Arab Muslims in the United States

Introduction
Globalization has been critical in making the world smaller, heterogeneous, and interdependent. In spite of these developments, globalization has been critical in creating a platform for clashes among diverse cultures. Immigrants focused on leaving their home nations for diverse reasons by either choice or necessity. The U.S. has been critical in depicting the image of a nation enjoying cultural diversity. One of the particular groups of interest for this discussion is the Arab Muslims in America. These immigrants sought to move to the U.S. in seeking better lives and fleeing prosecution. The group did come from completely different culture, language, and religion. These attributes have been critical in enhancing their susceptibility or vulnerability to diverse challenges such as assimilation, marginalization, separation, and integration. This paper explores and investigates the Arab Muslims in America. The focus will be on the media portrayal of the Arab Muslims, as well as the influence of the 9/11 incidence on the discrimination toward the Arab Muslims in the context of the U.S.
Background Information
In the modern America, about 3 million persons come out as adherents of Islam. Evidently, Arab Americans: Christian and Muslim, have the tendency to constitute a growing number of individuals in the American population. In the recent decades, there has been a rapid increase in the population migration across the world inclusive of the U.S. From this perspective, various persons across the world have focused on moving from one state to another by choice or necessity, thus, enormous implications for economic security, as well as globalization processes.

The U.S. comes out as a nation of unique composition, which provides a home for various races, ethnicities, and nationalities.
Constant diversification is vital in enabling the U.S. to become a special place, which facilitates blending, enriching of cultures through the integration of unique experiences and valuable features. In spite of these diversities, the Arab Muslims have been at the end of diverse implications of virulent prejudice in the midst of statements and images in the media, as well as rhetoric from different highest political leadership. The suffering of the Arab Muslims in the United States did increase dramatically following the events of 9/11. In the presence of the fabricated racism in America, subtle and violent actions have been able to develop against diverse ethnic groups and individuals. Most of these acts tend to target Arab Muslims within the context of the United States.
The expressions of racism, which manifest in the violent acts, have also been on the increase since 9/11. Some of the violent actions against the community include bombing and torching of the offices, mosques, and centers for the Arab Muslims in the U.S. There have been killings of the leaders of the Arab-Muslim communities, as well as the integration of the questionable laws in the course of stifling the rights of association and the constitutional freedom of expression. These aspects have been critical in generating detention of the Arab persons, as well as individuals looking like Arabs, especially at the airports and other public spaces without substantive justification. These elements are critical in providing the platform for the assessment of the presentation of the Arab Muslims in the American media, as well as the creation of discrimination against the group or community since the 9/11 event.
Media and the Arab Muslims in America
Even before the 9/11 event, the perceptions of the Muslims and individuals from the Middle East in America did demonstrate skewness. It is possible to trace the creation of the myths by media through assessment of the influence of labeling as part of the strategy of the experts and policymakers concerning the region. Following the 9/11 event, the Americans did continue to express their punitive interpretations and perceptions on the individual who bears a resemblance to the images, which the media tend to portray as the enemy. For instance, within days of the 9/11 attacks, various news channels were critical in flashing up different imageries of what the captors looked like. In the midst of these images, Americans sought to turn their fear, as well as hatred on any individual who had a close resemblance to the flushed faces.
Across the history of the U.S., the media has focused on the integration of the Orientalist representation of the Arab Muslims in the context of the America. For instance, Shaheen Jack, in his 2001 book, Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, sought to document more than 900 Hollywood films in the assessment of their portrayal of the Arabs. According to these films, the Arab men tend to experience the representation as sheiks and terrorists. On the other hand, the films depict the Arab women as the harem girls or women under oppression.
In the assessment of the media presentation or portrayal of the Arab Muslims, it is ideal to examine the role and influence of stereotyping in enabling the media to gain power through repetition. Evidently, through repeating the existing images of the specific groups, the media is able to influence what the public might think they know about the Arab Muslims, especially in America. The American media has focused on the representation of the Arab men as terrorists, a perception, which did emerge with the inauguration of the state of Israel in 1948 following the end of the Second World War. Categorically, the media has been on the forefront in terming the violence of the Palestinian resistance movements opposing the illegal Israeli occupation as terrorism. On the other hand, the media contributes to the understanding of the violence of the Israel as a defense rather than an act of terrorism.
Moreover, various political events or movements have been able to factor into the perception of the Arab Muslims in the media or the popular culture. For instance, the Mid-East Oil crisis in 1973 was a critical platform for the development of the rich oil sheik stereotype. Alternatively, the 1979 Iran hostage crisis was a critical factor in generating conflation of the Iranians, Arabs, and Muslims. These elements were critical in the provision of the solid platform for the association of Islamic religion with the issue of terrorism, as well as the oppression of the Arab women as evident in the flushed images of the Iranian women putting on the chador. The media also plays a critical role in the course of associating Arab and Muslim women with the oppression and veil.
In spite of the tendency of most Arab Muslim women to live in a condition of inequality, the media integrates inadequate representation of the Arab Muslims. Failure of the media to elaborate on the diversity and complexity among the Arab Muslims tends to manifest in the documentation or presentation of the foreign policy of America. For instance, when Americans perceive Arab Muslims as inherently violent, it would make valuable sense to engage in the invasion of their nations; thus, the platform to be at war with such nations. On the other hand, if Americans perceive Arab Muslims as human beings facilitating the development of the complex and diverse societies, it might prove difficult to document policies, which have adverse implications on these aspects of humanity.
9/11 and Arab Muslims in the United States
Various research practitioners have focused on the assessment of the position and challenges facing the Arab Muslims in the U.S. following the 9/11 event. In the documentation of her text, Alsultany (1-227) focused on the expression of the racial representation of the Arabs and Muslims in the media after the 9/11 attack. According to the findings of this resource, the American media has focused on typecasting dangerous Muslim men as terrorists in most cases, as well as women under oppression. In spite of these dangerous portrayals, Alsultany identifies the presence of sympathetic portrayals in the media as the victims of the issue of racial profiling, discrimination, and hate to crime as evident in diverse programs such as 24, Law and Order, and the Practice.
Critically, it is ideal to note that these sympathetic portrayals of the Arab Muslims in the media fail in attempts to challenge the existence of the negative stereotypes. The media has focused on reinforcing negative understandings or perceptions of the Arab Muslims in the United States, thus, the substantive perpetuation of biases. According to Alsultany (4), the 9/11 attack was critical in proliferating hate crimes, discrimination at workplace, bias incidences, and airline segregation against the Arab Muslims, which continue to persist in the contemporary society.
According to Panagopoulos (608), the 9/11 attack was critical in fueling concern, as well as speculation on the Islamophobic sentiment among the citizens as a reaction to the events. For instance, the then President, George W. Bush sought to urge Americans to engage in resisting anti-Muslim impulses while addressing the grieving nation. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, there was a consistent growth or development of the backlash violence against the Arab Muslims. Similarly, El-Sayed (111-121) focused on the assessment of the Arab Americans’ views of identity, belonging, and mobility, especially following the 9/11 attack or event. This is through considering the perspectives of the Arab American writers and the Arab immigrants. The article provides a platform for understanding and exploring the experience of the Arab Muslims following the 9/11 event or attack; thus, the platform to integrate 12 case studies representing the diverse and multidimensional experiences.
Disha, James, and King (22) focused on the assessment of the variation regarding hate crime offenses against the Arab Muslims across the U.S. in months before, as well as after 9/11. The article is vital in exploring the challenges of the Arab Muslims through assessment of four contextual issues. In the first instance, the article provides the platform for the exploration of the determinants of the anti-Arab and Muslim hate crimes before the 9/11. Secondly, the article assesses the social contexts putting the Arab Muslims at great risk of marginalization, as well as victimization. Thirdly, the article investigates toe extent of the hate crimes against the Arab Muslims following the 9/11 attack. Finally, the researchers focused on the assessment of the predictors of hate crimes and variations following the terrorist attacks. According to the findings of the paper, Arab Muslims had to deal with the increased challenges of the hate crimes targeting their communities after the 9/11 attack. Evidently, terrorist attacks were critical in inciting retaliation and hate crimes, which have been consistent, thus, consequential definition or terming of hate crimes as a social issue of national importance.
Akram (63-111) focused on the assessment of the events, which did take place following the 9/11 attack, thus, understanding of the violent targeting of the Arab Muslims in America. In her article, Akram focused on the evaluation or investigation of the acts, which demonizes the Arab Muslims and Islamic religion in the American context. In the article, the author focused on the illustration of the potentiality of targeting to have begun before the tragedy, 9/11. Categorically, the article cites diverse laws and policies, which sought to target Arab Muslims, especially in the 1970s translating into the selective interrogation. It is essential to note that the media has been critical in the stereotyping of the Arab Muslims as demonic terrorists, as well as the religious fanatics, thus, influencing the perceptions of the citizens concerning the group.
Cainkar (7-15) focused on the illustration of the influence of 9/11 with the intention of highlighting increased focus on the Arab Muslims in agreement with the stereotyping issues on the American media following the attacks of 9/11. Another critical article highlighting challenges of the Arab Muslims following the 9/11 attacks, is Alimahomed (381-397). According to this research article, Arab Muslims have had to contend with the racial profiling and politics because of the perceptions of other groups or diversities based on the images and aspects in the media. This article associates with the resource by Kaushal, Robert, and Cordelia (275-308), which focused on the exploration of the effects of 9/11 on the labor market concerning the Arab Muslims across America. Categorically, it is essential to note that the media has been critical in affecting or influencing the perceptions or conceptualization of the Arab Muslims across the U.S., especially following the 9/11 tragedy.
Conclusion
Conclusively, this paper sought to explore and investigate the Arab Muslims in the United States. The focus was on the media portrayal of the Arab Muslims, as well as the influence of the 9/11 incidence on the discrimination toward the Arab Muslims in the context of the United States. According to the findings of the paper, the media has been critical in the documentation of stereotypes while presenting Arab Muslims as violent, especially following the events of 9/11. The approach by the media has been vital in the increased targeting or victimization of the Arab Muslims based on the images and concepts flushed by the media entities across the world. Evidently, it is ideal to elaborate on the influence of the media in affecting how the ordinary citizens tend to perceive or view the Arab Muslims across the U.S. These perceptions tend to occur in spite of the development sympathetic films on the victimization of the Arab Muslims across the U.S.
Works Cited
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Alimahomed, Sabrina. ” Generation Islam”: Arab American Muslims and Racial Politics after September 11.” Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts 4.3 (2011): 381-397.
Alsultany, Evelyn. Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11. Nyu Press, 2012.
Cainkar, Louise. “No longer invisible: Arab and Muslim exclusion after September 11.” Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications (2002): 7.
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Panagopoulos, Costas, “The polls-trends Arab and Muslim Americans and Islam in the aftermath of 9/11,” Public Opinion Quarterly 70.4 (2006): 608-624.
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