Muslim Americans Before and After 9/11: Status and Mobilization

Introduction: Muslims in America

The status of Muslims in America changed radically in the wake of 9/11 (Sheridan, 2006). A small population by percentage — Muslim Americans make up only 1% of the U.S. population (Besheer, 2016) — Muslims nonetheless received the vast bulk of negative attention and backlash following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. As a community, Muslims were well-connected both domestically and internationally, and many reached out to the U.S. government after 9/11 in an effort to work with federal agencies to help address the issues arising from the climate of terror (Mantri, 2011).

Haddad (2001), writing prior to the 9/11 attacks, stated that Muslims in the U.S. "have mostly lived on the margins" of the nation's "political life," possess a high degree of "ethnic diversity" within their own groups, and lack the political experience needed for "political integration" in America (p. 91). At the same time, Haddad (2001) acknowledges that the teaming up of the "Zionist lobby and the Christian Right" has resulted in the marginalization of Muslims in America. Notably, "a coalition of Arab-American and Muslim political action groups" supported the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000 and helped provide support in the final swing state of Florida in an otherwise tight race (p. 91). Thus, while Muslim Americans are certainly not a major social or political force in the U.S., they have helped to shape certain outcomes — though they have also been shaped by 9/11 and the ensuing terror attacks around the world. This paper discusses Muslim American mobilization before and after 9/11 and examines their status pre-9/11 and how it has changed since.

Muslim American Diversity and the Limits of Ethnic Classification

The wars in the Middle East in the 21st century have been catastrophic for some Muslim communities while simultaneously being supported by others. 9/11 served as the catalyst for these wars and also amplified the fragmentation of the Muslim world as in-fighting escalated into factional conflicts from Yemen to Syria. To describe Muslims as a single ethnic group would be highly misleading, given the many varieties of Islam — it is akin to calling Christians or Jews ethnicities, which is simply not accurate. The Muslim population in America is similarly fragmented. As Bakalian and Bozorgmehr (2005) show, 9/11 led many Muslim Americans to mobilize in the face of bias and anti-Muslim immigration policies.

Pre-9/11 Targeting and Political Consciousness

Prior to 9/11, Muslim American communities had already been targeted by authorities — especially in the 1960s and 1970s, when Muslim American leaders like Malcolm X were assassinated, followed later by the killing of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. Muhammad Ali was targeted for his refusal to fight in Vietnam as well as for his outspoken criticism of the cultural and political establishment in America. These individuals inspired the next generation of Muslim Americans, led by diverse figures ranging from Louis Farrakhan to Chuck D. of Public Enemy (Turner, 2003, p. xxviii).

Thus, even before 9/11, the Muslim American population was sensitive to and aware of its outsider status — an awareness understood as the product of numerous causes, from racism and moral bias to cultural prejudice. The centralization of power by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants and Zionists meant that Muslims would never hold a comfortable or welcomed place in American society (Haddad, 2001). The leadership of figures like Malcolm X helped many African American Muslims become self-conscious and politically activated, but this approach was primarily oriented toward African Americans and did not particularly benefit Arab American Muslim communities. For this reason, "Muslim American" is not an efficient indicator of ethnicity, as Islam has appealed to a broad range of Americans both before and after 9/11.

Indeed, celebrated Hollywood director Oliver Stone's son converted to Islam following 9/11 in what amounted to a socio-political statement about the possibility of coexistence among Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The assassination of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, however, indicated that the U.S. government had far less tolerance for Muslim Americans than Stone had hoped to inspire.

Conclusion: Ongoing Challenges and Cultural Belonging

9/11 has raised awareness about prejudice toward Muslims as more and more groups have spoken out regarding the plight of Muslim Americans. Nonetheless, hostility remains woven into American culture, and Muslim Americans of all ethnicities continue to find it difficult, to varying degrees, to find their place in the United States. Some — especially African American Muslims — feel their place should be outside of mainstream America, a sentiment with roots in the militancy of Malcolm X and the Black Panther movement.

References

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