Racism. The very word conjures up many images, ranging from injustice toward the minorities to the atrocities committed by the infamous Ku Klux Klan. In general, whites claim to be sick of hearing it, and blacks claim to be tired of experiencing it. The recent homicide of George Floyd was certainly a crestfallen event, but for America, killings over racism isn’t a new thing.
White supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan have been around us, predating back to the 1800s. However, one can argue that if black lives matter, why we keep on forgetting that Muslim lives matter too. Just like the Afro-American Community, the Muslim-American community has been getting their share of racism too. Then why do we overlook the hideous and disturbing face of Islamophobia committed by the western culture and the white supremacists?
Research shows that the US identified more than 160 Muslim-American terrorist suspects and perpetrators in the decade since 9/11; just a percentage of the thousands of acts of violence that occur in the country each year. It is from this overall collection of violence that an efficient system of government prosecution and media coverage brings national attention to the Muslim-American terrorism suspects, creating an impression, perhaps unintentionally, that Muslim-American terrorism is more prevalent than it really is. let's not forget mind that since 9/11, it was the Muslim-American community that has actually helped the security and law enforcement officials prevent nearly two of every five al-Qaeda terrorist plots threatening the US and that tips from the Muslim-American community are the largest single source of initial information to the authorities about those few terror plots.
When discrimination takes place despite this, then we get to see some reactions too. Of late, numerous accounts on social media are calling upon Muslims to ‘rise up’ because ‘if we don’t rise now then we are done for’. The hash-tag #MuslimLivesMatter is trending on twitter, drawing a false equivalence between Muslims in India and African Americans in the US. A consortium of individuals is trying to incite the Muslims to recognise their rights as well. Intellectuals such as Ashok Swain took to twitter, and expressed themselves.
The socio-political status of America is now actually the one to be on life support: In part literally, as violence breaks out, cops and their vehicles are attacked, and shops and offices are set on fire, and in part figuratively, as massive non-violent protests sweep across dozens of cities. As of this writing, at least 75 cities have seen protests. Black Americans are leading the agitation, but the protests are unquestionably inter-racial, with huge participation of white youth. It has already become the most mammoth display of anger and frustration against the system.
All of this is happening during a COVID-19 pandemic. The US has suffered more than 1,00,000 deaths, the largest anywhere, with black people dying disproportionately. A social distancing advisory is still in place, but the sense of injustice and revulsion against the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a black man, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is so great that thousands, taking the risk of perilous infections, have come out on the streets. We can only hope that someday, these very brave people will take to the streets for the lives of Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir too.
If we recall all the atrocities committed against humanity, we will realise that Islamophobia is just a propaganda. If we recall our memories, we will also be reminded of the heart-shattering shooting at the mosque in Christchurch. Now the question that arises is, are Muslims still to be blamed for terrorism? Why are only Muslims blamed for any terrorist activity? Why has the word terrorism been linked with Islam or Muslims when there is absolutely no connection between them? Also, who started the First World War? Who started the Second World War? Who killed six million Jews in the Holocaust? Who led about 20 millions of Aborigines in Australia? Who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in North America? Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in South America? Not Muslims! And who killed George Floyd while he helplessly saw his life flashing away in front of his eyes. Certainly not a Muslim!
Then why is there so much hate? What if this police officer was a Muslim? How would the people had responded then? There would have been cries and uproars of terrorism then. Sanctions would have been placed on the Muslim community and travel routes to the US might have been closed for them.
In all of this, we should realise that there isn’t a deficit of ideas; there is a deficit of courage to realise that Islam is not synonymous with terrorism. It’s the broken mindsets of these white supremacists that need to be fixed. Muslims aren’t to be blamed for every atrocity that ever happens; a huge part of the blame goes to the ideologies of certain white supremacists and the western culture in general. Therefore, targeting a whole community based on a single person's actions is unjust. The entire white or the Muslim community is not to be blamed for the actions of a few individuals. We can not deem an entire community to be terror-based simply over the actions of a few individuals.
White supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan have been around us, predating back to the 1800s. However, one can argue that if black lives matter, why we keep on forgetting that Muslim lives matter too. Just like the Afro-American Community, the Muslim-American community has been getting their share of racism too. Then why do we overlook the hideous and disturbing face of Islamophobia committed by the western culture and the white supremacists?
Research shows that the US identified more than 160 Muslim-American terrorist suspects and perpetrators in the decade since 9/11; just a percentage of the thousands of acts of violence that occur in the country each year. It is from this overall collection of violence that an efficient system of government prosecution and media coverage brings national attention to the Muslim-American terrorism suspects, creating an impression, perhaps unintentionally, that Muslim-American terrorism is more prevalent than it really is. let's not forget mind that since 9/11, it was the Muslim-American community that has actually helped the security and law enforcement officials prevent nearly two of every five al-Qaeda terrorist plots threatening the US and that tips from the Muslim-American community are the largest single source of initial information to the authorities about those few terror plots.
When discrimination takes place despite this, then we get to see some reactions too. Of late, numerous accounts on social media are calling upon Muslims to ‘rise up’ because ‘if we don’t rise now then we are done for’. The hash-tag #MuslimLivesMatter is trending on twitter, drawing a false equivalence between Muslims in India and African Americans in the US. A consortium of individuals is trying to incite the Muslims to recognise their rights as well. Intellectuals such as Ashok Swain took to twitter, and expressed themselves.
The socio-political status of America is now actually the one to be on life support: In part literally, as violence breaks out, cops and their vehicles are attacked, and shops and offices are set on fire, and in part figuratively, as massive non-violent protests sweep across dozens of cities. As of this writing, at least 75 cities have seen protests. Black Americans are leading the agitation, but the protests are unquestionably inter-racial, with huge participation of white youth. It has already become the most mammoth display of anger and frustration against the system.
All of this is happening during a COVID-19 pandemic. The US has suffered more than 1,00,000 deaths, the largest anywhere, with black people dying disproportionately. A social distancing advisory is still in place, but the sense of injustice and revulsion against the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a black man, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is so great that thousands, taking the risk of perilous infections, have come out on the streets. We can only hope that someday, these very brave people will take to the streets for the lives of Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir too.
If we recall all the atrocities committed against humanity, we will realise that Islamophobia is just a propaganda. If we recall our memories, we will also be reminded of the heart-shattering shooting at the mosque in Christchurch. Now the question that arises is, are Muslims still to be blamed for terrorism? Why are only Muslims blamed for any terrorist activity? Why has the word terrorism been linked with Islam or Muslims when there is absolutely no connection between them? Also, who started the First World War? Who started the Second World War? Who killed six million Jews in the Holocaust? Who led about 20 millions of Aborigines in Australia? Who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in North America? Who killed more than 100 million of Indians in South America? Not Muslims! And who killed George Floyd while he helplessly saw his life flashing away in front of his eyes. Certainly not a Muslim!
Then why is there so much hate? What if this police officer was a Muslim? How would the people had responded then? There would have been cries and uproars of terrorism then. Sanctions would have been placed on the Muslim community and travel routes to the US might have been closed for them.
In all of this, we should realise that there isn’t a deficit of ideas; there is a deficit of courage to realise that Islam is not synonymous with terrorism. It’s the broken mindsets of these white supremacists that need to be fixed. Muslims aren’t to be blamed for every atrocity that ever happens; a huge part of the blame goes to the ideologies of certain white supremacists and the western culture in general. Therefore, targeting a whole community based on a single person's actions is unjust. The entire white or the Muslim community is not to be blamed for the actions of a few individuals. We can not deem an entire community to be terror-based simply over the actions of a few individuals.