Introduction
The ramifications of terrorist attacks on the US, including the September 11 incidence, have been felt throughout the country. Nevertheless, none of the minority groups has been affected by the events as American Muslims. For example, since the 9/11 attacks, Muslims living in the US have experienced significant violations of their human, social, and economic rights. Governmental legislation and media stereotyping continue exacerbating the abuse of human rights for this group as well as entrenching economic, social, and institutional discrimination deeper into the rest of American society. At the core of these forms of discrimination lies a serious misunderstanding of Islam and those who practice the faith. This paper reports the human rights, social, and economic issues that currently face Muslim Americans from a social worker’s perspective.
Main text
Muslim Americans face institutional discrimination, which is the primary social challenge that they have to deal with currently. Literature reports that apart from the violation of their civil liberties at the legislative level, Muslims in the country experience social discrimination and abuse (The Pew Research Center, 2017). The cited study suggests several abuse allegations, including face-to-face threats, telephone, the internet, attacks on their homes, worship places, and businesses, shootings, vandalism, and minor assaults. Media stereotyping, especially one that links Islam with violence and terrorism, has contributed to a general fear of Muslims in the US, which exposes them to the forms of discrimination and maltreatment reported.
From an economic perspective, Muslims living in America have been subjected to disproportionate workplace discrimination. According to The Pew Research Center (2017), Muslim employees report name-calling from their colleagues, including ‘Osama’ or ‘terrorist’ in addition to raising concerns that their employers prevent them from participating in prayer and wearing their headscarf. While the country has been taking significant steps towards ending workplace harassment and disproportionate treatment, Muslims continue experiencing these challenges. Much as they constitute only a small percentage of the American workforce, Muslims report the highest levels of economic discrimination through issues that happen in the workplace (Moore, 2014). Their experiences hamper opportunities for economic-self-advancement.
Muslim Americans have also continued to be targeted for counterterrorism practices in the US, which is a major human rights issue that should be addressed. The nation has over the recent two decades instituted strict measures against immigration, especially for Arabs seeking asylum in the country. The criminal justice system disproportionately targets Muslims for terror crimes, including mass shootings and other related offenses (Moore, 2014). Furthermore, as Moore (2014) indicates, the courts in the US are more likely to convict Muslim men for terror-related activities than people from other religious groups, which adds to the challenges that the minority group faces.
Conclusion
Only so much is being done policy-wise to address the issues that Muslim Americans face. The only efforts that can be reported are social activist contributions to sensitizing the population about the need to treat Muslims fairly (Moore, 2014). As the cited literature reports, leading human rights and Islamic organizations continue lobbying and raising awareness of the injustices that Muslims face in the country, including the Muslim American Society, Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Amnesty International. The identified groups also coordinate with different groups of law enforcement as a means of encouraging fair conflict resolution. As a social worker, developing multicultural competence would be useful in ensuring that I contribute positively to the efforts of these organizations, especially in advocating for the development of friendlier civil, economic, and social policies towards American Muslims. I would require these skills to interact with the group and study their problems before engaging them in policy advocacy.
References
- Moore, A. (2014). American Muslim minorities: The new human rights struggle. Human Rights & Human Welfare, 1(2) 91-9.
- The Pew Research Center. (2017). US Muslims concerned about their place in society, but continue to believe in the American dream. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. Web.