Interrupting Islamophobia: It Takes a Social Work Village

by Anne C. Deepak, Ph.D.

   I have been including the topic of Islamophobia in my social work teaching since I first started teaching diversity and social justice in 2005. This topic is as urgent today as it was in 2005 and, as is true with every social justice issue we encounter in our personal and professional lives, it takes a social work village to address it. I have had the pleasure of collaborating with social work alumni and students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in building this village through supporting efforts to organize and implement university-wide events; co-presenting in class, workshops, and academic conferences; creating and managing a Facebook fan page on the topic; and by inviting alumni to make short videos included in a classroom lecture.

    On a personal note, I was living in New York City on September 11th (2001) relatively close to the Twin Towers. Immediately following the attack, people perceived to be Muslim started being targeted. This included young children, veiled women, people of all ages, and close family members. This hostility was bolstered by a misplaced sense of patriotism. As an anti-racism educator, I was concerned about the ways in which Islamophobia went unquestioned after 9/11 within social work and feminist conversations by people who are authentically concerned with issues of racism, discrimination, human rights, and social justice. I included curricular content on Islamophobia in the undergraduate social justice and diversity course through a Pakistani film, Khuda Ke Liye (In the Name of God), and in a community practice course through a documentary, Point of Attack, which addresses the impact of the Patriot Act and the policy of special registration right after 9/11 on the Pakistani community in Brooklyn. This documentary chronicles the ways in which the community organizes to question these policies and the role of non-Muslim allies in supporting the community.

What is Islamophobia?

    The term Islamophobia refers to a set of beliefs that characterizes Islam as: (1) monolithic and static, (2) separate and other rather than having common aims or values in common with other cultures, (3) inferior to the West—barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist, (4) an enemy—violent, supportive of terrorism, engaged in the “clash of civilizations,” (5) manipulative—a political ideology used for military or political advantage, and (6) criticism of the West rejected without consideration. Hostility toward Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices and exclusions of Muslims from mainstream society. Anti-Muslim hostility is accepted as natural and normal (Runnymede Trust, 1997).

What does it mean to interrupt Islamophobia?

    My perspective on racism and all forms of oppression is that we are all part of the problem and that we can all be part of the solution. This means that it is too easy to say that the problem is “them”—the ones who are actively perpetrating hate. When we focus on “them,” we avoid examining our privilege and roles in passively supporting and enabling oppression. Beverly Tatum (1997) describes racism as a system of advantage based on race and uses the metaphor of a moving sidewalk that all folks identified racially as White are standing on. Active racists are running forward on the moving sidewalk; others, many of whom reject racist views and actions, are standing quietly while still benefitting from white privilege. To interrupt this system is to make a choice to walk in the opposite direction of the moving sidewalk; this is a choice to engage in anti-racism work. This is how privilege can be used to interrupt systems of injustice.

    Islamophobia is a form of racism because it is embedded in systems, policies, laws, and stereotypes, and it is racialized. Those who are perceived to be Muslim are the targets, and this perception is shaped by racialized stereotypes. In the current political environment, non-Muslim allies are crucially needed to stand up and have conversations with their non-Muslim friends and community members, to educate them or support them in the work they are doing to stand against Islamophobia. There are places and settings that are not safe for Muslims to speak out in. As an ally and a social work educator, I work to create spaces where Muslim students feel empowered to share their experiences and spaces where allies can find their voice.  

How does social work fit in?

    The impact of 9/11 and the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have led to the sharp increase of Islamophobic rhetoric, policies, anti-Muslim bias, anti-Muslim hate crimes, and violence ranging from verbal harassment, bullying by teachers and students (DOJ, 2011), offensive touching, and physical attacks, to vandalism of mosques and even murder. From 2014 to 2016, anti-Muslim bias incidents jumped 65 percent. In that same two-year period, hate crimes targeting Muslims surged 584 percent (CAIR, 2017). This climate of hate and fear has a negative impact on the mental and physical health of children, individuals, and families who are Muslim and on those perceived to be Muslim (Clay, 2017).

    Our professional ethics and commitment to social justice and human rights require that we work to understand, dismantle, and address Islamophobia and the consequences of it in our own lives and the lives of our clients. By educating ourselves and examining our own preconceived notions—as well as examining the impact of it on individuals, families, and children—we can become stronger practitioners, educators, and allies both within and outside of our respective agencies and systems.

Student and Alumni Collaboration from Texas to New Jersey

    I first collaborated with students around the issue of Islamophobia in 2010 when I was teaching in Texas. I had observed that more than a handful of students had been taught by their families and churches that Islam was not a religion but a violent political ideology inherently oppressive toward women. At the time, I was a trainer for a multi-racial anti-racism university-wide peer educator group called Interruptions. The idea behind Interruptions was that students would be trained to be trainers and to go into classrooms and the community to educate students, faculty, and staff on racism and how to interrupt it. As a trainer, I included one session on Islamophobia, and the President and Vice President of Interruptions, both of whom were undergraduate social work students, were inspired to hold a campus-wide community event on the topic. Amanda Lewis and Lynz Costa-Adams worked with student groups across campus, including the Muslim Student Association, to organize the event, which attracted more than 200 people. After the event, we created a Facebook fan page using the name of the event, Interrupting Islamophobia: Educating Ourselves and Taking a Stand, and used it to share information and resources about Islamophobia. We later presented our work at the NASW-Texas and CSWE conferences.

    In 2014, I moved to Monmouth University (MU) in New Jersey. Our social work program’s mission is to advance social justice and human rights in social work practice.

    Most of our students are from New Jersey, and many of them were affected by 9/11 personally, through losing family, friends, and community members who had worked in the Twin Towers. For students who are Muslim, there is the dual experience of the impact of 9/11 and coping with the Islamophobic backlash after 9/11.

    In the spring of 2017, after the national escalation of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies, I decided that a different approach was needed to help students see themselves as allies or as empowered Muslim students who could count on their peers as allies. I invited an MSW student, Hawa Diaby, and an alumna with whom I had previously presented, Cisse Momie Sockna, to co-present with me to all five sections of the class. Both Hawa and Momie are Muslim. Hawa wears the hijab, and Momie does not. I also reached out to other MU alumni who had been working around the issue to make short personal videos that could be embedded in the presentation. I sought out Muslim and non-Muslim alumni from both micro and macro concentrations to help make the material relevant to students and to emphasize the message that Islamophobia is a problem for all of us. The feedback from the session was extremely positive. Students found the stories from their peers to be relevant and powerful.

    My experiences in Texas and New Jersey have shown me that once students are aware of Islamophobia, they can become part of the village that works to dismantle it. The path from awareness to active interruption is a process, but the involvement of students and alumnae as educators in this village provides students in the classroom with role model village elders with whom they can identify. Upon reflecting on the event, Hawa noted, “I went home feeling that no matter how small of an impact I made, it was a great start to challenging people’s ideologies and thus helping them make sense of this world. I believe that when our hearts are open to learning and when the right information is available, we become more understanding and less judgmental.” The involvement of students and alumnae as educators facilitates students’ ability to make sense of this world and open their hearts to learning.

Videos

     Tahsina Ahmed, MSW 2016, serves as City Council Member of Borough of Haledon, 2015-present and running for her second term, and Shanique McGowan, MSW 2016

     Adnan Munshi, MSW 2016

     Brandon and Celeste Green, both MSW 2015, met and were engaged to be married while in the MSW program.

References

Clay, R. A. (2017). Islamophobia: Psychologists are studying the impact of anti-Muslim sentiment and ways to prevent it. Monitor on Psychology, 48 (4), p. 34.

Council on American-Islamic Relations. (2017). Civil Rights Report 2017: The Empowerment of Hate. Retrieved from: http://islamophobia.org/15-reports/188-the-empowerment-of-hate.html

Department of Justice (DOJ). (2011). Protect the civil rights of American Muslims outreach and enforcement efforts. Retrieved from: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/protect-civil-rights-american-muslims-outreach-and-enforcement-efforts

Runnymede Trust. (1997). Islamophobia: a challenge for us all. Retrieved from: http://www.runnymedetrust.org/companies/17/74/Islamophobia-A-Challenge-for-Us-All.html

Tatum, B. (1997). “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”: And other conversations about race. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Dr. Anne Deepak teaches community practice, applications/implications of human rights and social justice on social work practice, and within the International and Community Development concentration. She joined Monmouth University in 2014 after seven years teaching at Texas State University.  Her scholarship examines globalization and international partnerships, the use of popular culture and technology in the delivery of anti-racism content in social work education, and the application of a postcolonial feminist theory to global social problems. Currently, she is working with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General on the development of a cultural diversity and de-escalation training program for police officers throughout the state.