Islamophobia: Unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear and dislikes for most Muslims. It's directed at a perceived or real Muslim threat through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social and cultural relations while rationalizing the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve "civilization rehab" of the target communities. (Source: Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley).
Anti-Islamomisia is strategies, theories, actions, and practices that challenge and counter Islamomisia, inequalities, prejudices, and discrimination based on religion, religious or ethical beliefs, and/or perceived religious, national, or ethnic identity.
Note: Criticism of Islam should not be automatically conflated with bigotry against Muslims. Islamomisia is not the rational, respectful interrogation and/or criticism of Islam based on factual evidence, just as criticism of the tenets of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions does not necessarily indicate bigotry or prejudice. Islamomisia is the irrational fear of, discrimination against, and antagonism toward Muslims simply for being Muslims.
Islamomisic Microaggressions are commonplace verbal or behavioral indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults in relation to the beliefs and religious practices of Muslims. They are structurally based and invoke oppressive systems of religious/Chrisitan hierarchy. Islamomisic Microinvalidations, Microinsulsts, Microassaults are specific types of microaggressions.
Note: The prefix "micro" is used because these are invocation of religious hierarchy at the individual level (person to person), whereas the "macro" level refers to aggression committed by structures as a whole (e.g. an organizational policy). "Micro" in no way minimalizes or otherwise evaluates the impact or seriousness of the aggressions.
Six Categories of Common Islamomisic Microaggressions (from Subtle and Overt Forms of Islamophobia: Microaggressions toward Muslim Americans)
Endorsing Religious Stereotypes: statements or behaviors that communicate false, presumptuous, or incorrect perceptions of certain religious groups (e.g., stereotyping that a Muslim person is a terrorist or that a Jewish person is cheap).
Exoticization: instances where people view other religions as trendy or foreign (e.g., an individual who dresses in a certain religion’s garb or garments for fashion or pleasure).
Pathology of Different Religious Groups: Statements and behaviors in which individuals equate certain religious practices or traditions as being abnormal, sinful, or deviant (e.g., telling someone that they are in the “wrong” religion).
Assumption of One's Own Religious Identity as the Norm: Comments or behaviors that convey people’s presumption that their religion is the standard and behaves accordingly (e.g., greeting someone with “Merry Christmas” conveys one's perception that everyone is Christian or similarly saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes conveys one’s perception that everyone believes in God).
Assumption of Religious Homogeneity: Statements in which individuals assume that every believer of a religion practices the same customs or has the same beliefs as the entire group (e.g., assuming that all Muslim people wear head coverings).
Denial of Religious Prejudice: Incidents in which individuals claim that they are not religiously biased, even if their words or behaviors may indicate otherwise.
Muslim Woman Needs Help With Flat Tire | What Would You Do?
A Muslim woman needs help with her car. Will reactions differ if she wears a hijab or
regular street clothes?
Misconceptions about Islam (ISLAM IS NOT TERRORISM)
This video discusses how ISIS are NOT Muslims and how Islam is misunderstood
for a religion that promotes terrorism and violence due to ISIS.
Brown attackers are terrorists. White attackers are mentally ill.
When an attacker is white, they're labeled as having mental health issues, but if the
attacker is brown or Muslim, then they're instantly suspected of terrorism. What gives?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This Libguide began with the main categories and many of the resources from of the amazing Simmons University Libguide (referenced above), and has grown to include sources from our ASM colleagues, as well as colleges, universities, associations and NGOs from across the globe. It is a work in progress with news, resources and links to actionable information.
