The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Struggling Against Stereotypes

One of the most widely discussed issues in the U.S. Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the American media. From the PBS television program "Jihad in America" to the "Crimson Jihad" depicted in the popular movie "True Lies," the image of Muslims in the media has become a cause of great concern. These uses of the term "jihad" are illustrative of the problem. As a pamphlet for the media published by the American Muslim Council explains, the word jihad "is more accurately translated as exertion of effort, not 'holy war.' The Prophet Muhammad said that the highest form of jihad is the personal struggle to make oneself a better Muslim."

Appeals to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, while newspaper headlines regularly print the words "Islam" and "Muslim" next to words like "fanatic," "fundamentalist," "militant," "terrorist" and "violence." Meanwhile, events such as the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the subsequent hostage crisis, the wartime rhetoric of Saddam Hussein, and the World Trade Center bombing, receive enormous press coverage as evidence of "Islamic fundamentalism." American Muslims ask why a few extremists, whose terrorist actions violate the central principles of Islam, should determine the public image of the entire Muslim community. As Edward Said, the author of Covering Islam has noted, prejudice against Muslims is "the last sanctioned racism."

Media portrayals and stereotypes of this kind are not only demeaning to the American Muslim community: they are dangerous. Muslims in the United States experience the results of these stereotypes in myriad forms. Individuals may experience discrimination in housing and employment, or even harassment and attacks from strangers on the street; mosques and Islamic centers across the country frequently report vandalism. These attacks on Muslims and mosques receive little attention from the mainstream press, despite the fact that a number of mosques have been destroyed by arson across the United States in the 1990s, from Yuba City, California, to Springfield, Illinois, and Greenville, South Carolina. Many Muslim communities experience difficulties with neighbors and zoning boards even before establishing places of worship, and the connection between stereotypes and harassment is often explicit: at a city council meeting in California, one neighbor opposing the establishment of a local Islamic center exclaimed, "It only takes five people to make a group of terrorists."

The effects of stereotyping and media irresponsibility became vividly evident in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 21, 1995. Early news accounts included reports of people of "Middle Eastern heritage" fleeing the scene; many journalists, "experts," and even former Representative Dave McCurdy linked the bombing to "fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups." The response was fast and furious: over two hundred incidents of bias against the Muslim community followed in the next few days, including attacks on private homes and mosques. Muslims were not involved in the bombing, but many were active in the rescue efforts, including local doctors and rescue workers such as Major Ahmed Rashidi of the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

The American Muslim community has mobilized to fight against these dangerous stereotypes as well as their damaging effects. A growing number of Muslim organizations are being established to educate the media and the general public about Islam, and to encourage Muslims in their local communities to speak out against discrimination. The American Muslim Council in Washington, D.C. publishes a pamphlet to teach Muslims how to write op-ed pieces and letters to the editor of local newspapers as well as how to organize meetings with media and public officials in response to a crisis. The Islamic Circle of North America has set up a toll-free number to report bias and hate incidents; the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) tracks hate crimes against American Muslims. On the Internet, CyberMuslim Information Collective (http://www.cybermuslim.org) now provides "Digital Jihad," a website including activist resources and an Internet fax service to assist American Muslims in their continuing struggle against stereotypes.

Glossary: Muslim; Jihad; Prophet Muhammad; mosques, Islamic centers

Reprinted by permission from On Common Ground: World Religions in America, published by Columbia University Press (1-800-944-8648).