The theme of Islamic religion in the United States continues changing society and contributes to the creation of new positions, attitudes, and rules. In the report developed by the Carter Center, the authors say that the 9/11 terroristic attacks turned out to be one of the main causes of islamophobia emergence. However, although no serious threats from Muslims have been recently observed, islamophobia remains a dangerous concept today. People find it normal to share their negative attitudes toward Muslims and their rights in American society. Regarding the current coronavirus challenge and associated chaos around the globe, islamophobia could easily gain a new form of threat that should not be neglected.
Anti-Muslim biases are characterized as violent and unfair treatment of the representatives of a particular community. In their report, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the authors admit that the increase in illegal incidents and hate crime is observed. Many American Muslims are not able to jobs in the United States and cannot go to other countries because they were born here. As a result, unemployment influences the quality of their lives and the relationships they develop within their communities. In addition to social, economic, and political concerns, religious and healthcare inequalities about Muslims become evident. Although it is an individual choice of everyone how to treat this group of people, it seems to be prejudiced and unethical to use coronavirus as a discrimination excuse, as it is discussed in Ellis-Petersen and Rahman’s article about conspiracy theories against Muslims. The question of social distancing in mosques during Ramadan and the position of President Trump analyzed in one of Al Jazeera’s articles also shows how different faiths are treated.
In general, islamophobia has never been an easy topic for evaluation. After the events in 2001, the United States, as well as Muslims, had to forget their previous ideologies and standards. Those attacks took many innocent lives and made survivors enemies. Unfortunately, the position of the government does not help the population to create one common attitude to Muslims today, and that is why islamophobia may become another threat to ordinary people.