Many Americans do not have an accurate understanding of the terms "Muslim" and "Islam." Moreover, many Americans have inaccurate, stereotypic perceptions about Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. They believe that all Arab Americans are Muslims or that all Muslim Americans are Arabs. This sociology textbook selection clears up the confusion and misperceptions regarding these various groups. 1 As marginal groups with little political power, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans are vulnerable to prejudice and discrimination. In the first five days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September, 2001, these groups filed more than 300 reports of harassment and abuse, including one death. Six years earlier, when the bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City was mistakenly attributed to Middle East terrorism, many Arabic and Islamic schoolchildren in the United States were blamed for the attack. One fifth-grade boy was told, "Go back where you came from." His mother, an attorney and a second-generation Syrian American, asked where her children were supposed to go. One was born in Texas, the other in Oklahoma. 2 Sociologists have observed two trends in the United States over the last 20 years. First, the numbers of people in the United States who are Arab or who practice the Muslim faith have increased dramatically. Second, the open expression of hostility toward Arab and Muslim people has also increased noticeably. Obviously, the coinciding of these two trends has made life unpleasant for many of these people. 3 Following the attack on the World Trade Center, media representatives recognized how little insight Americans have into Arab cultures and Islamic religious practices. Content analysis of the media has shown that Arabs and Muslims are repeatedly presented as almost cartoon-like figures, whether camel drivers, outrageously wealthy sheiks, or deranged terrorists. Even Disney's 1993 animated film Aladdin referred to Arabs as "barbaric." The movie depicted an Arabic guard threatening to cut off a young girl's hand for stealing food, but did not point out that such punishment would violate Islamic law. 4 "Profiling" at airports has put some citizens under special surveillance. Fearing terrorists, a number of airlines and law enforcement authorities use appearance and ethnic-sounding names to identify and take aside Arab Americans (or those who match the "profile") and search their belongings. After the terrorist attacks of September, 2001, criticism of this practice declined as concern for the public's safety mounted. 5 Muslim women who choose to don head scarves or hijbab in keeping with their tradition to dress modestly encounter harassment from strangers in the street. Many employers insist that the women shed the covering if they wish to get a job or expect to be promoted. These citizens find it difficult to understand such attitudes in a nation founded on religious freedom. 6 Many people in the United States inaccurately lump together Arab Americans and Muslims. While these groups overlap, many Arab Americans are Christians (as is true of many Arabs living in the Middle East) and many Muslims (such as African Americans, Iranians, and Pakistanis) are non-Arabs. Currently, there are an estimated 870,000 Arab Americans, and their numbers are rising. Many cling to the culture of their nation of origin, which can vary considerably. For example, Arabs constitute an ethnic group in 22 nations of North Africa and the Middle East, including Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia. 7 At present, perhaps as many as 3 million Muslims live in the United States, of whom about 42 percent are African American, 24 percent are South Asian, 12 percent are Arab, and 22 percent are "other." Muslims are followers of Islam, the world's largest faith after Christianity: Islam is based on the teachings found in the Koran (or Al-Qur'an) of the seventh century prophet Mohammed. Islamic believers are divided into a variety of faiths and sects, such as Sunnis and Shiites, which are sometimes antagonistic toward one another (just as there are religious rivalries among Christians and among Jews). 8 The first known mosque in the United States was founded in 1929. Today, there are more than 1,200 mosques in this country, of which 80 percent have been established in the last 25 years. The largest group of Muslims in the United States, African Americans, is divided between those who follow mainstream Islamic doctrine and those who follow the teachings of the controversial Nation of Islam (headed by Minister Louis Farrakhan). The Muslim population of the United States is growing significantly, owing to high birthrates, substantial immigration of Muslims, and conversion of non-Muslims. Source: Richard T. Schaefer, Sociology, 8th ed. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2003, p. 276. |
