Introduction

THE ATTACKS on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, had a dramatic, immediate effect on Muslims in the United States. Both the magnitude of the destruction within the borders of the United States and the ensuing war on terror have brought the issue of Muslims living in the United States into public awareness in an unprecedented way. Islam and terrorism were already closely associated in public discourse: Immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, for example, public officials and the media had speculated that Muslims were responsible. This error led reporters to be more careful on the morning of September 11 when they made their initial assessments. But once the involvement of al Qaeda became clear, the association between Islam and terrorism moved to the center of public awareness, foreign policy, and domestic politics, where it has remained. In the days following the attacks, some members of the American public, including a few radio talk show hosts and Christian leaders, quickly generalized and racialized this threat to include anyone who might look Muslim or Arab. This public talk created a sense of panic in some circles and triggered a backlash of violence, harassment, and insult that was widely reported in the media. As a result, Muslims and those who looked Middle Eastern feared for their safety. The Bush administration made public statements that distinguished terrorism from the activities of most Muslims and from Islam. Nevertheless, al Qaeda and its possible sleeper cells of terrorists who might be hiding within the United States, ready to strike at any moment, posed the powerful threat of an ethnicized, racialized enemy within that the United States public had not experienced since World War II.1 Parallels to the imagined threat posed by Japanese Americans during World War II have frequently been drawn. For many American Muslims, the possibility of a similarly strong response to the al Qaeda threat, generalized to include all who had immigrated from Muslim-majority countries, was an unavoidable part of the post 9/11 experience. Muslims had suddenly become highly visible outsiders. Copyright © 2008 by Russell Sage Foundation.

Duke Scholars

Author Katherine P. Ewing Cultural Anthropology