civil-rights attorney, said that “Tips fundamentally creates an atmosphere
of community distrust and suspicion that’s inimical to a free society.” Tien
76 / Chapter 4
continued, “it’s reminiscent of the tactics that the stasi [east German secret
police] and the Gestapo [nazi secret police] used.”19
protests by privacy rights groups, as well as apprehension by some
lawmakers over what amounted to domestic spying, impelled Congress
to shut down the TiA system in 2003 (although evidence suggests that
president George W. Bush continued to secretly and unlawfully authorize
the surveillance program).20 Operation Tips was stopped before it ever got
off the ground. surveys showed, however, that despite serious civil-rights
concerns, many Americans were strongly in favor of initiatives such as these,
especially when they were aimed at monitoring the activities of Arab and
muslim Americans.
The public unease and aura of suspicion that followed 9/11 left nearly
every participant in this study feeling as though they were terror suspects.
The interviewees commonly talked about how the change after 9/11 was
subtle but pervasive. After the terrorist attacks, it seemed that the men and
women could go nowhere without being watched:
it’s just the suspicion, the look in people’s eyes. it is hurtful the way
people look at you with the suspicion, the implication of . . . [w]hat
are you really doing here? Are you really here to shop, or are you
scouting to put a bomb here? something like that. That has been the
most negative. it is not something tangible. it is very subtle—you can
feel it in the looks.
i’m walking into some place, and people look at me and look at my
hands to see if i’m holding a bomb. seriously, this is the kind of looks
i get. When i walk somewhere and they know that you’re a muslim,
they look at you. They look at your hands, at your bag.
Apprehensive Looks
Fourth, the muslims in this study indicated that they were often looked
at and treated in ways that made them believe that non-muslims were now
terrified of them. some people became visibly anxious when they came
into contact with the muslim men and women; these individuals would
cast looks suggesting that they thought the muslim in their presence would
harm or even kill them. The day after the World Trade Center collapsed,
selina, a second-generation lebanese American, ran into a friend whom
she had known for years. rather than greeting selina with kindness or
sympathy, the young woman stepped away in fear: “people were looking at
me, even your friends you’ve known for a while, they were . . . [t]he day after,
my friend Beverly, i’ve known her since i don’t know how long. i went up to
Backlash / 77
her and i was like, ‘Hi, Beverly.’ she got scared and moved back. i couldn’t
believe it.”
selina’s experience demonstrates that even persons who had long-standing
relationships with muslims contributed to the backlash. The sense of fear that
so many communicated was likely exacerbated by the Bush administration’s
liberal use of the terms “Arab terrorists” and “muslim terrorists” in the post-
9/11 rhetoric surrounding the War on Terror. mohammed, who was born in
morocco and came to the United states as a child, articulated this point:
When i heard president Bush give that whole long talk about how
Americans should respect muslims and respect islam, it’s a beauti-
ful religion and stuff, i said, “Wow, i really like this guy. i’m actually
growing to respect him.” But then, in the next breath he says, “But
we must go to war with these muslim terrorists.” On the one hand he
says, “respect the muslims; respect the Arabs.” Then out of the other
side of his face he says, “We must go to war with the Arab terrorists.”
it’s confusing to the American people. What’s up with the Arabs?
should we respect them or are they Arab terrorists? How can we tell
who’s a regular, nice muslim and who’s a muslim terrorist?
The horrific sights and incalculable losses associated with the 9/11
attacks struck fear in the hearts of many Americans. At the same time,
the disaster aftermath opened up a space for some Americans to behave in
openly prejudicial ways toward muslim Americans. malik described how
hurt he was after a woman grabbed her child and moved away from him: “i
was walking with my mother. This lady, her daughter or her son, i think it
was a little boy, was walking a few feet away from her. The minute she saw
me coming, she snatched him away like i was going to do something to him.
The little boy, of course, children are really innocent; they’re taught to be
racist. He didn’t want to go. He was so busy walking and she just yanked
him.” so, in many cases, actions really did speak louder than words. Taken
together, the piercing stares and sharp movements, the vigilant looks and
nervous glances intimidated muslim Americans and made many feel like
feared enemies and hated outsiders.
Access Denied: Discrimination and Profiling
The American creed, as a cultural ideal, proclaims the dignity of every indi-
vidual and affirms the human right of equitable access to justice, freedom,
and opportunity, irrespective of one’s race, ethnic background, or religious
affiliation. in reality, a gap has always existed between this American ideal
and actual institutional practice.21 even a cursory understanding of the his-
78 / Chapter 4
tory of native Americans, African Americans, latinos, Catholics, Jews, or
any number of other minority groups in the United states confirms this last
point.
For muslim Americans, the gulf between creed and conduct was never
clearer than in the period following 9/11. After the terrorist attacks, muslims
were profiled on the basis of their religion or ethnicity and subjected to
subtle and overt discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and
education. These experiences were personally painful and, in some instances,
threatened the livelihoods of the men and women who found themselves and
their families excluded from core social institutions.
Employment Discrimination
Those respondents who were seeking jobs in the aftermath of 9/11 expressed
a great deal of anxiety about their ability to compete in the labor market.
in particular, they feared that their islamic names and any connection to
muslim organizations would result in rejection during the application-
screening phase of the hiring process.
The nonprofit Discrimination research Center conducted a study
suggesting that the concerns of muslims were well founded. in a 2004
study, the Center sent out six thousand fictitious resumes to employment
firms throughout California. All applicants were similarly qualified, but
the different resumes included twenty names identifiable as white, latino,
African American, Asian American, Arab American, or south Asian. The
name Heidi mcKenzie got the highest response rate (36.7 percent), and
Abdul-Aziz mansour got the lowest (23 percent).22 research c
onducted in
the United Kingdom, Canada, and France yielded similar results. in each
instance, candidates with muslim- or Arabic-sounding names were much
less likely to be invited for an interview than applicants whose names
indicated that they were of european or African descent.23
Of course, muslims who are actually searching for jobs cannot know with
any degree of certainty whether their applications are summarily dismissed
because of their islamic names or other identifying features on their resumes.
This sort of rejection is very difficult to document and thus represents one
of the most invisible forms of employment discrimination. With that said,
several of the persons i interviewed reported barriers in the hiring process
that seemed to be directly related to their muslim identities. For example,
Badia, an American citizen of Cambodian descent who wore the hijab,
completed her undergraduate degree in business management nine months
after 9/11. she applied for several jobs in the spring and summer months of
2002, but she received very few calls for interviews. Badia recognized that the
post-9/11 economic downturn and other structural changes in the economy
Backlash / 79
were affecting many people’s job prospects, and therefore she did not want to
attribute her employment problems to discrimination. it was only after her
career counselor revealed that less-qualified college graduates were securing
jobs that Badia acknowledged that she may have been treated unfairly:
When i was looking for a job, it was really hard. i didn’t think it would
be, because i’ve never had a hard time getting a job before. i know the
economy is down, so i’m not saying that people are discriminating
against me. i’ve always disliked people blaming their shortcomings
on discrimination. so i really didn’t like to look at that, and i didn’t
for months. my career counselor was the one who brought it up. she
was like, “Why haven’t you gotten a job yet?” i graduated with a 3.9
GpA, and i had a lot of good things on my record. she said i should
have gotten a job before the other people she was helping. There were
companies i think may have discriminated against me because i’m
female. One was asking if i had kids. All three of the places i inter-
viewed asked about my religion and what country i was from.
Badia’s case illustrates that muslim American women are susceptible
to multiple, interactive forms of discrimination related to gender, race,
nationality, and religion. Badia knew that it was illegal for employers to
ask many of the questions that she received. regardless, she answered their
queries, because she feared that refusing to respond would have further
damaged her already-diminished job prospects.
Ariana, who, like Badia, wore the headscarf, had a similarly difficult
time as she searched for a job nearly a year after 9/11. Ariana was a stand-out
student in college, had completed two marketing internships at prestigious
firms in manhattan, and was bright and articulate. With her educational
and professional qualifications, she did quite well with telephone interviews.
When she arrived for in-person interviews, however, she sensed that
employers were taken aback by her appearance. Ariana recounted one such
experience:
i did a telephone interview, and the woman liked me very much.
she asked about my resume, and she asked me to come in. she said i
needed to do some tests. i came in, and i said my name. The recep-
tionist was like, “Do you have a copy of your resume?” she was like,
“Okay, we’ll contact you.” i said, “Can i talk with sharon? Because
on the phone she said i need to take an exam and do an interview.”
The receptionist said, “no, that’s after you’re hired.” i said, “Okay,
but could i talk to sharon just to tell her i’m here?” she was like, “no,
she’s not available.” i didn’t think much of it, but there were others
80 / Chapter 4
waiting for the interview, and they were kind of giving me this weird
look. i think they were there for the same thing, but when they saw
me, it was like, okay. . . . They never called back.
Ariana was uncertain whether this incident was the result of religious
bias on the part of the receptionist or if she simply was not qualified for the
position. she remarked that even if the poor treatment was not due to anti-
islamic prejudice, it still made her feel insecure.
several other women who wore the headscarf described virtually
identical experiences with being invited for job interviews and then, upon
their arrival, being told that no positions were available. Husna, an Afghan
American, discussed what she went through as she attempted to secure a
substitute teaching job in the school district near her home:
i talked to the head of the district on the phone, and he informed me
that i needed to get a special license to work as a substitute teacher.
everything went well with our call, and so i got the money order
to attain the license. When i arrived with the money at the district
office, they suddenly told me that there were no placements and that
i should go elsewhere in search of other districts to teach in. i was so
upset, because this district has access to schools close to my home. i
immensely stressful. i am very down about this. i guess out of mere
survival, i must go to the other districts with my scarf off, and then
when i get out of the district, then i would wear the scarf.
rather than challenging the discriminatory behavior, which clearly caused
her much distress, Husna decided to look for another substitute teaching job in
a district more than an hour from her home. she ultimately was hired before
she was forced to remove her headscarf, a possibility that she contemplated
only after potential employers rebuffed her on several occasions.
stereotypes, conscious or unconscious, that associate muslims with
violent extremism caused problems for a number of men who were seeking
employment after 9/11. malik, who had lived throughout the middle east
while growing up, was aware of the many negative images associated with
persons from that region of the world. Therefore, he would often withhold
information about his upbringing and religious affiliation until later in
conversations or job interviews, presumably in hopes that his personality and
qualifications would override any preexisting stereotypes:
in a job interview, in any encounter, why is it that i relegate saying
that i’m muslim to the end? Why is it that i don’t mention it imme-
Backlash / 81
diately? That indicates that there is definitely a problem here. i don’t
want people to stereotype me. it isn’t like there isn’t a stereotype.
There’s a very bad stereotype. people get scared. To give you an exam-
ple, at a job interview a few days ago, they realized that i was from the
middle east. They asked me about my background, and i told them.
They became visibly uncomfortable. i could tell that something was
&nb
sp; wrong. i didn’t say anything. i didn’t want to say anything. i was a
little disappointed, but i let it go.
Because of the mistreatment that malik experienced during this particular
interview, he realized that it was highly unlikely that he was going to be
hired. Thus, although he was disappointed, he made the decision to “let it
go” rather than pursuing the matter further.
Those respondents who were employed in part-time or full-time positions
also suffered the consequences of the post-9/11 backlash. The interviewees
described numerous hurtful encounters with supervisors and colleagues who
made hateful remarks or sent disparaging e-mails regarding muslims, islam,
and Arabs. The day after the terrorist attacks, malika, who was the only Arab
muslim in a company with roughly three hundred employees, was singled
out and subjected to hostile comments:
it was on the twelfth [of september]. i had gone downstairs, and every-
body was talking about their reactions to it. That was the first time that
i started hearing, “nuke ’em, those Arabs, the muslims. . . .” i kind of
expected that, but [not] to hear it the way it was directed toward me.
They know i’m Arab. i know a lot of people were talking out of anger
and hurt, but this one particular guy, he looked straight at me. He was
like, “We need to get rid of that entire part of the world. i know you
have family living in egypt, and i know they may get hurt or they may
die, or you may get hurt as a result of it, but they all need to go.”
malika was one of the few people i spoke with who actually reported the
harassment to her boss. When i asked her why she went to her supervisor,
she explained: “i lost three people, three business associates who died in
the collapse [of the Twin Towers]. i went into my boss’s office, and i’m like,
‘listen. i need to tell you this right now, because there’s no way i can deal
with this. i want to grieve too, like everybody else. i can’t feel like i’m being
put on the defensive. let me grieve.’”
soon after malika talked to her supervisor, the president of the company
sent out a memo indicating that workplace harassment on the basis of gen-
der, ethnicity, or religion would not be tolerated. According to malika, the
hostile comments subsided after the memo was distributed. she said, “i think