Muslim Americans Grapple with a Trump Presidency

Rasa - American Muslims fear not only for their safety, but that their most prominent organizations could get shut down under Trump's rule.

News ID: 424958

Date: 11 November 2016 - 18:48

RNA - Throughout Donald Trump's campaign to become president of the United States, he's made it clear to many American minority groups that they are his targets. Groups like Mexicans, immigrants, and black Americans have all felt the brunt of his vitriolic rhetoric.

Another one of his biggest targets has been Muslims. Since 2015, Trump has made promises to ban and deport all Muslim Americans should he be elected. Trump's anti-Muslim stance only hardened as the race went on. In November 2015, he was quotedsaying he "absolutely" would create a register for all Muslims. More recently, his campaign manager revealed Trump has a five-point plan to defeat the entire religion of Islam.

Even without acting on his threats, Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric still causes harm. A Georgetown University report published in May revealed his comments have already caused a significant spike in Islamophobic attacks. "Data suggests that acts and threats of anti-Muslim violence increased in 2015, and that it has escalated further during the presidential election season," the report reads.

Muslim Americans have seen sharp increases in Islamophobia since 9/11. According to the Washington Post, hate crimes motivated by Islamophobia are nearly five times more common than they were before the attacks. Before 2001, between 20 to 30 anti-Muslim hate crimes had been reported per year with the number rising to over 500 after 9/11. Now, each year there are about 150 to 200 attacks against Muslims—with the number of annual assaults climbing.

If Americans are looking at the UK's Brexit referendum vote as an example of how things will unfold for minorities, there's plenty to fear. The rhetoric surrounding Brexit was largely rooted in xenophobia, and many pro-Brexit voters saw the vote as a way to oppose immigration and foreign populations. Shortly after the vote, the UK saw a staggering increase in racially-motivated hate crimes. According to a report by the UK Home Office, "the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police in July 2016 was 41 percent higher than in July 2015."

According to Namira Islam, executive director of the Michigan-based Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, an organization that fights racism alongside Islamophobia, many American Muslims are fearful for their future post-election. With Trump in power, some believe their safety will be more at risk than ever.

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