Muslims as Terrorists, Essay Example

Muslims as Terrorists: Stereotypical Mistake or an Act of Misjudgment?

Racism stems from a variety of differences between groups of people. Often, people hold racist tendencies because they believe that the values that they were raised with are superior to others. In other cases, people exhibit racism against cultures and traditions that they do not understand. As a consequence, racism is common in the world today. However, these values are not innate; they must be taught in order to take hold in a society. One of the most common examples of learned racism is due to media influence on the citizens of certain countries. Because the media reports modern terrorist events in a manner that paints Islamic individuals in a negative light, many people have started to blame the Muslim population as a whole for these terrorist attacks, which creates hatred against the whole community. Thus, it is valuable to explore how this racism is learned from people and the media in addition to how such learned hate could be prevented.

On my 19^th birthday, I visited Paris for the weekend. While it seemed like a normal trip at first, the recent terrorist attacks on France’s capital ignited. Since I was staying in a part of town away from the violence, I was fortunately not directly impacted; however, I happened to be in the epicenter of the occurring events. While watching media coverage, it appeared that the media covered the event very precisely and delivered their perspective quite clear as well: it was Muslims who did it. The way that the media framed this attack made it seem as if an entire group of people were at fault for this terrorist attack. Islam is a religion. We should therefore avoid blaming it for terror. Just as we don’t blame Christians or Jews for attacks that one of their followers committed, we should not blame all Muslims for the act of a few.

It is detrimental to place the blame on one group of people for an action that they have no responsibility for. Furthermore, it is important to consider that there are many Muslim Americans that were just as abhorred by the terrorist attack as their fellow citizens. American identity is very complex because it has sent some mixed messages on what constitutes as equality and racism. “It is a society at once founded on the principles of justice and equality, on the one hand, and built upon racist traditions and marred by a legacy of slavery on the other” (Pearson, Dovidio, & Gaertner, 2009). Even though American law states that “all man is created equal”, certain groups of people, such as African Americans, have been historically excluded from such rights. Because American history has justified and legalized inequality that has continued to modern times and the learned behavior of racism, these sentiments perpetuate today. Americans justify their hatred of Muslims because of the September 11^th terrorist attacks, and this sentiment has been perpetuated by the attack on France, one of America’s closest ally’s. However, it is important to consider that these feelings have been learned. Because a few individuals associate terrorism with the Muslim community, a larger number of individuals now recognize this connection. This is a phenomenon that has occurred within the country repeatedly because it helps these individuals feel more comfortable in the light of terror.

The racism that includes bigotry and prejudices can be learned in the lower level of the educational process. Furthermore, simply observing others and reading about the opinions of others can teach hate. The same educational process that is established to arm all students with equality and knowledge can influence racism. Noguera (2008) explains, “The stereotypical images we hold toward groups are powerful in influencing what people see and expect of students. Unless educators consciously try to undermine and work against these kinds of stereotypes, they often act on them unconsciously” (Noguera, 2008). When people attempt to learn new ideas from others or on their own, it is likely that they will encounter biased opinions. Since it is challenging for children to determine that the information presented to them is opinion, they tend to believe that they hear. Thus, teachers learn such stereotypes, and they employ them in the classrooms, spreading racist beliefs.

It is also valuable to consider that many young children and even adults learn racism through the use of social media and the Internet. By reading comments about the September 11^th terrorist attacks, for example, people tend to believe what is being read because they agree with the angry sentiments of the individual posting. While they may not be racist individuals, repeated reading of such comments leads people to believe that they must be true, especially when they already agree with half of the comment being posted. An instance of this can be reflected in a Tweet that reads “I feel so bad for Paris, and I hate those terrorist Muslims that did it”. If the individual does in fact feel terrible about what happened in Paris, they are more likely to agree with the second comment as well. Thus, racism is perpetuated in many ways and reading racist comments on social media and the Internet is one of the most influential.

While we are all aware that racism exists and it is problematic, it is still necessary to determine how to resolve it. It seems that we all have our incorrect perceptions that are essentially allowing us to stereotype individuals incorrectly, so how do we as society change make a positive change to end racism? Yosso (2002) believes the first place to start is in the classrooms. Changing the personal practice and making alterations to the classroom structure will also a new method for interacting with the students. There is little that can be done about the curriculum; however counter narratives can show how such actions are no longer acceptable in today’s society. History is just that, and history is used to learn from past mistakes, so they do not repeat in the future. Racism is one of those factors that does not need to keep repeating itself. In addition, teachers can help students understand responsible use of the Internet, to help them determine which information is fact and which is opinion.

In conclusion, racism is a learned behavior that people are directly and indirectly influenced by. In order to act against racism, it is necessary to understand the difference between facts and opinions and to implement these understandings as a part of our own thoughts and actions. It would be beneficial for teachers to teach both sides of historical events in the classroom to allow students to form opinions on their own. Furthermore, teaching young children how to properly discern information on the Internet will allow them to understand how to better utilize the opinions they encounter. Racism is one of the most dangerous things in society, and until we are able to control how it’s learned, we will never be able to eliminate it.

References

Guess, Teresa J. (2006). The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent, Racism by Consequence. Critical Sociology, Volume 32, Issue 4.

Noguera, P. A. (2008). The trouble with Black boys and other reflections on race, equity, and the future of public education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Pearson, Adam R.; John F. Dovidio; & Samuel L. Gaertne. (2009). The Nature of Contemporary Prejudice: Insights from Aversive Racism. Social and  Personality Psychology Compass, 3.

Steinberg, Annie M.D.; Jane Brooks M.ed.; & Tariq Remtulla, B.A. (2003).

Youth Hate Crimes: Identification, Prevention, and Intervention. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 160 Issue 5, 979-989.

Yosso. T.J. (2002). Toward a critical race curriculum. Equity & Excellence in Education, 35 (2), 93-107.