Hijab In America

Common American understandings of the meaning of hijab are related to a foreign cultural threat. There was a clear relationship between safety and wearing a hijab, this resulted in some women to stop wearing it after 9/11. A hijab carried a religious meaning, this factor played a role in the way Americans viewed women wearing it. Muslim women were aware that they were potential targets of attack, they were aware of the shift in public attitudes toward their apparel. Cainkar interviewed Muslim women and found, “One of my friends, immediately after September 11, she was afraid, and she couldn’t go out, and she ended up staying home”, another woman said, “After the events, we have begun to feel less secure than before. And because I wear a veil,

Cainkar, she spent one chapter interviewing Muslim immigrants after 9/11. She found that a majority reported that they feared for their lives that the government might “force their expulsion or internment”. As a group, these immigrants experienced a major shift in their treatment in American society. The U.S immigration and Naturalization Service described Muslims in 1943 as persons who “shared in the development of our civilization”, which asserted their whiteness and eligibility for all immigration benefits. After 9/11, Muslims were increasingly represented with negative treatment and racialized. Negin Ghaffari reported that Muslim Americans feel "alienation, marginalization, polarization and demonization, and some even report sharp rises in the incidents of hate crimes, racial slurs in placed of employment and business" (56). Americans’ popular view of Muslim immigrants has become more significant since the terrorist attacks. The fear of an immigrant who lives in America is caused by the fear of knowing (who they are, where they come from). Due to recent terrorist strikes and threats, the United States is constantly in a period of heightened concern over immigration

As stated above, the War on Terror started after September 11. Louise A. Cainkar heavily discusses this topic in her book Homeland Insecurity, stating that, “It as not domestic positions of Muslim Americans; rather it was American foreign policies in general and the Bush administration’s global ‘war on terror’ that drove American fears and provoked intergroup conflict” (267). Soon, America started to believe that terrorist were hiding in their communities, just waiting to attack again. This suspicion of Muslim Americans as terrorist provoked fear in American citizens. Muslims in the United States were symbolically attached to the notion that they were likely connected to the 9/11 attacks and other future acts of terrorism (such as hiding a terrorist). The events of 9/11 intensified the fear of terrorism and the war on terror became the sole purpose of American politics, thus putting terrorism and war on the same outlook. Unfavorable views of Islam and overall negative views of Muslim may be associated with the support for the War on Terror. It is safe to say that public attitudes toward Muslims help one 's stance on the War on Terror. Cainkar expresses that terming a “war” on terrorism provokes fear and promotes violence. On the other hand, the attacks of 9/11 provide a justification for creating this campaign. Many Americans see Muslims as