Breaking the Barrier:
9/11
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JVbLYju6ShHlvJAqJ8mqIMO6eqs9pNArbvo0zNoqy7Y/ed
it
Research Question: How did 9/11 affect American views on Islam?
Database:
(MHS Library Commons)
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ultiTab&searchType=ts&bname=Islam&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true&prodId=WHIC
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(12/16)
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(12/16)
https://go.gale.com/ps/searchTopic?topicId=GALE%7C00000000MXHA&searchResultsType=M
ultiTab&searchType=ts&bname=Terrorism&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true&prodId=W
HIC&category=Browse+Topics
(12/16)
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(12/16)
(Brookings)
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/september-11-and-american-foreign-policy/
(12/17)
How did 9/11 affect American views on Islam?
Abstract
On September 11, 2001, a series of airline hijacking attacks by the Islamic extremist group,
Al-Qaeda occurred. The leader of this attack, Osama Bin-Laden, would claim responsibility for
this attack, in an attempt to expose the US as weak and fragile. Although some parts of the attack
did fail, the attack did dramatically change views over the Middle East and the religion of Islam
as a whole. This paper suggests that the attacks of 9/11 have put a permanent dent on the
reputation of Islam and it's current followers. The 9/11 attacks were one of the major causes for
the negative view and hate towards Islam, which gradually increased over time. The issue of
Islam has gained political traction, being debated by politicians with other national issues, like
taxes, healthcare, and etc. As time would go on to pass, these attacks would cause physical issues
to Muslims, and other followers of Islam, as mass media would go on to portray Muslims as
people part of secret terrorist organizations, causing many people to take this issue into their
hands, by physically harassing many followers of Islam. Although these attacks happened nearly
20 years ago, the effects of it continue to linger till this day.
https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks
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Breaking Barriers Sources (3/15):
“September 11 Attacks.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks.
Gallup. “Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West.” Gallup.com,
Gallup, 14 Jan. 2021,
news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.asp
x.
“Bullying and Bias: Addressing Islamophobia in Schools.” Islamophobia, 6 Nov. 2019,
www.islamophobia.org/research/bullying-and-bias-in-schools.html.
Powell, Kimberly A. “Framing Islam: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of Terrorism Since
9/11.” Communication Studies, vol. 62, no. 1, 2011, pp. 90–112.,
doi:10.1080/10510974.2011.533599.
Powell, Kimberly. “Framing Islam/Creating Fear: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of
Terrorism from 2011–2016.” Religions, vol. 9, no. 9, 2018, p. 257., doi:10.3390/rel9090257.
Espiritu, Belinda F. “15 May 2016 Negative Media Portrayal of Islam.” WACC, 15 May
2016, waccglobal.org/negative-media-portrayal-of-islam/.
“Chapter 29: America and the World.” Teaching American History,
teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/chapter-29-america-and-the-world/.
“Remarks by President Obama in Town Hall with Young Leaders of the UK.” National Archives
and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/23/remarks-president-obama-town-hallyoung-leaders-uk.
“Letters to the President: Reflections on Growing Up as Muslim Americans.” National Archives
and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration,
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/07/06/letters-president-celebrating-eid-al-fitr.
Bahdi, R., & Kanji, A. (2018). What is Islamophobia? University of New Brunswick Law
Journal, 69, 322+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A565512080/GPS?u=j043907002&sid=GPS&xid=b868b448
Noor, F. A. (2006). How Washington's war on terror 'became everyone's: Islamophobia and the
impact of September 11 on the political terrain of South and Southeast Asia. Human
Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, 5(1), 29+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A227788687/GPS?u=j043907002&sid=GPS&xid=c9473fd1
How did 9/11 affect American views on Islam?
I. Contextualization paragraph:
A. In the late 1900s, America was engaged in several military campaigns across the Middle
East. From stopping Soviet Rule in Afghanistan, to fighting a war in the Persian Gulf to
stop Saddam Hussein, America played a major role in many Islamic states. In addition to
this, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, many Western and European countries began to
create their own spheres of influence in the Middle East, in an attempt to control more
Ottoman lands.This slowly caused animosity to grow in the Islamic States, which much
of it directed towards the US, causing the issue to worsen until it took form in the event
now infamously known as 9/11. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks, America’s views
on Islam were indifferent, due to Islam having little to no effect on the lives of American
citizens.
I. Thesis statement:
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam, because of the rise of islamophobia,
media portrayals, and contrasting ideologies.
II. Body paragraph 1
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam because of the rise of
islamophobia.
A. Evidence 1
(http://www.islamophobia.org/images/2019/Bullying/Bias_and_Bullying_White_Paper.pdf
)
i. Muslim kids in school faced discrimination and were often bullied due to
their religion
B. Evidence 2
(https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&search
ResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=6482&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPos
ition=3&docId=GALE%7CA299537378&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSeg
ment=ZGPP-MOD1&prodId=GPS&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA299537378&s
earchId=R9&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true)
i. Right after 9/11, harsh government actions affected not only the targeted
individuals, namely young Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim men, but also
their families. As a result, many "Arabs/Muslims were deported or voluntarily
left the United States out of fear," and many families became separated from
each other. While the government "explicitly rejected Muslim/Arab 'ethnic
profiling,' it was also clear that this was the targeted group that would be most
affected by the government's domestic antiterrorism strategy which the
attorney general defined as 'taking suspected terrorists in violation of the law
off the streets and keep them locked up.'" The target was "Muslim-looking"
people. The profile had "racial content and [was] preoccupied with phenotype
rather than faith or action." In the media, conservative journalists like Ann
Coulter were trying to convince the American people about the connection
between Muslims and terrorists, claiming that "Not all Muslims are terrorists,
but all terrorists are Muslim."
D. Tie-back sentence summarizing this paragraph and tying it to your thesis
statement
II. Body paragraph 2
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam due to media portrayal of Islam
A. Evidence 1
(https://waccglobal.org/negative-media-portrayal-of-islam/)
i. Muslim identity and concerns are warped by the media, with a large focus
on the minority of Muslims that resort to violence, rather than the large
peaceful majority who speak out against the violent minority.
B. Evidence 2
(https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&search
ResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=164&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosit
ion=10&docId=GALE%7CA657617390&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSeg
ment=ZONE-MOD1&prodId=GPS&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA657617390&
searchId=R8&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true)
i. Many shooting videogames, often make the enemies out to be violent
Islamic terrorist groups, often implementing the idea that Islam is evil in the
minds of young kids
C. Evidence 3
(https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&search
ResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=6482&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPos
ition=22&docId=GALE%7CA335922479&docType=Report&sort=Relevance&contentSe
gment=ZTSI-198501P&prodId=GPS&pageNum=2&contentSet=GALE%7CA335922479
&searchId=R9&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true)
i. The media falsely names all Arabs and brown-looking people as Muslims.
Also use the word Islam and Muslim when talking about terrorism, in many
different cases. Attempts at making the religion of Islam synonymous to
terror, post-9/11.
D. Tie-back sentence summarizing this paragraph and tying it to your thesis
statement
IV. Body paragraph 3
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam due to Islam having contrasting ideologies
to America
A. Evidence 1
(https://news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentimentwest.aspx)
i. Graph displays that Muslims believe to be religiously discriminated against, and a
graph showing Americans believe the Islamic religion is the cause of Middle Eastern
Problems
B. Evidence 2
(https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&search
ResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=164&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosit
ion=4&docId=GALE%7CA239169941&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegm
ent=ZEDU-MOD1&prodId=GPS&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA239169941&se
archId=R8&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true)
i. Islamophobes would often confront Muslims on their beliefs, belittling them on
ideals that were often different from their own religion
C. Evidence 3
(https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&search
ResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=6482&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPos
ition=41&docId=GALE%7CA270730572&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSe
gment=ZTSI-198501P&prodId=GPS&pageNum=3&contentSet=GALE%7CA270730572
&searchId=R9&userGroupName=j043907002&inPS=true)
i. The future of Islam and American relationship has failed due to concerns of
clashin cultures. The struggle for America to accept Islam continues due to common
misconceptions of Islam becoming more abundant in America.
D. Tie-back sentence summarizing this paragraph and tying it to your thesis
statement
V. Conclusion (+ optional counter-argument discussion?)
https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks/The-attacks#ref301276 (Fear of terror)
Breaking Barriers: The Effects Of 9/11
In the late 1900s, America was engaged in several military campaigns across the Middle
East. From stopping Soviet Rule in Afghanistan, to fighting a war in the Persian Gulf to stop
Saddam Hussein, America played a major role in many Islamic states. In addition to this, after
the fall of the Ottoman Empire, many Western and European countries began to create their own
spheres of influence in the Middle East, in an attempt to control more Ottoman lands.This slowly
caused animosity to grow in the Islamic States, which much of it directed towards the US,
causing the issue to worsen until it took form in the event now infamously known as 9/11. Before
the September 11, 2001 attacks, America’s views on Islam were indifferent, due to Islam having
little to no effect on the lives of American citizens. 9/11 negatively affected America’s view on
Islam, because of the rise of islamophobia, media portrayals, and contrasting ideologies.
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam because of the rise of islamophobia.
According to CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), “Muslim students in public
schools face twice the rates of bullying as compared to their peers, according to current research”
(CAIR, 2019, p.3). Many of the bullied victims state that they refuse to approach an adult or
administrator about the issue in hopes of causing more trouble. Much of this study was
conducted several years after the event of 9/11, when many of the victims were infants or hadn’t
been born yet. In addition to this, many teachers are untrained in facing these types of issues, due
to how recent of a problem it was, displaying how islamophobia sharply rose after the September
11 attacks. Similarly to how bullied Muslim kids were extremely young, and unaware about the
9/11 attack until a much older age, the same can be said about the bullies who take part of
Anti-Muslim bigotry. This bigotry often stems from a student’s home, where the environment
causes students to develop hate and fear towards Islam, as parents continue to directly and
indirectly teach their children to hate Islam. These 9/11 attacks led to a large spike in
anti-Muslim bigotry, which was highly prevalent in public schools, as kids would adopt
islamaphobic beliefs from their parents, and use it to bully Muslim kids.
Home environment was not the only factor to increasing levels of islamophobia in
America. According to Hilal Elver (2012) “conservative journalists like Ann Coulter were trying
to convince the American people about the connection between Muslims and terrorists, claiming
that ‘Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim.’” (page 150). This claim was
made after the September 11 attacks, which had devastated the lives of many citizens. After these
attacks, the Patriot Act had been passed along with several other policies, which allowed
government agencies, like the FBI to investigate suspicious citizens. Although this policy was to
be used against anyone in the US, it was primarily used against people who ethnically looked
Arab or Muslim. In addition to this, the government continued to ethnically profile Arab/Muslim
people, while denying these allegations, which caused a consensus to be reached, where the
public believed that all Muslims and Arabs should go through extensive security clearences. This
belief grew, as allegations about Muslims being terrorists became much more popular after 9/11,
which also caused many people to fear being people who were generally assumed to be Muslim.
This led to a much more negative view of Islam, as federal security policies continued to be
directed towards people who looked Muslim, which increased islamaphobia as average
American citizens were not, which caused many people to perceive Muslims as dangerous.
The messages pushed by journalists and the home environments of some people played a
major role in fueling the growing islamophobia in America. causing Islam to be viewed under a
negative light.
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam due to media portrayal of Islam.
Currently, there is a large discourse between Western media and the ideologies of Islam (WACC,
2016). After the 9/11 attacks, the media continued to negatively portray Islam, as Muslims were
depicted as radical, bigoted, and extremely violent people. These views were not as mainstream
before the September 11 attacks but were spread throughout the news after the attacks. News
websites would often take Islamic beliefs, and exaggerate them to such a degree, that it would
seem nearly dystopian and inhumane. An example of this was when the idea that Muslims had
come to America to implement Sharia law became extremely popular among US citizens. This
would cause people to not approach Muslims, steering clear of them, because of the claims they
hear about Muslims on the daily news. In addition to this, the news would focus on crimes that
were committed by Muslims, in order to further prove their point that Muslim were terrorists,
that had come to implement Sharia law in the US. This has led to a a much more negative view
of Islam, as news sources would focus on stories of crime influenced by Islam, plus an
exxagerated explanation of Islamic beliefs. Despite being a major factor of tarnishing the image f
Islam, news networks were only one of many media outlets used to paint Islam under a bad light.
Many modern shooting games often depict Muslims as enemy terrorists that need to be
killed in order to save the world (Taha Ibaid, 2021). This is evident in many mainstream
videogame franchises such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Counter Strike. In games like these,
players are supposed to kill terrorists who wish to destroy the world, or kill an authority figure.
These games were originally made after the 9/11 attacks, and they quickly gained popularity
among the younger audience. An average mainstream shooting game would sell as many as 20
million copies, which allowed the ideas in these games to be implemented into it's audience’s
mind. Although the companies of these games denied accusations of purposefully drawing
Muslims out to be bad guys, the character designs and voice lines would be similar to Muslims,
rather than an extremist radical group. The concept that Muslims were the bad guys was quickly
transferred over into the real world, as people who played these games would immediately think
about terrorism, death, and destruction whenever they saw a Muslim. This became even more
evident in younger kids, who were old enough to play these games, but young enough to
distinguish between a Muslim and a terrorist, and with nobody to correct them otherwise, would
always assume Muslims to be radical terrorists, which quickly created fear. As these games
continued to become popular after the events of 9/11, it caused young buyers to take in the idea
that Muslims were bad people, which contributed to the rising negative view of Islam at the time.
The idea of painting Arabs and Muslims as the bad guys would also spread to other forms of
media as well, mainly in the forms of political cartoons and news channels.
According to scholar el-Sayed el- Aswad, “The events of September 11 have motivated
the Western media to create negative images of Muslims worldwide and not just inside the
United States'' (2013). After the attacks on September 11, western view on Arabs and Muslims
dramatically took a much more negative turn, western media would depict Arabs as people who
had bombs hidden in their jackets, hijacking planes, in an attempt to mock Islamic beliefs and
framing Islam as the biggest problem in America. However, these attempts to slander Muslims
have spread to a much larger scale, to the point where people who remotely look Arab or
Muslim, are assumed to be Muslim as well. This has caused Islam to come under fire, as people
who aren’t Muslims, commit deadly crimes, with the media portraying it as another extremist
attack by the people of Islam, despite it having no connection. Although these claims are later
proved to be wrong, the damage would already have been done, making it nearly impossible to
change the public’s mind over the incident. This has lead to false accusations over Islam, as large
news networks, and social media platforms often mistake people who commit crimes and look
slightly Muslim, as people part of an Islamic extremist group. As new sources and social media
continue to talk about Islam after the 9/11 attacks, they often exxagerate or focus on the small
issues of Islam, while framing terrorist attacks in America on Islam, despite it having no relation
at all.
Media portrayal of Islam successfully allowed them to quickly villianize Islam, as the
media would often talk about controversial Islamic topics, while painting them out to be bad
guys in videogames, and by associating crimes done by people who looked remotely Muslim as
acts of Islamic extremism.
9/11 negatively affected America’s view on Islam due to the misspread of Islamic
ideology in America. Nearly 65% of Americans believe that Muslims side themselves with
countries and beliefs that are Anti-American (Gallup Muslim-West Perception Index 20072012). They believe that many of America’s beliefs, expecially womans rights, are prohibited in
Islam, and that Muslim actively seek to suppress these rights. These beliefs, although fairly low
in 2007, slowly began to rise increasingly every year until 2012 where it reached almost 65% of
the population. Many of these ideas often originated from misunderstandings or misinterpretation
of Sharia law, which states that all men and women are to be treated equally, since both genders
are spiritually equal. The false belief that Muslims opposed American ideals grew in size after
the September 11 attacks, as people believed this was a clear sign of terrorists saying that they
opposed what America stood for. Since these terrorists aligned themselves with Islam, many
Americans believed that Islam itself was anti-American. This led to a spread of misinformation,
as Americans began to believe that many of America’s ideals were heavily opposed by Islam,
despite the opposite being true.
The growing belief that Islam was anti-american also raised many questions among
American citizens. According to Esposito (2011) “the question "Why do they hate us?" became a
common question, one that continues to be raised. A typical response has been... ‘They hate our
way of life, our freedom, democracy, and success’". After the 9/11 attacks, many Americans
began to commonly accept the idea that Islam hated American beliefs, and wanted to destroy
America’s way of life. However, this assumption of Islam hating what America stood for was
based off of the terrorist attacks, rather than what Islam actually preached. In addition to this,
America responded to the September 11 attacks through raids in Afghanistan, in an attempt to
punish those who played a part in 9/11, and in order to spread American democracy and freedom
in these countries. These attacks, plus that common belief of Islam being Anti-American, caused
many people to look down on Islam, as they continued to believe that Islamic principles were
Unamerican, which was further solidified into their minds after the Afghanistan raids.
Anti-American beliefs was not the only reason why Americans negatively viewed Islam.
Another major reason was because of the different beliefs Islam had compared to Christianity,
which was the largest religion in America (Schwartz, 2010). Many people began to question
Islam’s belief, belieivng that a religion which inspired the 9/11 attack would be just as violent,
which led to Islam being heavily critiqued and analyzed. Many ideas were challenged including
the existence of harems, and the existence of radical Muslims. However, although harems were
allowed in Islam, nearly all modern Muslims did not believe in this, nor was it mandatory for
Muslims to do in Islam. Although some misunderstandings were cleared and it was revealed that
Islamic beliefs were similar to Christianitty beliefs, many Christians refused to accept the
contrasting ideologies. This led to a large amount of Christians in America to believe that Islam
was a religion of hate, that preached of a dystopian world, compared to the loving world of
Christ, which caused many to view Islam in a negative light.
The 9/11 attacks were easily able to plant doubt in the minds of many Americans about
the principles of Islam. As many questioned why Islam hated America, it's beliefs, and it's
religion, it led to false assumptions to be created, which although were lies, satisfied many
Americans as it justified their negative view towards Islam.
September 11, 2001 was a dark day in American history. With thousands dead, many
Americans needed something to blame for the death and destruction that had occured, and the
religion of Islam was an easy target. Although many may argue that America’s view on Islam has
slowly begun to improve after no major attacks occurred afterwords, the rise of islamophobia,
negative media portrayal of Islam, and misinformation about Islam have all proved otherwise.
Despite occurring nearly two decades ago, the effects of 9/11 continues to negatively affect
America’s view on Islam to this day.