Racial Stereotypes about Arabs in America - Essay Example

Racial Stereotypes about Arabs and Other American Muslims It is of immense importance to indentifythe negative attitudes which are prevailing in western society especially about the Muslim Americans. This is because it would help these Muslims to better understand and adjust better to such situations. The purpose of this essay is to explore how the racial stereotypes about Arabs and other American Muslims have affected them and what positive steps can be taken for improving this situation. Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that there had been an increase of 1,700 percent in the crime rate against Muslim Americans during the years 2000 and 2001. While trying to adapt to situations when they were confronted with hatred and racism, Muslim Americans felt a significant increase in the negative stereotypes demonstrated by the larger American society, and Muslim immigrants faced extremely negative attitudes, much more than those faced by other new comers to the country. An upsurge in racial and religious animosity rendered Arabs, Middle Easterners, Muslims, and all those who bore stereotyped physical similarity to belonging of these groups, extremely vulnerable to hatred and hostility from people of other cultures in America (Amiri, 2012). While ‘Muslim’ is a religious label and has no pertinence to race, the line between racism and religious prejudice is frequently blurred. Muslim Americans are looked upon as a monolithic group, perceived as a religious minority who act, think, and behave in the same way within their religious community, despite the fact that even among themselves, there exist differences of ethnicity. Despite media reports of the negative stereotypes of Muslims, there has been scant psychological research to support the attitudes of non-Muslims towards Muslim Americans. Various studies have been performed for exploring the negative approach towards Arabs but it is also noted that no such activity has been formed for exploring behaviors of Muslimes. In Europe a research has been done, on the area of ‘Islamophobia’ which means dread or hatred of Islam. A survey was conducted in the United Kingdom which pointed to the fact that prejudice against Muslims has surged upward in recent years (Ridouani, 2011). Owing to the fact that many Muslim American stand out as culturally rather distinct, it is worthwhile to speculate and discover whether the attitudes of non-Muslims toward Muslim Americans reflect those demonstrated by European non-Muslims towards the members of these minority groups. Following September 11, there were more instances of prejudicial events aimed at Muslims and all those seen as Muslims, it is necessary to identify the specific situational contexts in which Muslim Americans are most susceptible to experiences of negative attitudes towards them and their cultural group. This kind of information would be useful to Muslims Americans to better comprehend negative experiences (Alsultany, 2012 ). It is already known than prejudice against Muslim Americans prevailed even prior to September 11. These prejudices may very well be understood owing to media perceptions of Islam as being unaccommodating and violent. It is, however, beneficial to examine the situational approaches toward Muslim Americans after September 11, 2001. This is because the occurrences by Muslim terrorists served to exacerbate the public’s attitude toward the conventional Muslim Americans. A better understanding of the impact of the non-Muslim peoples’ response to Muslims may be valuable information to steer the endeavors to lessen the prejudice towards this group. However, the impact of situations factors on the attitudes toward Muslim American in the post 9/11 days, have never been solely reviewed before. In order to gauge an individual person’s impact on a specific situation, it is vital to comprehend the role of social desirability. Social desirability prejudice is the ability of human beings to show themselves to others in a generally likeable fashion. However, this tendency varies from person to person and may be dependent on a particular context. Social desirability has been thought to be a result of two factors the average strength for the need of approval by other people, and secondly, the demands of a specific situation. Overstating socially desirable behaviors and under-stating socially undesirable behaviors can give rise to problems in exploring sensitive attitudes. The prejudice of social desirability can become enlarged or remain moderate owing to the relationships existing between different variables. With regards to the attitudes toward Muslim Americans, one would think that if an individual is considerably concerned with social desirability, he may downplay the destructive attitudes that prevail toward Muslim Americans (Marger, 2014). There are about 3 million Muslims in the United States of America. This number has risen significantly in the last half century through immigration from Muslim countries, procreation, as well as conversion. Islamic scholars, religious students, and analysts of American demographics downplay the presence of Islam in America. This could in good part be due to two co-related factors: the generally negative media attention of Islam in the background of terrorist activities in the Middle East, as well as the tendency of American Muslims to maintain a low profile. The Islamic phenomenon in America, however, is worthy of substantial attention. The aspect of flexibility in Islam which led to its expansion has played a significant role in its sustenance in the social and cultural context of America. However, Muslims did face certain challenges in adapting Islam to the American scene. Their practices and edicts have evolved considerably over the course of time. Mosques, for example, are the venue for certain non-traditional functions such as weddings and funerals. Religious education classes are conducted on Sunday morning, and fund-raising activities are carried out by ladies through bake sales, bazaars, and community and cultural functions. The role of Muslim Imams has also developed considerably. These religious leaders take on the responsibility of looking after the mosques, counseling the faithful, and acting as spokespeople to groups among whom Islam is little known or understood. In the post-World War I period the origins of government supported Islamohobia emerged which increased slowly with the passage of time. After the attack of September 11 several incidents have taken place in United States which depicted the increase of public anger towards Muslim Americans. It was observed that Americans have become intolerant towards Islam and their corresponding Muslim Americans (Parker, 2008). There was a sudden increase of Muslim being portrayed as terrorists which was all created by the media which eventually made all Americans believe that Muslims are actually terrorists. Following the 9/11 attack, media played a significant role in changing perceptions of Muslim Americans, Arabs, Asian etc. which transformed eventually into hatred and discrimination. Media exposed public to recurrent negative images about Muslims which resulted in episodic to most thematic situation. Same thing happened once again when Muslim American were about to establish a Ground Zero Mosque in Manhattan. The hatred and anger of Americans rose towards their fellow Muslims which resulted in threats towards unarmed Muslims (Daraiseh, 2012). The typical stereotypes prevailing in U.S. about Arabs and Muslims is presented in different forms by the American media. They have also been trying to portray this stereotypical representation through media, literature and from other available medium of expressions. Arab-Americans are in the state of three-fold depression as most of these people were living in conflicting areas such as Iraq and Palestine and the immigration itself was a traumatic experience for them. As per Muslim Americans organizations the majority of Arabs and Muslims have experienced care, kindness and protection from people outside their communities. It is also a fact that a large number of people are converting to Islam in the U.S. considerably after September attacks. The Arabs are no longer evident in America but the numbers of Muslims are in continuous rise. Hence it is apparent that the violence or hostility in America is not coming from Arabs and Muslims it is all due to the changing society, political and environmental changes. Works Cited Alsultany, Evelyn. Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11. NYU Press, 2012 . Amiri, Mohammad Abid. Muslim Americans and the Media After 9/11. 2012. . Daraiseh, Isra. "Effects of Arab American Discrimination Post 9/11 in the Contexts of the Workplace and Education." McNair Scholars Research Journal (2012): 1-19. Marger, Martin N. Race and Ethnic Relations: American and Global Perspectives. Cengage Learning, 2014. Ridouani, Driss. The Representation of Arabs and Muslims in Western Media. 2011. . Read More