Muslim American women talk about raising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections
03.11.2016

Sarah A. Aly, mentorship coordinator at the Network of Arab-American Professionals, spoke with Anadolu Agency about rising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in New York City, U.S. on Oct. 26, 2016: "For me, [Republican Party presidential candidate Donald] Trump is not the source or the epitome of my marginalization as a Muslim woman in this country. My first interaction with the state was at 15 years old, when the FBI came knocking at my door in connection with a Facebook status they deemed suspicious. It has continued since, the most recent being an undercover cop at my school, Brooklyn College, posing as a girl named Mel, inserting herself in circles of friends and spaces I organized in, for four years. It has become increasingly hard for me to form bonds and friendships with people, because I don't know how to trust anymore… But it isn't just the slurs or dirty looks. My discomfort here is not just a result of the shouts ‘go back to your country’ that I can just joke about … My discomfort is more constant, because the state has made it clear I don't belong here, clear that they viewed me as a criminal long before I even had any political views. It didn't take Trump for me to realize this. I've seen in in the home raids and the deportations of innocent family friends and I've seen it in hate crimes, and I've seen it in laws passed by Obama that strip a certain type of people, people that look like me, of our rights in the interest of ‘national security’. In some ways, I'm actually glad that Trump is so bluntly xenophobic. He makes our reality much more obvious. The people who believed America was ‘post-racial’ or colorblind are having a reality check, and he exposes America for what it is, and what it always has been: founded and built on racism."

Muslim American women talk about raising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections
Fotoğraf: Mohammed Elshamy

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 29: 25-years-old Muslim woman, Marwa Janini, works as an immigration caseworker and a college instructor, poses for a photo during an exclusive interview for "Anadolu Agency (AA)" on raising hate speech and islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections in New York City, NY, USA on October 29, 2016. Janini said, "I assist immigrants in obtaining legal status in the United States and teach English language learners at City University of New York. Growing up amidst the climate of Islamophobic rhetoric, I have faced many challenges that come with being a visible Muslim American woman. I have often had to defend my faith against unwarranted verbal attacks and misconceptions. These experiences were compounded with the paternalistic reality that exists in many Arab immigrant communities, and I am a living embodiment of a woman breaking the mold. While these experiences have had a role in shaping my identity as a Muslim American woman, I refuse to be confined by them. I choose to focus on the positive influence I can have as a successful Muslim American woman, breaking down barriers and proving that the narrative of oppression and voicelessness is baseless and untrue." ( Mohammed Elshamy - Anadolu Agency )

Muslim American women talk about raising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections
Fotoğraf: Mohammed Elshamy

Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX, a national organization empowering students to end gender violence in schools, and an editor at Feministing.com, spoke with Anadolu Agency about rising hate speech and islamophobia ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in New York City on Oct. 25, 2016: “There's a James Baldwin quote many of you are likely familiar with that really resonates with me; he says: ‘To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time’. To be a Muslim woman doing anti-violence work in the United States right now is to really be filled with fury. On the one hand, there is a presidential candidate who has waged a campaign to silence women he’s sexually assaulted … I am frustrated that this candidate's comments – and the other candidate's policies – that have regularly hurt and killed so many people of color are not similarly sufficient to generate outrage. Yesterday, the bedroom of two Muslim girls at my little sister's university had ‘terrorist’ written on it. In the weeks prior, two friends were assaulted in anti-Muslim attacks. Where is mainstream outrage over stuff like this? … There is so much work to be done".

Muslim American women talk about raising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections
Fotoğraf: Mohammed Elshamy

Sarah A. Aly, mentorship coordinator at the Network of Arab-American Professionals, spoke with Anadolu Agency about rising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in New York City, U.S. on Oct. 26, 2016: "For me, [Republican Party presidential candidate Donald] Trump is not the source or the epitome of my marginalization as a Muslim woman in this country. My first interaction with the state was at 15 years old, when the FBI came knocking at my door in connection with a Facebook status they deemed suspicious. It has continued since, the most recent being an undercover cop at my school, Brooklyn College, posing as a girl named Mel, inserting herself in circles of friends and spaces I organized in, for four years. It has become increasingly hard for me to form bonds and friendships with people, because I don't know how to trust anymore… But it isn't just the slurs or dirty looks. My discomfort here is not just a result of the shouts ‘go back to your country’ that I can just joke about … My discomfort is more constant, because the state has made it clear I don't belong here, clear that they viewed me as a criminal long before I even had any political views. It didn't take Trump for me to realize this. I've seen in in the home raids and the deportations of innocent family friends and I've seen it in hate crimes, and I've seen it in laws passed by Obama that strip a certain type of people, people that look like me, of our rights in the interest of ‘national security’. In some ways, I'm actually glad that Trump is so bluntly xenophobic. He makes our reality much more obvious. The people who believed America was ‘post-racial’ or colorblind are having a reality check, and he exposes America for what it is, and what it always has been: founded and built on racism."

Muslim American women talk about raising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the US presidential elections
Fotoğraf: Mohammed Elshamy

Dalia Fahmy, an assistant professor of political science at Long Island University and a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Global Policy, a think-tank specializing in politics in the Muslim world, spoke with Anadolu Agency about rising hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in New York City on Oct. 27, 2016: "I was born and raised in New Jersey and yet this electoral cycle has highlighted the rise in anti-Muslim hate speech. As a Muslim American woman it seems that for the first time people are asking if I belong. And yet for me America is not only my home, but it is my past, present and future. When this election cycle is over and the dust settles we will have to pick up the pieces of America and put together our collective image for the future, one where I belong."

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