This piece, by Bradley J. Zopf (a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago), discusses how Muslims have been subjected to discrimination and unfair treatment since 9/11. It is suggested that since 9/11, the distrust of people believing in Islam, which had existed prior to September 11th, has shifted from the suspicion of Islam, to the hatred of "Muslims as a people" and people who may 'appear Muslim'. This is an interesting and important article as it has parallels what is occurring with the Trump administration and how it intends to prevent people from certain countries (predominantly Middle-Eastern countries) from entering the US, as they supposedly pose the greatest threat to the US. Zopf discusses that due to the amount of coverage that 'Muslims' got in the wake of 9/11, they were perceived by the public as the enemy, and a certain archetype and phenotype of 'Muslims' have been established, leading to discrimination against them and misconceptions of what it is to be a Muslim.
The literal definition of the term, 'Muslim', is "a follower of the religion of Islam". However, since 9/11, Zopf suggests that being a 'Muslim' in the public eye, has very different connotations from its original meaning. It no longer is to do with religion, but rather race, and how they have been racialized. This links with Trump's travel ban, as the countries he has targeted, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, all have large Muslim populations, but they are not exclusively Islamic. Trump's travel ban has reignited the themes of 'us' vs 'them' that was prominent after 9/11, when the people of the US needed someone to blame for the tragedy of September 11th. However, post 9/11, this led to some extreme Islamophobia within the US and the western world, despite the fact that the culprits of the attacks on the US are not representative of the majority of Muslims, many of whom will argue that they were not true followers of Islam. In 2017, as a planet we seem to be more mature and know that Trumps ban posses more negatives than positives. Families are being threatened with being separated, with some members already living in the US and others intending to immigrate, but unsure of whether they'll be able to enter the country.
Overall, Zopf's piece was interesting and very relevant, as it highlighted the changes in how the American public viewed 'Muslims' following the events of 9/11 and it is a subject that still has reparations today, with all that is occurring in contemporary global politics.
References:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Muslim
http://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/racializing-muslims-constructing-a-muslim-archetype/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39194875
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2017/feb/07/reince-priebus/were-7-nations-identified-donald-trumps-travel-ban/
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