American Muslims fear Donald Trump’s presidency may bring hostility and legislation targeted against them, the Los Angeles Times reported.
CRCC’s Brie Loskota provided context for the article, saying that concerns about hate crimes committed against Muslims are not new, but amped up by the current context. Hate crimes spiked after the San Bernardino attack in December 2015, in the midst of an election where Trump and other politicians cast blame on all Muslims for terrorism.
“If you talk to older Muslims, they will talk about 1979 with the Iran hostage crisis and Iranian Revolution. That brought to the fore this feeling of being other, or liable for things that happen outside of your control,” Loskota told the L.A. Times. “With each political moment or international crisis, there is a turning up of the heat or the pressure under which the Muslim community in America exists.”
Loskota also pointed out that the Muslim American community’s fears have sparked online groups like “Support Your Muslim Neighbors in America” on Facebook.
