American Apologies

Islamophobia in America has been especially rampant since the 9/11 attacks. It is defined as the dread or hatred of Islam, as well as the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures and is inferior to the West. Some even wrongfully suggest that Islam is a violent political ideology rather than a religion. This religious paranoia is disturbing and prejudice, and islamophobes tend to be ignorant people who think just because someone has a turban or the last name Khan, then they are obviously a terrorist. Such notions are horribly misguided, but they have become more and more common as the years have gone by. Who could forget all of the attacks against President Obama suspecting him of being a Muslim. First of all, so what if he was a Muslim, would that make him less fit to be President? And secondly, the implication that being a Muslim connotes violence or being untrustworthy is disgusting, considering the horrible things done by people of all religions. There are terrorists of all shapes and sizes, and there is no denying that. And it’s not like Islamic extremists are representative of the Muslim community as a whole, considering Islam is the second-largest religion in the world and the largest Muslim country is Indonesia (not in the Middle East!). The reality is that while 9/11 caused a lot of trauma for our nation, taking it out on innocent citizens is not the way to go about healing ourselves.