American Muslims endure daily verbal assaults on their race and religion. If they speak out against it, then they are subject to being suspected of not being "good moderate Muslims". Muslims are being scapegoated as Stephen Sheehi says in his book Islamophobia, The Ideological Campaign Against Muslims:
"Islamophobia is used by the federal, state, and local governments, as well as law enforcement, universities, the print, cable and electronic media, the blogosphere, interest groups, PACS, and lobbies to establish an atmosphere of fear that manages dissent and erodes civil liberties, against the backdrop of a quiescent if not enthusiastic mainstream."
Islamophobia is an injustice that is being done to American Muslims. Islamophobia is being used to further militarism, globalism, imperialism, capitalism and world domination of natural resources, wealth and people. The American people are paying high prices for these "isms". The prices are the sacrifices in private and public domestic investments in education, healthcare, mass transportation, technology, scientific research, and reducing poverty and homelessness. The U.S. now lags behind almost every other developed country in all measures of human development.
While U.S. politicians talk about raising the minimum wage to $15 and bringing back jobs from China, they are ignoring the war of terror that the U.S. has inflicted on Muslim-majority nations. Americans debate which candidate for president has the answer to defeat ISIL, instead of why did the U.S. created ISIL, and which candidate will stop the U.S. wars of empire and world domination.
Donald Trump says to cheering crowds that he is going to build a wall to keep out the "flood of illegal immigrants" from Mexico. He proposes scrapping the U.S. Constitution that gives birthright citizenship to those born in the U.S. Presidential candidate Ben Carlson says that no Muslim should ever be president although that too is a violation of religious freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
What America does to others it also does to itself, and on some level we all bear the consequences. Those that build walls are walling themselves in as well as others out. Those that take away the rights of others take away the rights of all. The consequences of racism, exploitation and Islamophobia have a price. It is a high price and paid for a very long time.
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