5222 says
I agree that politic figures have a lot of power in swaying the public’s opinion on certain topics. In the case of Islamophobia, I definitely can see how political figures have an impact on the public. I think a lot of people are quick to generalize a group of people. The public should inform themselves of the actual religion of Islam before making such generalizations. Nice job!