Rising Islamophobia in Post 9/11 America

Recent studies show that anti-Islamic sentiment is higher now than it was directly after 9/11. A quarter century later, the nation has never been more divided. Though most Americans never directly saw the smoke from those coordinated attacks, they struck a deep fear in the American psyche. America had sustained a direct attack that took the lives of thousands of people.

Despite an onslaught of Islamophobia directly after the attack, many, including then-President Bush, encouraged Americans to understand that Muslims in America and across the world were peace-loving people. Now, a quarter century after the attacks, despite having Muslims representing us at all levels of government, the perception of Muslims has never been worse.

This is not coincidental. There is a multi-million dollar industry that backs this rhetoric, known loosely as the “Islamophobia Network,” in which multiple individuals and organizations distribute and receive millions of dollars to push for anti-Muslim legislation and fund anti-Islam lobbying groups.

The consequences of pushing these Islamophobic agendas have had real policy implications which threaten American Muslim communities. The Trump administration has put out executive orders, and Republicans nationwide have actively attempted to pass legislation, which link American Muslims with terrorist groups by fabricating loose connections, and use this as grounds for detention, revocation of visas, and even a push to revoke citizenship status.

American Muslim organizations that have operated above board and under regulation for years are threatened too, because one unsubstantiated claim can put them at risk of being dissolved.

Not far from ground zero, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, who has been continuously attacked over his faith, his positions, and his associations, has been asked to stay away from 9/11 commemoration ceremonies. The reasons cited to justify his absence were things such as his presence being disrespectful because of the “people he supports.” Though Mamdani welcomes open dialogue about his policies, the commentary connects him to a terrorist attack that occurred when he was an elementary schooler in the city.

Though Mamdani does not respond in kind to such attacks, he has said he will attend, and he does communicate that Muslims in New York were also impacted on September 11th and by the hazardous conditions afterward, this week releasing 170,000 pages of city records on the toxic air New Yorkers were told was safe to breathe.

The vitriol and hatred these views incite have real-world implications. Mamdani has spoken openly, multiple times, about being on the receiving end of death threats, both throughout the duration of his campaign and continuing even now as he is in office, and a Texas man was charged with a hate crime for threats telling the mayor to go back to Uganda.

Far-right anti-Muslim activist Jake Lang has targeted Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan, and Dallas, Texas, homes of two of the largest Muslim communities in the United States, with Quran desecrations and mosque protests that have left communities feeling unsafe.

Attacks against Muslim communities are growing, from the July arson at a Philadelphia mosque to the May shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that killed three people, and Muslims are at risk and feel threatened every single day. With an administration that contributes to this hatred, many feel as though there is no real way to push back.

This administration and its party are peddling anti-Islamic rhetoric as a distraction while families struggle to survive amidst a cost of living crisis. Reporting from this week’s Republican convention in Dallas, Channel 4 News found that almost everyone it spoke to voiced it, that it “comes from the very top,” and that Muslims in Texas “have never felt as intimidated.” Yet many are hopeful that Americans are seeing through the manufactured campaigns. American communities are more aware than ever of who their Muslim friends and neighbors are.

Though many years ago, many Americans only knew of Muslims through propaganda on TV or through news stories from far away, the American Muslim community has grown large, and is made up of men, women, and children who share in the American dream, who are good schoolmates, kind coworkers, and decent neighbors.

Though much work needs to be done to dismantle an industry dedicated to otherizing American Muslims, there is still hope that through all these obstacles, Muslim Americans will be recognized as who they are: as people who are simply exercising their rights to freedom of religion and as Americans who, above all, are committed to their country.