Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

altmuslim

Home
Muslim
Chapel Hill Shootings – The Consequences of Political, Media and Societal Islamophobia

Chapel Hill Shootings – The Consequences of Political, Media and Societal Islamophobia

Last updated on: February 15, 2015 at 4:35 pm by Guest Contributor

Chapel Hill Shootings – The Consequences of Political, Media and Societal Islamophobia 2015-02-15T16:35:03-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Sadaf Sajwani

By now, most of us know that last Tuesday evening, three young Muslims were shot and killed, execution style, in their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by a white male.

In the immediate hours after the murders, the nation’s mass media largely ignored this horrific crime. People rushed to Twitter and other social media outlets to spread the word and call out the media’s hypocrisy. Had it been a Muslim man executing three young white students, the incident would’ve been breaking news, complete with a New York Times phone alert. Not surprisingly there was no mass media attention till noon on Wednesday, when the hashtag #chapelhillshooting finally forced some to start noticing.

As expected there were also plenty of Americans who tweeted more hateful messages about Muslims, trying to belittle these voices as if they didn’t matter. Or they merely implied that Muslims were really making a big deal out of nothing.

But why exactly was there such a mass outrage from the Muslim community about this shooting in the first place? Does it speak of a more intolerant American landscape towards American Muslims? Many believe that over the last several years, there has been a steady rise of Islamophobia in this country, which has led to very precarious living conditions for Muslim Americans. Islamophobia has become systemic. Consider the following:

Islamophobia is being funneled for the top down and instigated by our very own politicians. In recent years, several state legislatures (e.g. – Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma) have introduced anti-Muslim legislation. Rep. Peter King (R-NY), former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), among others, have stoked anti-Muslim anxiety among their constituents.

Last month Texas State Rep. Molly White, (R-Belton) skipped the Texas Muslim Capitol Day celebrations. Then, in a post on Facebook she asked her staff “to ask representatives from the Muslim community to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America (and the Israeli flag in her office) and “our laws,” adding, “We will see how long they stay in my office.” While the most offensive comments have come from the right, one cannot pardon Democratic politicians if they don’t take a stance against such hateful rhetoric.

Then again, when politicians do try to discuss the nuances of religion and have a civil conversation about separating an entire religion from individuals, as President Obama did at the National Prayer Breakfast two weeks back, there’s relentless questioning of the words used verses addressing the problem at hand. At the prayer breakfast, the president also spoke about how no religion is immune to violence. He then cited the Crusades as an example of Christianity’s dark past.

Jim Gilmore former Republican Governor of Virginia said that the President’s remarks were “the most offensive” he has ever heard a president make in his lifetime. FOX News also pounced on Obama. FOX Host Eric Bolling said that all other religions asides from Islam have had zero “killings in the name of religion.” Commentator Ben Carson called the President’s comments “irrelevant.” Fox News isn’t alone in sustaining this fear mongering environment among the American public. Anchors on CNN have also enticed Islamophobic fear, as seen here in this interview with Reza Aslan last year.

Then we have the general portrayal of Muslims and Muslim news in the media. As the Charlie Hebdo incident developed, The New York Times rightly sent out a breaking news push notification. Yet there was no such notification for the school shooting in Pakistan last December, where 145 people, mostly children, died, nor for the most recent Boko Haram massacre in Nigeria, which killed at least 150. And there was certainly no breaking news notification for the Chapel Hill shootings on Tuesday. The media was eerily silent on these news pieces as compared to Charlie Hebdo.

In addition to gaps in news media, there are elements of entertainment media perpetuating this notion of Muslims being evil and bad. Take for example the popular show Homeland or movies like American Sniper or Zero Dark Thirty. Shows and movies like these further propagate the ignorant images about Muslims and present an argument of the American hero against the Muslim enemy. Repeated messaging – whether direct or subliminal – has an undeniable impact on “otherizing” of an entire population.

Muslims do have advocates in the media, voices who give fair and important coverage to Muslims – Chris Rock, Ben Affleck, Jon Stewart, Russell Simmons to name a few. However, their voices and our voices are increasingly being drowned out by the ignorant messaging politicians and media send to the American people. When more than 60 percent of Americans say they do not personally know a Muslim, one can only infer that their knowledge of who a Muslim is and what a Muslim stands for comes from the media they watch and the politicians they listen to.

Deah, Yusor and Razan

In response to the shootings, the attorney for Craig Hicks, the man who turned himself in for the killings, stated that, “unfortunately these victims were there at the wrong time at the wrong place.” At the time of the murders, the victims were all inside their homes. Is this what Muslims in America have to learn to adapt to, that being at home could be being in the wrong place?

Three young Americans – Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 – were murdered in North Carolina, and it is an outrage. They were Americans who were committed to America and to serving humanity, as evidenced from the mounds of inspiring stories coming forth about them.

Yet the responses we saw is part of a pattern in America that we Muslims are so accustomed to seeing – when a person who calls themself a Muslim kills in the name of religion, they are deemed as terrorists. In that immediate instance, all Muslims are lumped together in a homogenous way to separate us from “Americans”. Yet when an American commits three unspeakable murders there is a rush to justify his acts – it’s a “parking dispute.” When any other person does the killing, “terrorist” is not used.

There is a systematic dismissal of Muslim voices, concerns and portrayal in American society. Where is the media in their breathless coverage of this heinous act? Where are the politicians who are so quick to judge our patriotism? It’s time to recognize that Islamophobic rhetoric has become socially acceptable, and it must stop. Everyday Muslims are doing their part, displaying Islamic values and ethics of kindness, generosity and compassion. It’s time these everyday acts and voices are recognized. American Muslims are just as much American as every other American.

Sadaf Sajwani is a Director of Partnerships at an education non-profit in New York.

Commentary

America

chapel hill shootings

Previous Post

February 12, 2015

Muslim Response to Chapel Hill: Honoring the Slain and Building Bridges

Next Post

February 16, 2015 It is Violent Extremism, Not Islamic Extremism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I challenged 450 prophets to call down fire from heaven, and theirs failed while mine consumed everything. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elijah Samuel Elisha Moses