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Yutaka Ozeki

Mrs. Hillesland

Integrated AP English 11

5 September 2016

The Bigotry against Muslims

The Declaration of Independence was created by rich white men at the time of the

American Revolution. In the Declaration, it states that all men are created equal, making it

sound as though all people were given equal rights. Since the writing of the Declaration of

Independence, bigotry has been common within Americans. In recent news, Muslims are being

attacked in several different ways, and they are commonly seen as dangerous people, and the

Americans being the victims. The New York Times article Muslim Gathering Lamenting a

Normalization of Bigotry, published by Ron Nixon, addresses the inequality Muslims are

currently forced to face. As this article illustrates, in this supposedly equal and free country,

Muslims are unfairly considered as threats to American lives, being forced to face

discrimination.

In the current American society, bigotry is a hidden issue that leads to discrimination. It

existed in society when the Declaration of Independence was created, but against slaves, women,

indentured slaves, and Native Americans. Now, it is being directed towards Muslim Americans.

Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump proposes to bar Muslims from entering the United

States, reasoning that Muslim men are endangering the lives of U.S. citizens because of some

cases of Muslim attacks. But we have not accounted that Muslim people are also being

threatened with attacks by some Americans. According to the New York Times article, an imam
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of a mosque in New York City and his associate [was] shot dead while strolling following

afternoon prayers and Muslim women [were] harassed and physically attacked in Chicago

while walking to their car. Some Americans are harming Muslims, but Americans are seeing

themselves as only the victims and avoiding the fact that they are also killing Muslim lives.

Donald Trump, who now holds a strong voice in America now, ignores that some of us are

harming Muslims and calls for Muslims to be barred from entering the United States. It

escalates discrimination against the smaller group of Muslims from the large number of U.S.

citizens, leaving the Muslims powerless. In order to get rid of these discriminatory views, we

have to understand that being a Muslim American does not decide if they are threatening or not,

and we need to consider the voices of not only the majority of Americans but Muslim Americans

as well.

Muslim Americans are being treated similarly to how women in America have been

treated against men. According to the Declaration of Independence, all men are endowed

with inherent and inalienable rights life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that to

secure these rights governments are instituted among men. The statement only includes

men, thus excluding women from the having the same rights as men that are mentioned in the

Declaration. The Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, where Abigail Adams, John Adams

wife, includes the line do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands,

expressing that women should be able to hold equal power as men, and that men should not hold

too much power over them. Modern Muslim Americans are being degraded socially and

religiously like women in the past, and are unable to resist the degradation because of the

majority of Americans who hold dominant power over them. The reason that there are so many

Americans who view Muslim Americans as threats and suppress them is also caused by the fact
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that Christianity is the common religion of Americans. According to the New York Times

article, organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security focuse[s] on potential

extremism within Muslim communities to the exclusion of white nationalist groups. Even

though white nationalist groups and Muslim communities can be equally threatening, the

difference in religion causes Islam to be thought as more extreme compared to Christianity.

Differing religious views lead to the unfair treatment by Christian Americans who possess

stronger power against Muslim Americans.

As mentioned in the New York Times article, Muslim lives are the quintessential

American story. It has become common these days that Muslims are being oppressed and

desired to leave the United States. But way before this issue about Muslims was brought up

widely in society, there still existed the inequality between different kinds of people in America.

According to Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, his grandfather had been

accused of being anti-American for advocating civil rights as an African-American man during

the anti-communist movement in 1949. It exemplifies that non Christian Americans are not

thought of to be included as equal to Americans, and that as mentioned in the article, the

mistakes of history such as accusing an African-American man for only requesting for civil

rights are being repeated, as the Muslim population is being persecuted for crimes that only a

portion of them have committed.

Islamic extremists creating threats against Americans does not mean that it is necessary

for all Muslims to be forced out of America. Just like Christian Americans, only a few out of the

whole population of Muslim Americans commit crimes, but the rest are not associated as

criminals. The Obama administration has made it a priority to bolster engagement with Muslims

across the country. In the condition of bigotry becoming normalized, we have to make an effort
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to step in the right direction like the Obama administration, away from discrimination and

consider Muslim Americans as people who should be treated equally as us.

Works Cited

"The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription." National Archives and Records

Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

Nixon, Ron. "Muslim Gathering Laments a Normalization of Bigotry." The New York
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Times. The New York Times, 04 Sept. 2016. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

And, By Marriage the Husband. "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls:

Stanton and Anthony Papers Online." Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca

Falls: Stanton and Anthony Papers Online. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.