New study debunking Muslim stereotypes
Written by Tom Beasley in News, Opinion at March 9, 2011
Many Muslim Americans share a common problem that follows them around in their day to day lives — this is especially the case since the September 11 attacks. When a bearded man with any kind of head covering, unusual to many Americans, walks into an establishment he receives looks. The same applies to women with scarves that cover their heads. Without doubt this phenomenon varies widely based on region. A new study by Homeland Security attempts to debunk these Muslim stereotypes, which involves linking facial hair and religious garments with religious extremism. One police instructor, Sam Kharoba, was noted as saying: “When you have a Muslim that wears a headband, regardless of color or insignia, basically what that is telling you is: ‘I am willing to be a martyr’” Source. However, Faiza Patel, a civil liberties specialist, says that information such as this new study lead to a different conclusion: “there is no profile of the type of person who becomes a terrorist [and] Islam itself does not drive terrorism.” Id. Homeland Defense officials continue the chain of thought: “there is no one path, no ‘trajectory profile’ to political radicalization.” Id. Patel also warned that this xenophobic perspective exacerbates the cooperation of moderate Muslims, which is the group most capable of exposing radicalism.
While I strongly disagree with Patel in saying that Islam per se has no relationship with terrorism, I do agree with his overall message. It is a shame that in a country that lauds its diversity and its “melting pot” culture we still have so much baseless xenophobia. The vast majority of Muslim-Americans are harmless individuals who simply want to contribute to society and enjoy their lives — just like everyone else. Let me restate, I am no apologist or accommodationist — I think religion and especially Islam is one of the worst things humanity has created. Yet Muslim individuals do not deserve this suspicion and it alienates the group that is best suited to routing extremism. This level of suspicion even rises to banning Sharia law in various states. What is curious is that banning Sharia law on a state level accomplishes nothing as it is the state legislature itself that passes laws. Secondly, however wicked Sharia law might be, the message that this sends is simply one of intolerance
Unfortunately, the efficacy of these sound statements is limited. The group that intentionally discriminates against Muslims will not be swayed by such paltry words; the group that unintentionally discriminates against Muslims likely cannot be swayed because they are not cognizant of the discrimination. Often times, racism is not in the words, but at the cusp of the sentences with a dangling sentiment and without anything demonstrative or tangible to point to.
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