Hate Crimes Against Muslim Americans

Since the attack on 9/11, the number of hate crimes against Muslim American citizens has dramatically increased. "Two polls found that almost half of the public has a negative perception of Islam and that one in four citizens holds “extreme’ anti-Muslim views" (Washington Post). Obviously these innocent people are not responsible for the pain and grief caused in the terrorist attacks, and it seems extremely naiive to resort to hate-crimes against our own people here in the states. "Complaints of discrimination, harassment and violence against Muslims jumped over 30 percent in 2005 from the previous year, according to a report released Sept. 18 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim organization." Nearly 2,000 hate-crimes were reported in the year 2005, a sickening number that is by far the highest number since the CAIR organization began keeping track in 1995. The number of anti-Muslim hate-crimes has more than doubled in the last few years as a repurcussion of 9/11. The hate-crimes obviously need to be stopped, but I think equally important is getting the American public to understand and differentiate between American Islamic citizens and terrorists. There is obviously a huge difference and these people need to feel safe again in the United States, not threatened and unwelcomed.

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