A small dip in Islamophobia in the US give us hope

After 27 years of climbing a mountain of Islamophobic prejudice, America seems to have taken a step back. The intake staff of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Islamic civil liberties and advocacy organization, received a total of 5,156 complaints in 2022. This is a decrease of 23 percent compared to the previous year.

It is the first recorded decline since we started tracking such data in 1995. We may have climbed the pinnacle of bias against American Muslims, and while we are still far where the eagles fly, we are nevertheless entitled to some hope.

Complaints about law enforcement and government overreach were down 38 percent. Given that we reported an overall increase in complaints of 32 percent in the first year of Trump’s presidency, the change of administration in Washington may have played a role. The fallout from the January 6, 2022 uprising, in which the seat of the US Congress was looted, may also have contributed.

For years, white supremacists and anti-government groups enjoyed political cover. Republican-driven political correctness ensured that Justice and Homeland Security Department staff knew that focusing on groups unrelated to the Muslim community could have negative consequences for their careers.

After January 6, the overly broad surveillance by law enforcement and the use of informants against law-abiding Muslims may have eased, as such law enforcement agencies have focused their attention on actual threats.

In education, the picture remains worrying. The number of incidents of Islamophobia in schools will increase by 63 percent in 2022. One was the case of a Florida teacher who interrupted praying Muslim students, accusing them of performing “magic.” She told them she “disturbed the floor” and nearly stepped on a child, walking across the group’s prayer mats while the children were still praying.

There was also the case of a Maryland school employee who allegedly locked a ninth grade Afghan Muslim in a bathroom where the child was beaten by other students. A week later, the student was still suffering from a severe concussion.

But there are also positive developments in education and sport.

State officials in Ohio and Maryland have enacted laws to protect athletes who practice their religious beliefs during competition. This came after student athletes Noor Abukaram and Je’Nan Hayes were disqualified from high school sports competitions in the two states for wearing a headscarf.

In 2021, Illinois became the first state to protect religious athletes in this way. We encourage legislators in other states to follow suit.

Challenges remain in other areas. Banking while Muslim is still a struggle for many as financial institutions continue to close or not open bank accounts for people based on their choice of religion. Why? Because existing law, such as the Patriot Act, allows such discrimination.

Last year, 22 U.S. lawmakers agreed in an open letter, noting, “Countless American individuals, businesses and charities have been subjected to discriminatory policies and practices that appear to limit their access to financial services because of their religion or national origin.”

In March, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) reported that 27 percent of Muslims surveyed reported having dealt with financial institutions. It’s all legal, so no lawsuit can clear up this propensity for discriminatory practices.

That is why the US government must take action; it is time for the Biden administration and banking regulators to update the account monitoring practices put in place over the last 20 years to ensure that financial institutions no longer see it as beneficial to discriminate against certain types of customers – primarily Muslims, Iranians and Arab Americans.

Another area that needs urgent attention is freedom of expression. Many American Muslims participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to treat Palestinians with dignity and in accordance with its obligations under international law. To date, 35 states have passed anti-BDS legislation and many others are considering such bills.

Last year saw a positive development in Texas, where an anti-BDS law has been in effect since 2017 that requires local government contractors to sign a statement that they do not support the boycott of Israel.

In January 2022, a judge ruled in favor of Rasmy Hassouna, the owner of an engineering firm, who had sued the city of Houston for attempting to include an anti-BDS clause in his contract with the city government. After the verdict, Hassouna was able to sign the contract without a clause.

Modeled after the successful global South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS is a major test of freedom of speech in the US today. This infringement of freedom of expression must be challenged and we at CAIR can help people affected by such legislation. Call us.

The positive signs we saw in 2022 do not mean we should be wary. Hate is still ubiquitous around us. We see anti-Semitic and anti-Asian hatred on the rise. We see violence against brown and black people continuing. We see officials at the polls pitting Americans against each other by a percentage.

But this glimmer of hope our data provides fuels the optimism that drives us to stand up to hate, join arms with our friends, and not wait to be overrun.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial view of Al Jazeera.