Hate Crimes Against Muslims in The United States

Ever since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 there has been a growing prejudice in the United States of America. This prejudice is against those who look, act, or claim to be Muslim. This prejudice has led to many hate crimes taking place. These attacks are not always against actual Muslims. Often these hate crimes are committed against individuals who are not Muslims but only appear to be. Either way, these hate crimes based on prejudice views are a huge problem in the United States. This hatred towards those whom appear to be Muslim is stemmed from the growing rhetoric that all Muslims are extremist and hate Americans. As many people know, this is not the case. Most Muslims want to live a normal peaceful life like the rest of us.

In this Article, the author examines the growing fear of those who look, act, or claim to be Muslim. The Author also takes the time tell about several attacks of hate crimes that took place against Muslims and some that are not Muslim, only appearing to be. Most of the attacks reviewed are due to the rise of hate crimes towards Muslims during the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, carried out by Muslim extremeist, on 911.

The tenth anniversary of the attacks carried out on 9/11 took place back in 2011. During this time hate crimes increased against those who appeared to be Muslim. These types of hate crimes ranged anywhere from racial graffiti, all the way to murder. Some of these crimes are described by the author of this article. These hate crimes were reported in several states such as North Carolina, California, New York, and Texas. These hate crimes were not only committed in states that are known for their conservative views, but they were being committed all over the United States. This was a clear sign that there was a problem occurring that needed to be attended to.

Some of the hate crimes that took place around the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks are described. The first one that was mentioned by the author took place on September 7, 2011. This attack was an arson that took place at a grocery store in Clay County, North Carolina. The family that owned this store was not Muslim. In fact, they were a Sikh family who only appeared to be Muslim. There was also graffiti left at the site of the arson that stated “911 go home”. This crime was being investigated as a hate crime by the authorities.

After the hate crime took place in North Carolina, on September 7, another hate crime was reported on September 10, 2015, in Bronx, New York. This attack was less violent than the previous attack, but it still had a very powerful message. A partially burned Koran was sent to a mosque to be delivered to a Muslim Imam. In the package that the partially burned Koran was in, was also cartoons that had anti-Muslim hatred symbolism behind them. This act of hatred was investigated as a hate crime.

The next hate crime reported took place on the tent anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, September 11, 2011. In this attack, a Muslim man from Houston, Texas ordered a hamburger to go from a bar there. Upon receiving his to go box, the man noticed something had been drawn on the top of the box. Upon further inspection of his to go box, the man realized that it had the words “happy September 11” on the box. The number eleven was even drawn into the shape of the twin towers that were struck by planes during the attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.

The author goes on to mention two other examples of hate crimes that took place in California. These events took place in Orangevale, California, and Elk Grove California. The hate crime that took place in Orangevale was an arson at a dry cleaner. The arsonist also left behind a disturbing sight of a swastika with the words “fuck Arab”. The other hate crime in Elk Grove was a double murder of two Sikh men. Both were wearing traditional turbans, causing them to be mistaken as Muslims.

From my personal experience, this situation of hate crimes being committed against Muslims, or those who appear to be Muslim, is not brought up as much as it used to be. This situation is very important to homeland security because if people cannot feel safe and secure within the United States than we have failed. The examples provided in this article would not be considered as attacks of domestic terrorism, but, if executed on a larger scale they could end in events involving mass casualties. Events of mass casualties are one of homeland securities’ biggest concerns, and one that they plan and train for. The individuals conducting these attacks could also be a part of known domestic terrorist groups. If this is the case than this is also a very important topic to be brought up in the discussion of homeland security and domestic preparedness.

In review of this article, the author was trying to raise awareness of the hate crimes that were taking place in the United States, against Muslims and those who appeared to be Muslim. The author provided great examples of these hate crimes that were taking place. By doing so, the author was able to shine light on the very serious situation taking place, thus completing his overall mission. What the author failed to do was give his thoughts on how this situation could be fixed. Complaining or even raising awareness about an issue such as this will most likely not accomplish anything. Giving thoughts onto how to fix the issue at hand would have made this article more relevant. Furthermore, the author did not give much information on what steps were being taken to lessen or prevent these attacks from taking place. The only information given was that the crimes committed were being investigated as hate crimes.

Reference

1. Winter (2011). 9/11 Anniversary Sparks Hate Crimes Against Muslims. Intelligence Report. Issue 144, p7-8. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=b617a840-9894-4eac-8021-313483bcd0f6%40pdc-v-sessmgr05