Backlash 9 11

For most Americans, September 11, 2001, symbolized the moment when their security was altered. For Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans, 9/11 also ushered in a backlash in the form of hate crimes, discrimination, and a string of devastating government initiatives. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the post-9/11 events on Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans as well as their organized response. Through fieldwork and interviews with community leaders, Anny Bakalian and Mehdi Bozorgmehr show how ethnic organizations mobilized to demonstrate their commitment to the United States while defending their rights and distancing themselves from the terrorists.

How Muslim-American identity has been shaped by 9/11 and its after-effects.

Literary Nonfiction. United States History. Arab American Studies. The tragedy of 9/11 didn't stop when the Twin Towers fell, and the victims are still being created. Nicoletta Karam has written the definitive book on the forgotten victims of 9/11. Many journalists and news commentators deny the existence, length, and intensity of the wave of intolerance that began immediately after the terrorist attacks. This book is an attempt to document that this backlash did occur, and was much worse and much longer in duration than many Americans realize. For more than a decade, bigots have targeted Middle Easterners, Arab-Americans, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, South Asians, Africans, American blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Asian-Americans, bearded white men, and ethnic-looking European immigrants—anyone who looked "different." This book argues that the 9/11 backlash was fueled by 20th-century Islamophobia and Hinduphobia, coupled with local and federal authorities' long-standing unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of hate crimes or handle them with the gravity they deserved. These factors created a "perfect storm" of xenophobia that swept through the U.S. after the terrorist strikes and continued to affect diverse minority communities for more than ten years. Included is the latest detailed information on the Wisconsin Sikh Temple massacre of August 5, 2012. Anyone who believes in equal rights for all should read this book.

"Bakalian and Bozorgmehr provide a comprehensive account of the processes by which certain American religious and ethnic groups were transformed into scapegoats and objects of hate."--Herbert J. Gans, Robert S. Lynd Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Columbia University "The recent history of the United States has taken many strange, unexpected turns, not least of which was the way in which the tragedy of 9/11/2001 triggered a backlash against the Middle Easterners living in the United States, which, in turn, pushed this population into activism and transforming them into full Americans. Bakalian and Bozorgmehr's humane and beautifully written book is the essential window into this process, providing a fascinating, original account of an important aspect of contemporary American life."--Roger Waldinger, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles "This is the first truly comprehensive look at the challenges faced by the Middle Eastern and Muslim American organizations defending the rights and liberties of their constituents in the aftermath of 9/11."--Muzaffar Chishti, Director, Migration Policy Institute Office at New York University School of Law "Bakalian and Bozorgmehr cast the post-9/11 backlash unleashed by American society and government against Muslims and Arab-Americans in a comparative historical perspective. This indispensable work concludes, somewhat unexpectedly, that rather than foster alienation, the backlash prompted a mobilization of the targeted groups to seek greater integration in American society."--Aristide Zolberg, Walter Eberstadt Professor of Political Science, New School University "Bakalian and Bozorgmehr have captured the untold story of how the tragedy of 9/11 altered the landscape for Middle Eastern communities in America. The quality and scope of this research not only documents a critical chapter in our nation's struggle with tolerance and racial profiling, it brings to light the deep impact the backlash continues to have on the ethnic and religious institutions that serve the affected populations. It is a thorough and timely chronicle of the internal and external challenges to American pluralism during the ongoing 'war on terror'."--Helen Samhan, Executive Director, Arab American Institute Foundation

After 9/11, there was an increase in both the incidence of hate crimes and government policies that targeted Arabs and Muslims and the proliferation of sympathetic portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media. Arabs and Muslims in the Media examines this paradox and investigates the increase of sympathetic images of “the enemy” during the War on Terror. Evelyn Alsultany explains that a new standard in racial and cultural representations emerged out of the multicultural movement of the 1990s that involves balancing a negative representation with a positive one, what she refers to as “simplified complex representations.” This has meant that if the storyline of a TV drama or film represents an Arab or Muslim as a terrorist, then the storyline also includes a “positive” representation of an Arab, Muslim, Arab American, or Muslim American to offset the potential stereotype. Analyzing how TV dramas such as The Practice, 24, Law and Order, NYPD Blue, and Sleeper Cell, news-reporting, and non-profit advertising have represented Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans, and Muslim Americans during the War on Terror, this book demonstrates how more diverse representations do not in themselves solve the problem of racial stereotyping and how even seemingly positive images can produce meanings that can justify exclusion and inequality.

Describes post-September 11 violence directed against Arabs and Muslims in the United States and local, state, and federal government responses.

On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists hijacked four airplanes and carried out attacks on the United States, killing more than three thousand Americans and sending the country reeling. Three days after the attacks, President George W. Bush declared, "This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace." Yet in the days following, Bush declared a "War on Terror," which would result in years of Muslims being targeted on the basis of collective punishment and scapegoating. In 2009, President Barack Obama said, "America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace." Instead, Obama perpetuated the War on Terror's infrastructure that Bush had put in place, rendering his words entirely empty. President Donald Trump's overtly Islamophobic rhetoric added fuel to the fire, stoking public fears to justify the continuation of the War his predecessors had committed to. In Innocent Until Proven Muslim, scholar and organizer Dr.Maha Hilal tells the powerful story of two decades of the War on Terror, exploring how the official narrative has justified the creation of a sprawling apparatus of state violence rooted in Islamophobia and excused its worst abuses. Hilal offers not only an overview of the many iterations of the War on Terror in law and policy, but also examines how Muslim Americans have internalized oppression, how some influential Muslim Americans have perpetuated collective responsibility, and how the lived experiences of Muslim Americans reflect what it means to live as part of a "suspect" community. Along the way, this marginalized community gives voice to lessons that we can all learn from their experiences, and to what it would take to create a better future. Twenty years after the tragic events of 9/11, we must look at its full legacy in order to move toward a United States that is truly inclusive and unified.

Contributors explore the trauma, unexpected political gains, and moral ambiguities faced by Arab Detroiters in post-9/11 America.