American Islamophobia
A form of anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination specific to the United States, characterized by fears about concepts like jihad driven more by unfamiliarity than by their actual meaning, influenced by imported British colonial stereotypes given Americans’ historically limited direct contact with Muslims, and sustained by state repression as well as culture. Its dynamics diverged from Islamophobia in Asian societies depending on each country’s domestic situation.
Claims that use this term
- Fear of the unfamiliar word jihad, not its meaning, drives American Islamophobia.
- Asian and American Islamophobia diverged according to each society’s domestic situation
- American Islamophobia borrowed British stereotypes because Americans had little contact with Muslims
- State repression, not just culture, sustained American Islamophobia
- American Islamophobia equipped China and India to persecute their Muslim populations.
- European Islamophobia targets Muslim citizenship rights while American Islamophobia fuels foreign wars