The Influence Of 9/11 On Muslim People

The morning of Tuesday September 11, 2011 is one of the biggest tradgies of all time. On this specific day four airlines were hijacked by an Islamic group that goes by the name al-Qaeda. The attacks took the lives of 2,996 innocent people, injured nearly 6,000 people, and caused at least $10 billion in infracture and property damage. These attacks, also known as the 9/11 attacks, will forever be remebered as one of the most horrific days for so many people around this world.

Muslim Americans endured more government scrutiny after September 11, 2001. The United States government decided to monitor this population. This involves surveillance on phones, worship place and funds. The US government needed to pass a law to collect data to use concerning risks. Consequently, the Several days later after the 9/11 attack, the U.S. passed the USA PATRIOT Act which is an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” (Stan, 2014). The Department of Justice drafted the USA PATRIOT Act to increase the federal agencies’ power to use surveillance cameras, conduct search and detect communication both nationwide and from foreign countries to seek out terroristic attacks. In addition, the president that signed this into law was President George W. Bush. In addition, most people would not want the government to secretly spy on them.

/11 changed the way of American life. Many lives were lost due to the awful attack, but unfortunately many Arab and Muslim Americans had to pay for the cost. Post 9/11 is a continuous struggle for many Muslim Americans. Due to 9/11 many Muslims face discrimination, racial prejudice, and hate crimes. All throughout our history, hate crimes were targeted towards minority groups, such as: African Americans, Latinos, Italians, Irish, Germans, and Asians; today, hate crimes are targeted towards Muslims. Prior to 9/11 Muslim Americans faced little to zero discrimination in the US because of their race or religion. Muslim Americans are targeted and stereotyped against. In the years 2001-2003 the number of hate crimes throughout the Muslim community

Before the terrible event of 9/11 many United States citizens could agree that they felt generally safe living in the U.S. People could live their lives and not worry about an attack against them or their love ones. Everyone was friendly and opened to each other because there was no fear. But, unfortunately the views of everyday living have changed as a result of the attacks on the United States. The continued threat of terrorism has affected the lives of Americans in negative ways. 9/11 has made a big impact and has effected U.S citizens for many reasons.

Agreeing with what Morey and Yaqin have to say, Mohammed Saleem and Michael Thomas studied the reporting of September 11th terrorist attacks in textbooks and found that Muslim Americans are misrepresented. They go on to say that the topic of 9/11 is presented in superficial ways, where a textbook will not show the impact it had on an American Muslim itself but only those around them. Muslim Americans in the United States experienced the impact of stereotypes in countless forms. A small group of extremist, whose terrorist actions determine the public image of the entire Muslim community, misrepresenting Muslim Americans who do not follow Islam to that extreme. A common theme that surrounds many of the articles I have read, show that Muslim Americans feel confused about their identity and their place within society.

“9/11 changed America fundamentally, far more so than outsiders realized at the time. For Americans it genuinely was a new Pearl Harbour, an attack on the homeland that made them feel vulnerable for the first time in 60 years,” (Powell, 2003). The terrorist attacks of 9/11 affect America today because they instigated the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the “War on Terror,” and led to an increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes. “Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush,” (9/11, 2010). The most noticeable of these effects was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Because of this, Americans began to live in a state of paranoia. They worried that their homeland might become victim to another terrorist attack. Americans questioned everyone and everything, specifically Muslims. Many people assumed that just because the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks were Muslim, that every Muslim must be a terrorist. Muslims, or anyone slightly perceived to be Muslim, were hated and feared.

Nearly the whole country watched in horror on the morning of September 11, 2001. As the planes crashed and the towers burned, many thought it simply wasn’t true. They believed that it was impossible that someone could hate America that much. It was true, and it left lasting effects on Americans everywhere. Al-Qaeda had carried out a plan so horrific that it killed nearly three thousand people.

1 Both “T.S.A” by Amit Majmudar and “September 12, 2001” by X.J Kennedy reflect how 9/11 negatively affected people differently. “September 12, 2001” by X. J Kennedy was written past the 9/11 attacks and tells the story of a young couple experiencing tragedy that would change their lives. Another post 9/11 poem “T.S.A” by Amit Majmudar gives the perspective of a young Muslim man facing racial profiling through airport security. Regardless of perspective, each poem has shown a negative change affecting regular people's lives.

America has gone through difficult times with war, but has gone through harder times with the war on terror. Terrorism is defined as the use of terror or threat. The war on terror became a big deal on December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes, but has been a bigger deal since that attack on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. The bombing of the Twin Towers and to the Pentagon was like a Pearl Harbor but for the 21st century. Terrorist turn to violent means such as killing and bombing of the government.

America and its citizens America is a country where citizens are proud to live and be a part of the great culture. Through many hardships, including the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, 9/11, and Afghanistan, the American population has bonded together and shown that no matter what happens, they will overcome adversity. Time and time again, Americans have proven to the world that nothing will keep them down. When a country is threatened as a whole, specifically America during the events on 9/11, the citizens come together, and they will express a great deal of patriotism while showing their worries towards national security.

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists from the Middle East hijacked four airplanes in mid-flight and attacked the United States. Two planes were flown into two skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York City. The buildings caught on fire which caused them to collapse. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 9/11 was the most tragic attack to ever happen in America. The attack affected survivors all across America, it impacted the United States in financial ways, made a huge difference on how we are governed today and created more problems that we faced after the bombing.

9-11 influence me by all of those good Americans who died from the attack. And it also influenced me because I never got to see the world trade center in real life before it was destroyed. And the world trade center is something that I really wanted to see because of how unique it was. The world trade center is now a part of our history and will be in everybody’s hearts forever. Plus, since the attack the united states is too strict in order to do anything.

America along with the other parts of the world have changed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Our whole security system has changed to become suspicious of everyone. Traveling out of the country and even within the United States can be a hassle with having proper ID, passport and searches. Passengers can not have a certain amount of liquid in their bags if they are carrying their bags onto the plane. The arrival time is now 2-3 hours before the flight time in past time it was only one hour. No one is allowed to go beyond the security checkpoint without a boarding ticket. The security check can be very intents as some passengers are body searched and asked to remove shoes, jackets, and other items when necessary. The TSA already uses behavior

Terrorism causes fear all across the world. People are terrified because of what happens in these attacks. There are many different kinds of fear caused by terrorist attacks. Some react to these attacks differently than others. Many react to these attacks in a constructive and rational matter, this helps to not give the terrorists what they want. If we can do this we can minimize these attacks across the world. So, are you with me? Will you help to minimize this problem?