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Nate Maines

Ms. Dott

H. English III

30 October 2017

In the Eye of the Unwelcomed

9/11. Yeah, that caught your attention didn’t it. Why?

Because it was a catastrophic event that will never be

forgotten throughout history, performed by the Muslim culture.

Islamophobia, the dislike of or prejudice against Islams or

Muslims. This phobia has been formed into a picture to try and

reveal how much people actually label the Muslim society. In

the piece, there is a Muslim man with only his face showing,

covering his face are the words that people label him as such

as “Terrorist” and “9/11”. The image was created through an

artist that goes by the name of Chris Allen, he saw and realized how many Muslims suffer the

consequences of what their culture has done in the past. Although, this art could be

misunderstood as only portraying Muslims as a culture who only gets labeled harshly. There are

many religions and cultures in the world that get just as much hate as Muslims except they are

seen as a less concerning people. Altogether, many people, cultures, and religions suffer the

consequences of their past that they might not have even been a part of. How deeply this impacts

their lives is what this essay is here to show you.

As seen in the picture, the man isn’t sad. Instead he looks like he is mad or disappointed

with how he has been treated and almost seems threatened. This may seem weird because you
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would think that the artist would try to portray Muslims as being sad or fearful of what people

label them as. So why would the artist do this? He does this to show that Muslims, through

generations, have always been labeled as “Suspect” or “Prisoner” and it’s almost like they are

becoming what people see them as because that is all they know. They are brought up in this

hostile environment and taught that we, the Americans, are the ones trying to capture them and

reject them and all this other stuff. We may not see it, but as we do this all that processes in their

minds is “How do we defend ourselves?” That is where all the anger and hatred for Americans

comes from in the Muslim society is because we don’t accept them for who they are and their

religion. Isn’t America the country for freedom and liberty?

Most other religions suffer the same labeling as the Muslim culture so this could possibly

seem misleading to some. An example would be Christianity. Christians are often killed for their

beliefs, but why? People see them as a threat and unrealistic, going to houses and spreading the

word of God. When really, as seen in their beliefs, they just want to help you and save you from

the awful things awaiting after death. Christians believe that there is a heaven and a hell, as do

many other religions. The only thing that is different between these religions is who they worship

and they are labeled for it. Muslims are seen as “Terrorists”, Christians are seen as “Fanatics”,

they are still regular human beings but we judge them based on what they believe in. We have

the freedom to believe in what we want as seen in The Constitution, so why do we get punished

for it?

In this art piece, the words placed on the mans faced stand out a lot and they all tell a

different story. Some of them are easily more visible than others, there’s a reason. You read over

these words, but do you really take in the meaning? For example, “9/11”, The September 11

attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda
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on the United States. Yes, that’s right, al Qaeda, also a name placed on the man’s face in the art

piece. This attack on the United States was performed by the Muslim culture. Four men, in a

span of almost two hours, decided the fate of the Muslim society for many generations to come.

This event will never be forgotten in history and everyone will remember Muslims as being the

ones who performed this attack. Since then, we see Muslims as a threat, all Muslims and we

never take into consideration what they have done for America since. Muhammad Ali, legendary

heavyweight boxing champion, also Muslim. He states, “I am Muslim and there is nothing

Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world.”

The perfect statement, whenever we hear about attacks and shooting we immediately think about

the Muslim society because of past events such as 9/11. Muhammad Ali inspired so many people

in the world through his boxing and teachings. No one would ever classify him as a “Terrorist”

or “Taliban”. Why? Because he was an icon. Does every Muslim need to prove themselves to

America to have a safe place to live?

All these questions I’ve asked all relate to the point I’m trying to get across. Which is,

Muslims are people, just like me and you, we all make rational decisions and we all make

mistakes that affect the people around us. When this happens, we take the blame as the single

person who did it. Instead, we decided to blame everyone in the Muslim society. We labeled

them as a threat and never thought otherwise. Have you ever thought that people all around the

world have labeled Americans too? We get labeled for our leaders and their choices, so do others.

So how are we any different from Muslims and their society in relation to making rational

decisions to better the lives of our people?

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Works Cited
News, CBS. “Muslim Celebrities.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 6 Feb. 2017,

www.cbsnews.com/pictures/famous-muslim-celebrities/2/.

Allen, Chris. “Islamophobia.” Robot Check, Chris Allen, 11 Oct. 2013,

www.amazon.com/Islamophobia-Chris-Allen/dp/0754651401