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Assimilation
With globalization becoming the norm of the day, cultures and religions are colliding with one another on the international sphere. An eminent cultural and religious clash is between the Muslims and non-Muslim groups in the American society. The Muslims are moving into America due to various reasons that range from pursuit of better education and life to seeking refuge to escape unending wars in their home countries. Due to these reasons, Muslims are leaving their home countries to foreign countries especially the United States of America. For long the United States has been priding itself as an inclusive society of diversity that fosters equal opportunities rendering the home of immigrants. However, due to the contradicting values and beliefs that exist between the Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslim immigration is a real issue in the American society. With Muslim countries having a history of extremism as evidenced by the 9/11 Boston attacks, Muslim immigrants are being stigmatized and discriminated in America and its borders. Therefore, Muslim immigrants find it difficult to be integrated or assimilated into America’s diverse society.
The recent policies of Trump administration’s policies of Muslim ban from some of the Muslim countries takes this issue to a new debate level. America itself is divided on the issue making it a controversial one. Therefore, this conflict between Muslim and non-Muslim groups in the American society makes it worthy for a study. Conservative Americans tend to agree with President Trump’s perspectives that Muslims are a threat to America and they need to be controlled. This study will examine perspectives from both sides in order to establish some of the issues that hinder Muslim immigrants from being assimilated into the American society. Conversely, it will formulate an action plan that will facilitate the unification of these groups.
HISTORY
For more than a decade, Muslim Americans have found it difficult integrating into the American society. The major reason for this can be attributed to what the non-Muslims call “Islamophobia” or the general public fear of Muslims being terrorists. This fear stemmed from the 9/11 attacks and was well propagated by the American Media. The media played a significant role in making the general public perceive the Muslims as a threat to the society. With the help of Hollywood, the media have painted a vivid image of terrorists that Muslims are capable of becoming.
Muslim immigrants have faced a lot of challenges in integrating into the American society. Previous administrations have implemented immigration policies but Trump’s recent ones are the most controversial ones of them all. President Trump proposed an order that was to prevent Muslims from entering into America. This order has been largely supported by the non-Muslims due to its anti-Muslim perspectives. However, it is essential to understand the Muslims and what hinders their smooth and successful assimilation into the American society.
Largely, the Muslims have been painted as “waiting to strike terrorists” and this has denied them a chance to be successfully assimilated into the American society. This questions the meaning of the word terrorism at large. In general terms, terrorism is a word that is widely used by the media and politicians but loses its meaning to the public due to the large information that it has to go through. Therefore, it is a term that is used for sensational needs by individuals who want to manipulate the public to satisfy personal agendas. In genera assimilation is a concept that is being shaped by societal ideologies together with various sentiments such as hate crimes or racial profiling (Hayden, 2017). Therefore, in attempting to find a solution to the issue, it is important for one to understand the current state of America and how the group is being perceived in order to formulate an effective action plan.
A study by Gould and Klor (2012) on Muslim assimilation indicate that the data collected by FBI on anti-Muslim hate crimes came to a drastic rise after the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 attacks triggered a backlash causing the Muslim American community to be less assimilated. Moreover, terror groups may induce a backlash with intentional motives on people in a target nation so as to limit their assimilation rate. Assimilation tends to promote culturalism. It dictates that immigrants are to accept and follow the culture, beliefs and all cultural aspects of the host state. However, Muslims deter such perceptions as they hold their culture which borrows from the Islam religion so dear. Hence, few get integrated to the American lifestyle with the assimilation process being marked with hostility. Also, terrorists do utilize some levels of assimilation as a way of acquiring information and gaining trust prior to attacking.
PERSPECTIVES
There are a number of challenges that Muslims face regarding integration and assimilation. These challenges can be categorized into poverty, religion, culture, discrimination, and security. Muslim communities are more likely to live in poor and segregated areas due to such factors as language barriers and different cultural practices in relation to those of other communities. Various studies report a strong association between religion and the daily lives of Muslims. In fact, Muslims tend to identify themselves with their religion before their nationality. Also, the Islamic culture differs with most Western cultures at a greater margin, especially on issues concerning freedom of expression, gender equality, and separation of church and state. The increasing Islam phobia and racism put Muslims at the center of discrimination in all aspects of life, including housing, employment, and education among others. The last and most important aspect of Muslim immigration and integration debates is the fears of radicalization which fuel terrorism and other security-threatening activities.
Muslims
At the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Muslims begun to face greater challenges as they integrate into the American society. With the help of the catastrophic attacks and long US involvement in Middle East history, the media managed to paint a negative image of the Muslim culture. Muslims acquired the status of foreign threats which increased the hostility levels that they received from their counterparts (Rauf, 2016). This has made the issue a prominent one since the Americans have dismissed Muslim immigrants into the United States. Their treatment has inhibited Muslim immigrants from successfully being assimilated or integrated into the society. This section of this study attempts to uncover the perspectives of the Muslims as far as the issue is concerned. It will address the cultural experiences of Muslim adults and youths. This individuals are at the identity formation stage thus it will uncover the challenges that they face when negotiating for new identities. Various scholars such as Sirin and Fine (2007) have asserted that the integration process of both Muslim adults and youths portrays the social, political and social issues that are prominent in the American society.
The first challenge tha...