Structural policies and surveillance profiling create health disparities for Muslim Americans

Evidence

Islamophobia can also produce health disparities through structural stigma at the macro level. Although research on structural stigma of Muslim Americans and health is limited, 1 study found that in a period of heightened stigma following September 11, 2001, pregnant women of Arab descent had poor birth outcomes. Discriminatory ideologies in the structural features of institutions, policies, and media coverage can create or reinforce health disparities. For example, the 2001 Patriot Act and associated legislation gave the state new powers, including surveillance, which profiles Muslim Americans or “Muslim-like” Americans, contributing to social segregation and differential access to resources for Muslim Americans. — Goleen Samari, Islamophobia and Public Health in the…, 54

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the discarding effects of the Patriot Act and structural discrimination frameworks; also resonates with ‘Parable of the Sower’ themes of systemic inequity shaping survival.
• QUESTION: The single 9/11 birth-outcome study is worth tracking down — what cohort, design, effect size did it use?

Related

• Islamophobia harms both mental and physical health of Muslim Americans. (similarity 0.82)
• Islamophobia harms Muslim health at individual, interpersonal, and structural levels (similarity 0.80)
• Structural Islamophobia shapes health outcomes through institutional and community-level conditions. (similarity 0.80)
• Goleen Samari — Islamophobia and Public Health in the United States (similarity 0.78)
• Islamophobia is a public health risk factor via stigma and discrimination. (similarity 0.78)