John+S.+-+POSITION+PAPER

Essential Question: Who Do We Discriminate? The revolution going on right now in the United States started when Muslim Terrorists, hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Centers on Spetember 11, 2001. The revolution that has been taking place is the unfair treatment. Nobody trusts them anymore and they are always under suspicion. One aspect that changed after 9/11 was the __security__ of airports because of the lack of trust the attacks brought. The problem with this is that they don't like how we are treating them. Do we discriminate against Muslim-Americans? They believe we have made fun of their religion, race and have become very stereotypical of them. Society should keep an eye on American-Muslims, but we shouldn't discriminate against all Muslims because of a wrong choice a few men made of that religion.

On September 11, 2001, Americans quickly developed a hate for Muslims. If you were Muslim you were under suspicion to be a terrorist. Since 9/11 when Americans are asked about Muslim countries as a whole, their views are fairly neutral. But when asked about some specific countries, such as Iran or Saudi Arabia, the majority of Americans have unfavorable views." (Kull) As of result, we have not let Muslims influence our society at all. We have unhealthy relationships with them now. We have been at war in Afghanistan over terror since shortly after 9/11 and it’s still going on right now.

Most people in America don't treat American-Muslims with any respect at all. Reasons for this might be because the lack of knowledge we have of Muslims. For example, In March 2002 a local man crashed his __truck__ into the entrance hall of the Islamic Center of Tallahassee. After the incident, he stated that "I want Muslims to know they're not __safe__ here" (quoted in Mubarak 2002). This is one man but what he said shows the hate and distrust we as a nation have towards Muslims. Muslim women especially are vulnerable to discrimination because the headscarfs(hijab) they wear. While the Muslim headscarf is often viewed by Americans as a symbol of the oppression of women, many Muslim women find identity and liberty in their headscarves (Moore 1998). This show is misunderstanding of this group of people. Also the patriot Act has dramatically impacted the Muslim American community. For instance, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Patriot Act on July 30, 2003, claiming that the section of the law authorizing searches of records such as businesses, libraries, and bookstores is unconstitutional (Bohn 2003). This is how Americans have treated these people unfairly.

The problem between Americans and Muslim has been a problem throughout history but it really escalated after 9/11. 9/11 will be a day we never forget in US history and it also marks a huge turning point in our country. Everything changed our airport security, our trust, and how we view Muslims. We became a much more cautious country. 9/11 showed for one of the __first times__ the ignorance we had as a country. There were warnings and suspicions of a possible terrorists attack being planned and we just ignored it. Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar were seen at an al Qaeda meeting in Malaysia, in January 2000. The CIA tracked these two men into the United States. However the CIA never told the FBI about these two men. On another account it says FBI knew but they failed to act on it. This shows the ignorance we had, we never thought there was a chance such an event could happen in the United States. This wasn’t the first attack on the towers however, in 1993 a __truck__ exploded close to The World Trade Center and it killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Airport security was changed drastically after 9/11. Transportation Security Administration or TSA was formed after the attacks. Going through security was not quick and easy like it used to be. TSA made you walk through scanners, metal detectors, take your shoes and belt off, dispose of any liquids or containers and you might have to get patted down. Babies even had to go through this process, as well as old people. Nobody could trust anyone anymore. Muslims were especially not trusted, they were quickly discriminated against as being terrorists and it has led to conflicts. Muslims have complained we don’t allow them there rights because we just don’t trust them, we are suspicious of them. This is the history behind the relationship between the US and Muslims and how 9/11 has impacted our lives.

We must stop discriminating against American-Muslims by giving them their full rights as American Citizens. Muslim- Americans are always under the watchful eye of our country and are not treated the same way ordinary people in the United States are. Ever since the attacks of 9/11, The New York Police Department (NYPD) put into action an intelligence program that searches Muslim's Mosques, businesses and neighborhoods. Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman who are investigator reporters, along with colleagues Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley, wrote that police have spied on Muslim neighborhoods, listened to sermons, infiltrated colleges, and took pictures of law-abiding residents to try to get an idea where terrorism cells might develop. When you are a citizen of the United States because of the 4th Amendment in the Constitution you are not to be searched without reason and the people doing the searching must have a warrant. When Muslims became aware of these searches and that the NYPD didn't have warrants or a reason to search them Hundreds of Muslims staged rallies to protest the spying. Reasons like this are why American-Muslims are mad at Americans. In order to stop protests and conflict with these people we just need to let them have their rights. If they have earned their right to be in the country legally they should get all the same rights as a natural-born American. For example Fawaz an American-Muslim has lived in the United States for a long time and he says he loves this country just as much as any other American. However “some Americans take one look at him and think, ‘Hmm, is he really one of us?’” (Fisher, Marc). Fawaz and many other Muslims, struggle to prove that they are trustworthy in the United States. This shows that we are arrogant as a country, this man loves his country and he has been discriminated against because he looks different and originated from a country we hate.

Another bad behavior towards Muslims occurred in November 2009 a white woman in a suburban Chicago grocery store pulled a Muslim woman's hijab (headscarf) and muttered something about the shootings that happened at Fort Hood in Texas” (Williams, Rhys H.). The Muslim women obviously had nothing to do with anything that happened in Fort Hood but because she was of Muslim decent she was discriminated against. We must stop acting like fools. The actions of this woman were nowhere near acceptable and it makes us look bad as a country. We are also making ourselves look bad by making fun of their religion. Americans have been burning their Quran which is there holy book. This is said to be the highest level of disrespect to Muslims. Pastors have even been holding these burnings. For example a pastor in Florida said, "We only did it because we felt there needed to be an outcry against Islam, because Islam is presenting itself as a religion of peace," (Vu, 1). This is embarrassing; we should be ashamed of oursleves. It says in our Constitution that every American has their right to religion and we shouldn’t discriminate against Muslims just because they worship in a different God than most of us. As a country we need to stop being prejudice and give Muslim-Americans there full rights as American Citizens without discriminating against them if their beliefs are different.

Somebody who disagrees with me would most likely state that Muslim-Americans should not have the same rights as other Americans (Fischer). They would agree what the NYPD has been doing since 9/11 is right. The NYPD has been spying on Muslim Communities, their mosques and other places where terrorism cells may develop without warrants. They can’t be trusted anymore they believe. These people believe it’s more important to limit Muslim-Americans rights then risk another terrorist attack.These are good arguments however they are inaccurate. Muslim-Americans should be able to have their 4 amendment because it clearly states in the Constitution that everyone has the right to search and seizure. We need to start doing searches the right way, which means we can only search with probable cause and a warrant. Also have we ever thought that maybe American-Muslims can help us with our searches? Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said, "I would think Muslim American would feel a special obligation to help in such investigations"(Simaan). We should take this into consideration because it could really improve our searches. This is why my opponent’s arguments aren’t correct.

Another right that people against Muslim-Americans think should be limited is the right to religion. People think the Constitution was written to protect the free exercise of Christianity and they weren’t making an effort to give protection to Islam. These same people will say we shouldn’t let Muslim-Americans worship their religion here because in the Koran it says to kill infidels and they displayed this on 9/11/2001 (Fischer). To try to prevent the worship of Islam people think Muslim-Americans should not be allowed to build mosques in America, they think Islam is totalitarian ideology attempting to destroy the United States.My opponents are not correct, they are over-thinking the situation. Under the Constitution it clearly states that everyone has the right to religion in the United States. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that freedom of religion is only to protect Christianity. The Constitution protects Jews, Christians, Buddhist, Hindus and all other religions. This means they should be able to build mosques because that is part of their religion and if they became unable to build mosques it would be restricting their religion. This is why my opponent’s statements are not valid.

We need to show American-Muslims that they are not welcome in the United States. They deserve to be discriminated against because if they were not in the United States we wouldn't have to worry as much about terrorist attacks. There has been an estimated 800 incidents involving vandalism, violence and arson against people believed to be Muslim (Huffington Post). This shows that Muslims aren't welcome in the United States. Also Thomas Perez, the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, told the panel, "In each city and town where I have met with (Muslim) leaders, I have been struck by the fear that pervades their lives" (Huffington Post). If Muslim-Americans are scared for their lives then why would they continue to live to in the United States? We need to make Muslims no they are not welcome in the United States. My opponents argument is unfair, wrong and ignorant.

People are allowed to live where ever they wish. Muslim-Americans need to be free from discrimination, we shouldnt consider every Muslim to be a terrorist and we shouldn’t be violent towards them. They are one of us, Muslim-Americans have earned their right to be in America and they deserve to be treated like any other American. 58% of Americans have not met a Muslim and those who have met one feel better about them (USA Today). This shows that at least half of us don't know who Muslim-Americans really are. Another poll of 1007 Americans was taken and they showed strong feelings towards Muslims. The hard feelings are damaging the mental health of American-Muslims (USA Today). We are hurting our own people and we need to stop doing so.

The way we need to precede with American-Muslims is to give them their full rights as American citizens. We shouldn’t be hypocritical, unfair, and stereotypical or discriminate against American Muslims, they earned the way to America and they should get every right America provides. My opponents all agree that Muslims should not have certain rights especially the right to search and seizure and religion. They believe Muslims religion is evil and trying to take over America when really Islam teaches peace. Also they think we should be allowed to search their neighborhoods and everything else without a warrant (Fischer). We should stop doing this because it isn’t helping our relations with Muslims and it says in the Constitution every American no matter, race, color, or religion is equal and has certain rights that are listed in the amendments. Also my opponents think the right to religion was created to protect only Christianity but nowhere in the Constitution does it say that (Angela). It’s sad to see Americans discriminating against their own people, American-Muslims love this country and they just want to be treated like everyone else.

ANNOTATED BIBIOGRAPHY Fischer, Bryan. "Islam and the First Amendment: privilages but not rights." //Renew America// 24 March 2011. []
 * |||| Cooper, M. H. (2001, November 23). Hating America. //CQ Researcher//, //11//, 969-992. Retrieved from [] Mary H. Cooper is the author of this article from CQ Researcher. The article is credible she specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues and graduated from Hollins __College__ in English. **From the article i took how Muslims hate the United States and how we don't understand their race and religion.**

Fisher, Marc. “American Muslims Search for Identity 10 Years after Sept. 11.” //The Washington Post// 11 June 2011: n. pag.//Washingtonpost.com//. Web. 28 Aug. 2011. Fischer writes for the Washington Post and he has written in Europe for newspapers. This is why he is credible. From this article i took how we are searching muslims without warrants.

Jeremy, Pelofsky"Muslim Discrimination Cases Disproportionately High In U.S." Huffington Post. []. He is credible because he has spent almost 14 years in Washington, DC as a journalist, working at Bloomberg News for over two years and at Reuters. From his article i took how Muslims are afraid for their lives.

Jost, K. (2011, September 2). Remembering 9/11. //CQ Researcher//, //21//, 701-732. Retrieved from []. Kenneth Jost is the author of this article from CQ Researcher. The article is credible because Jost is a professor and the Supreme Court editor of CQ Press and __associate__ editor of CQ Researcher. From his article i took information about how we are prejudice against Muslim-Americans and how they are always under suspicion. Jost, K. (2004, June 4). Re-examining 9/11. //CQ Researcher//, //14//, 493-516. Retrieved from []. Kenneth Jost is the author of this article from CQ Researcher. The article is credible because Jost is a professor and the Supreme Court editor of CQ Press and associate editor of CQ Researcher. From his article i took the errors we made in our intelligence progams.

Katel, Peter(2009, February 13). Homeland security. CQ Researcher, 19, 129-152. Retrieved from [] Peter Katel is a veteran journalist who has worked as a Latin America bureau chief for //Time// magazine, in Mexico City, and as a Miami-based correspondent for //Newsweek// and The Miami Herald's //El Nuevo Herald.// He graduated from the University of New Mexico. From this article I took how there were other attacks on the World Trade Centers before 9/11. Kaya, Ilhan. "Muslim American Identities and Diversity." // Journal of Geography // 1(2007):29. // eLibrary //. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. He is credible because he earned a Scholarship from Turkish Institution of Higher Education for undergraduate study, Ankara. From his article i took information about the headscarfs Muslim women wear.

Kull, Steven. "How Muslims and Americans View Each Other." //World Public Opinion//: n. pag. //World Public Opinion//. Web. 8 Sept. 2011.<[] 330.php?nid=&id=&pnt=330&lb=btvoc>. Kull is credible because he is a senior research scholar at CISSM and director of the COPA and the PIPA. From his article i took how Americans feel about Muslims.

Marilyn, Elias. "OUTREACH EFFORTS HELP MUSLIMS MAKE INROADS." USA Today 8 August 2006. []. She is credible because she was the lead behavioral sciences reporter at //USA Today// for 26 years. From this article i took how Americans feel about Muslims.

MATT APUZZO, ABC News.[|http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-series-nypd-surveillance-wins-pulitzer-16150947#.T48DxpgZz6I]. He is credible because he is a reporter for the Associated Press. From this article i took how we are not giving Muslims their rights to search and seizure.

Katel, Peter(2009, February 13). Homeland security. CQ Researcher, 19, 129-152. Retrieved from [] Peter Katel is a veteran journalist who has worked as a Latin America bureau chief for //Time// magazine, in Mexico City, and as a Miami-based correspondent for //Newsweek// and The Miami Herald's //El Nuevo Herald.// He graduated from the University of New Mexico. From this article I took how there were other attacks on the World Trade Centers before 9/11.

Uddin, Zaheer 9/11." The Columbus //Dispacth// [Columbus] 7 Sept. 2011: n. pag. //The Columbus// Dispatch. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <[|http://www.dispatch.com]>. He Works for the Coumbus Dispatch. From this article i took information on airport security. Uddin, Zaheer. "A new kind of war: Muslims in America." //World & I//. 01 Mar. 2002: 32. //eLibrary//. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.

Saeed, Nasir. "Burning Quran Not the Right Way to Confront Radical Islam." //Christian Post// 13 Apr. 2011: n. pag. //christian post//. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. **Saeed is the coordinator of CLAAS UK and is concerned over the attacks on Christians in Pakistan. From this article i took how we are burning the quarans and discriminating against their religion.** ||