On September 11, 2001 militaristic individuals who were associated with the Islamic extremist group al Queda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and a third airplane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. There was a fourth place also heading toward Washington D.C but brave civilians on the plane helped take over and crashed it into a field in Pennsylvania. Three thousand people were killed during the September 11th terrorist attack on the United States which caused the U.S to launch major action to combat terrorism. The United States also changed the way they looked at Muslim culture forever.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist written by Mohsin Hamid tells a story of a young man from Pakistan, Changez, as he becomes a successful businessman in New York City. Just from the first page Hamid shows how subjective a person can be based on their skin color, facial features, and clothing. The forms of racism that Changez experiences shape his impressions of the United States. Changez’s friends treat him with respect but they are aware that he was thought of as an “outsider” of the United States. Racism is the ultimate theme throughout this story and it is very interesting. The narrator (Changez) is a Muslim man who is going to be “naturally” seen as a fundamentalist (a person who strictly believes in religion) but he is not especially religious. Changez is not a practicing Muslim but eveyone sees him as a Muslim because of his ethnicity and place of birth. He feels as though, through his Princeton education, there is a hidden patriotic duty in the United States that everyone must abide by. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Changez experienced an outpouring of loyalty to the United States. Before the attacks he thought of himself as just a New Yorker, he thought that was just a culture in itself. But after the attack he views the city joining with the rest of America in forming a single culture that makes its distinct characteristic aggression and hatred towards non-Americans. During this time Changez is “forced” into changing his perspective of America as he starts to experience racism and discrimination, he feels shattered in his once- embracing country. Changez experiences an identity crisis following the events of 9/11. He is He is divided as a man, trying to choose between his Pakistani roots or his American lifestyle. For a brief moment he chooses the American lifestyle he had been accustomed to but soon realizes it comes with the hardship of being seen as a terrorist and a threat to American society. Changez is able to tell a story about what many Muslims were feeling at the time, and still is today. Muslims, Arabs, South Asians or anyone with Brown skin/ Muslim Faith did not really know who they were after 9/11. The culture was erased, they were expected to give up ties to their heritage and instead of being embraced they were thought of as a foreigner who could not be trusted. Muslisms lost their cultural tie to America and instead of feeling free to experience the differences, they were forced to assimilate with other Americans. “September eleventh was not the beginning of islamophobia and racism, but the event intensified hate towards our various communities. Muslim girls had to remove their hijabs, Sikh men had to cut their hair, mother-tongues were forgotten, customs were not practiced, and the desire to become blonde-haired, blue-eyed, or all-American became an actual aspiration.” (Talwar, 9/11 Identity Crisis).
Muslims have and probably always will feel as though they are targeted and resented because of their culture. Society has taught people to fear Muslims, the media has shown that you are supposed to freeze in their presence, especially in an airport, a crowded public setting or when they are wearing a hijab. Ever since the actions of individuals on September 11th, 2001, the whole religion has been feared by most and has had their identity stripped from them. Toward the end of the novel there is a quote from Changez that I feel really sticks out, “It seems an obvious thing to say, but you should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins” (page 183).
Works Cited
Gabrielle Bellot, “Why Every American Should Read The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Radical Difference in the Age of Trump.” October 5, 2016.
Rebecca A. Clay. “Muslims in America, Post 9/11.” September 2011.
“9/11 Identity Crisis.” September 12, 2015.
I think as American’s we often do not look at the full picture when it comes to remembering 9/11. We are so caught up in our own lives and understanding how events impact our own culture, without understanding how they impact so many other groups. I liked how authentic this post was, highlighting the true racism, discrimination, and xenophobia that arose from the 9/11 attacks. It is so important as a human being to try and understand another individual’s perspective. I think that Hamid’s novel provides a gateway to begin to understand his experiences (as well as many other individuals) following the terrorist attack, and how he was forced to choose an identity- within one of which, his culture was not accepted.
I agree with your comment that people often forget the cultural impact towards other minorities after 9/11. I like how you pointed out that Hamid was forced to choose an identity because I think many people can relate to his struggle.
zelinskas.4 I definitely agree with your comment on how many cultures were impacted after 9/11, I believe each culture, individual, and country was affected differently after the attacks.
This post is great because it really shows some of the long lasting effects of 9/11 that are not just the added security and commonly thought of effects, it’s the persisting racism and discrimination that came from 9/11. His culture is not accepted because of the stereotypes given, untrue stereotypes that ruin lives daily and that a gross amount of people still carry. Even in the movie Borat, you can see how when he goes to the rodeo, a man told him to change his appearance because he looks like someone from al-qaeda and he didn’t want to scare people. Gross discrimination like this still exists in today’s world.
brown.7286, I agree with you and it is sad that discrimination like tis still exists. It is crazy to me how the world is a melding pot of nationalities, many that are not in their home countries and there is still so much discrimination. We have all lived together for many many years yet, we can not figure out how to live together and love each other despite our differences.
Growing up we always heard about 9/11. It was a huge tragedy and it was very recent when we were in elementary. It’s sad to see and hear that we always learn about how it affected America as a whole but never how it affects Muslims/ Brown people.
I agree with Tania here. In our history books, we tend to focus on the outcome for us, as Americans, not the outcome for others. It has been this way for every tragedy like World Wars as well as 9/11. Do you think that if we would have explained the feelings of Others and listened to how they were feeling, we would’ve realized in society as a whole the situation sooner rather than teaching about the biases we may have now. Overall, I thought this presentation was very informative and I appreciated the viewpoints gained from this. Saying the the “culture was erased” was a great way of putting the situation into perspective. Great job!
I really like the post here, and Tania’s argument is well written as well. Growing up as Asian, I feel sympathy toward other minority people. It is what we have to help each other to get over the discrimination.
This is a very well written summary of The Reluctant Fundamentalism. Talking about the actions, perceptions and misconceptions after the attack of 9/11 is very important as far as the understanding of the story of Changez goes. I really liked how you put how Muslims felt after 9/11 saying that “the culture was erased.” Now, they do not feel free living in America and are feared by others around them, which is very upsetting. Great post, it really helps sum up a lot and gives a little deeper connection between real life and in this novel.
I agree with this comment, I think that the aftermath of the event tends to not be brought up in conversation as much as what actually happened within the events. I think it is important to point out the consequences of the event and how it still effects people to this day.
I also discussed this issue in one of my systemic injustice dairies because I think it’s important for people to realize how Muslims or people that look like Muslims were affected after 9/11. People often don’t think about the racism and discrimination that arose after 9/11 because, in school, we are taught only about the tragedy of the event and the regulations that were put in place to protect us from “bad guys”. In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, you can see that people are often distinguished as being the “bad guys” based on looks alone. Which I think is a great misfortune.
Your point about the way schools only taught their students about 9/11, the protocols implemented to protect the country, and the omission of the impacts on the Muslim community is one that I didn’t think about until I read this response. I find that the lack of attention brought to the racism and discrimination stemming from the attack is unfair and goes against the liberties that America was established to fulfill. It breaks my heart to see how quickly society shifted the blame onto a community that had no control over the attack, and the fact that these effects have influenced Muslim identities to this day is unjustifiable.
I think your post did a tremendous job showing the effects that 9/11 had on everyone everywhere. We were always taught about what happened on that day, and what it meant for the US, and the people who lived and witnessed it happen, but it seems that we were never really taught about what it meant for Muslims in this country, and elsewhere. After that day, so many false narratives and stereotypes were created about everyone a part of this culture, when that should have never been the case. To think about the discrimination and racism that they had to deal and live with, as a result of this tragic incident, is awful to think about. This should have and still should be talked about a lot more as those effects of this event are still relevant today, and after reading your post about Changez and how he felt and related to this, it is definitely heartbreaking to know that people have to live with this on a daily basis and endure this kind of awful treatment. Overall, this is a great post that was very informative.
I believe that your post does a good job of explaining that 9/11 changed the lives more for Muslims and people living in the middle east than it did for most Americans. Although 9/11 was a terrible tragedy it only affected a small number of civilians with physical damages, most of the toll put on the American citizens was mental distress. Compared to the middle east where civilians who had nothing to do with it are caught in the middle of a war, having their country destroyed and many dying in the process. All this for the foreseeable future.
I agree with how the biggest impact that 9/11 had was emotional distress rather than physical injuries. The attack sent the US reeling as we never thought something like this could ever be carried out on US soil. The attacking of civilians, military officials, and the attempted attack on the President left the nation panicked, searching for a target to take their anger out on. Unfortunately, it was (and to an extent still is) the US Muslim population that bared the brunt of this hatred.
I also find that quote on page 183 very interesting. Although Changez has become disillusioned with the country he once loved, he smartly realizes that he shouldn’t engage in the same feelings that Americans had towards him after 9/11.
I agree with your post. It does a really good job of explaining how 9/11 changed the lives of muslims and really anyone living out in the Middle East. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy for Americans, but the Middle East faced a different type of problem. The people who had nothing to do with 9/11, which was most of the civilians in the Middle East, are left in a war and full blame of the 9/11 tragedy.
This post did a great job explaining a lot of the feelings that people were experiencing before and after 9/11. I think that there was a great comparison between the novel and how relatable it was to a lot of people experiencing this cultural disconnect post 9/11. I also really enjoyed the quotes that you chose to put into your blog post, I think they both did a great job expanding on the topic!
This context presentation is executed really nicely and does a good job to highlight how a group of people are treated differently after something that had not real connection to them. This reminds me a lot of something I heard today – the French government just ruled that Muslim women under 18 are banned from wearing hijabs in public, a ruling that is undeniably racist and islamaphobic. Some of their “reasoning” for this is because the hijab represents oppression against women, though we’ve already debunked this notion in class. It just tells me that whoever signed off on this is racist and bad at pretending they aren’t.
There’s a TV show I absolutely adore called “The West Wing” and there’s an incredible moment that I’ll always remember and try to share when possible. A man who works in the White House is talking to a group of children about terrorism after being asked about ISIS and hearing some insinuations that we can’t trust Islamists. The man proposes a question to the children saying “Islam is to ISIS as Christianity is to… what?” The children keep guessing but can’t figure it out, until the man fills in the blank saying “the KKK”. The whole point is that the KKK identifies as Christian, but we don’t condemn all Christians as being part of the KKK, so why do we do that to Islamists?
I really enjoyed your post for the week. I feel like talking about the feelings both sides were having towards the events of 9/11 is very important to highlight. The problems and hate the Americans faced v. the Muslims were both very different and very harmful in their own ways and it also is good to show the differences in those.