Con Team Second Essay

Madeline Gochee
February 15, 2016
In America there is a culture of fear and loathing of Muslims,
called Islamophobia. Every year, hate crimes are directed at Muslims,
both in mosques and in public places. This fear is promulgated by both
the general public and government officials. The ever-present threat
of terrorism has translated into the threat of Muslims. For example,
Republican presidential candidate front-runner Donald Trump has
preached Islamophobic policies and actions, and these racist ideas
have been met with strong support from the American public. Polls of
Trump supporters show 67 percent agree with the creation of a
national database of Muslims in the United States. 51 percent of Trump
supporters want to see U.S. mosques closed, and 44 percent think
Islam should be illegal in the United States. Donald Trump is running
for President, yet he has already promised to break one of the
fundamental rights of US citizens, freedom of religion.
The irrational fear of Muslims has led to the creation of racist and
discriminatory US policies that single out Muslims as terrorists. It has
recently come to light that the FBI has a policy of inserting FBI
informants into Muslim mosques and communities. These informants
are used to spy on and recruit Muslims to become informants against
their will under the threat of deportation. This discriminatory and
unethical behavior is justified by the FBI because of the common view
that Muslims are terrorists. They suggest the only way to protect nonMuslims Americans is to infringe on Muslim-Americans right to privacy
and freedom of speech. The FBI currently uses about 15,000 domestic
informants to infiltrate Muslim communities and spy on/record MuslimAmerican conversations. The FBIs intent is to catch radicals in the
community before they engage in violence. Because the FBI recruits
informants by threating deportation, the quality of the intelligence they
receive is poor and inaccurate.
Unfortunately, the actions of a minority of Muslims have tainted
the perception of the majority, creating the beliefs that most Muslims
endorse terrorism. Omar Alnatour, a Muslim journalist, explains, Even
if all terrorist attacks were carried out by Muslims, you still could not
associate terrorism with Islam: There have been 140,000 terror attacks
committed worldwide since 1970. Even if Muslims carried out all of
these attacks, those terrorists would represent less than 0.00009
percent of all Muslims. A study carried out by the University of North
Carolina showed that less than 0.0002% of Americans killed since 9/11
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were killed by Muslims. It is not accurate to stereotype all Muslims as

jihadists.
This topic has interested me since the beginning of the year.
Muslim informants is my topic for this years policy debate resolution. I
have enjoyed researching the root causes and consequences of
Islamophobia. The most valuable lesson from this Islamophobic time in
America is the need for education. Most, if not all, Islamophobic people
are not aware of the statistics or the reality I have outlined above. I
have done extensive research into the topic of present day
Islamophobia as well as the effects it has on the Muslim population. I
have learned much about the suffering Muslims endure. I wish
everyone had the opportunity and willingness to cast aside their
prejudice and educate themselves and others to create a more
understanding and peaceful society. The current hate crimes against
Muslims and the anti-Muslim rhetoric reinforce the need for
comprehensive multicultural education.

Works Cited
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Alnatour, Omar. "Muslims Are Not Terrorists: A Factual Look at Terrorism and Islam." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 6 Jan. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-alnatour/muslims-are-notterrorist_b_8718000.html>.
Bridge Team. "Bridge Initiative Team, Author at The Bridge Initiative | A Research Project on
Islamophobia." The Bridge Initiative. N.p., 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://bridge.georgetown.edu/author/admin/>.
Mogahed, Dalia. The Battle for Hearts and Minds: Moderate vs. Extremist Views in the Muslim
World (2006): 1-3. Media Gallup. Gallup, 2006. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
<http://media.gallup.com/WorldPoll/PDF/ExtremismInMuslimWorld.pdf>.
Norton, Ben. "Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Have Tripled in the U.S. since the Paris
Attacks." Saloncom RSS. Salon, 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.salon.com/2015/12/18/anti_muslim_hate_crimes_have_tripled_in_the_u_s_
since_the_paris_attacks/>.
Stabile, Emily. "California Law Review." "Recruiting Terrorism Informants: The Problems with
Immigration Incenti" by Emily Stabile. California Law Review, 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol102/iss1/7>.
Voorhees, Josh. "New Poll Shows Trump's No-Muslims Policy May Be Exactly What His
Supporters Want." The Slate. N.p., 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/12/08/new_trump_poll_results_show_supp
ort_for_anti_muslim_positions.html>.