Uyen Phan English II K Ms.

Doyle 2 February, 2012 Oppression of Muslims in the United States Whenever people hear about Muslims, they would relate them to 9/11 event. September Eleven was a horrific disaster to all of the Americans at every generation. It reminds the Americans about their pain in 2001 and what Muslims did to them. In order to fully understand the persecution of Muslims, one must examine their background, the reasons and how 9/11 happened, and how Muslims oppression on America nowadays. First, people should know the reasons Muslims came to the United States. There are several reasons but for the most part, they were the slaves The British needed slaves to work for their plantations so they need a large amount of them. Most of the slaves came from Africa because they were cheap and the kingdoms traded them for guns and manufactured goods for their live. Ten percent of African slaves were Muslims (Islam in America: From African Slaves to Malcolm X). Later, Muslims immigrated to America for refuge. Violence, war, poverty and tyranny happen every day in the Middle East (Muslim Immigrants in the United States, Daniel Pipes). People wanted somewhere to live peacefully and to have a better life so they moved to the United States. United States is where their dream would come true because its economy and life is better than Iraq or Afghanistan. Whoever, some people chose the United States for their childrens education. In the 1990s, American colleges and universities attracted half a million of foreign students and more than seventy five percent of them chose to stay in the United States. Those are the reasons for the migration of Muslims to the United States. Second, one must understand the oppression of Muslims back in the day. 9/11 is the day that related to them and every American. At first, September 9, 2001 was a beautiful day but at 8:46, the tragedy

happened (9/11 Facts Timeline). The first plane flew into the World Trade Center north towel. It caused the fire to the building and the huge World Trade Center began to collapse. At 9:03, another airplane crashed in to the south towel of the World Trade Center. The third one happened at 9:28, another airplane flew in to the Pentagon. 50 minutes later, the last plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Those were atrocious to the United States. Nineteen terrorists hijacked the planes were from the Al Qaeda, a terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden. Al Qaeda practices an extreme version of the religion of Islam (What Happened on 9/11?). They are opposed the democratic nation, such as America. On September 11, American was their target. They purpose was to destroy the Capitol. 4000 innocent people were killed by 19 terrorists, simply because they are American (Jeffrey Goldbereg). American life changed forever from that day. Many people lost their love one from that day. Parents lost their children, wife lost their husbands and many children lost their parent, forever. 9/11 is hurtful for the United States. 9/11 also brought all of the people together, to pray and to hope. It is the injury that never wound for the America. Only 20 people were pulled from the rubble alive and the fire raged for 99 days since 9/11. (Gaby Leslie) .However, 9/11 did not only affect us, it also affected the American Muslims. After 9/11, peoples view about Muslims changed. People were scared and hated Muslims because they caused the pain for the America. Episodes of bullying or harassment against Muslim students come up (Nirvi Shah). Muslim got bullied at school because of their religion. Not all of the Muslims are terrorists but the point of view of the Americans about Muslims has changed since 9/11. Muslims left a huge oppression in the United States and altered a lot of peoples life. After wards, the leader of the Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden was killed 10 years after 9/11 (Cynthia Haven). He was killed by the America under the command of President Barack Obama. He paid for what he had done for the America. He had been hiding for all the years after September 11, 2001. Then, since 2001, 161 American Muslims have been publicly accused of planning or carrying out terror attack (Muslims

in the spot light). Eleven were successful and 33 people were killed. For example, on November 26, 2010, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19 years old Muslim was arrested because he was attempting to bomb a car in the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. There were about 25,000 people at the ceremony that evening (Caryn Brooks). That would be awful if the bomb exploded. However, on the bright side, 30 % of the American Muslims have been stopped the terrorist activities in America (Muslim in the spotlight). Hopefully, there would not be any attacks by the Muslims and most of the American Muslims are trying to stop it. In conclusion, Muslims left a huge oppression on us. September 11 was imprinted on the American. It would always be in everyones memory. 9/11 was the day the pain was spared all over America. 9/11 is like a scar: it has healed, but the mark will always be there (Hadley Freeman).