Certain events in history have had a major impact on how people of different cultures treat each other in America. Throughout the novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid the main character Changez, a Pakistani man, discusses his life in America and what changed after 9/11. Changez describes an enormous surge in patriotism and illustrates how people treated him differently than before. He receives increased airport security checks and insults from strangers. This eventually leads to Changez losing his job and returning to Pakistan. Changez’s experience in America after 9/11 demonstrates a larger picture of how Muslim’s and Arab’s have had to deal with increased hostility and discrimination.
Muslims, Arabs, and people of similar culture have experienced a different America post 9/11. These people began to receive increased discrimination and racism and became stereotyped as “terrorists.” Mona Amer, a Muslim woman living in America described how “She felt the relentless stares of strangers everywhere she went. I received horrid emails, including death threats” (Mekouar, 1). This is another example of a Muslim person receiving discrimination and hate from people around her simply because of her religion and appearance. The views of Americans on Arab people have changed immensely. “A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of the 9/11 anniversary found that 53% of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam” (Fam, 4). This statistic is extremely disappointing as it shows that a very large portion of Americans have negative views on people from Islam which can make it very uncomfortable for these people to feel like they belong in America.
The way these people are being treated relates back to Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of the othering. Muslims and people of similar culture have become othered by society. Anan Hafez, a Muslim man who lives in America perfectly described how his people are being othered. He described that “The othering of Muslims since 9/11 has had a long-term impact on the lives of Muslim Americans and their sense of belonging and inclusion in the fabric of American society” (Mineo, 3). This illustrates how these people feel that they don’t belong in America and the treatment they receive has greatly impacted their lives in a negative way. Overall, 9/11 had a very negative impact on how Muslim and Arab people are perceived by American society and has led to constant discrimination and othering of these people.
Citations:
Mariam Fam, Deepti Hajela. “Two Decades after 9/11, Muslim Americans Still Fighting Bias.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 7 Sept. 2021, https://apnews.com/article/September-11-Muslim-Americans-93f97dd9219c25371428f4268a2b33b4.
Mekouar, Dora. “How 9/11 Changed Arab and Muslim Americans.” VOA, How 9/11 Changed Arab and Muslim Americans, 21 Sept. 2021, https://www.voanews.com/a/6222700.html.
Mineo, Liz. “Muslim Americans Reflect on the Impact of 9/11.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 11 Sept. 2021, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/muslim-americans-reflect-on-the-impact-of-9-11/.