As-Salaam-Alaikum! I am a non-Muslim American writing a research paper on the American mainstream media's portrayal of Islam and Muslims, and how it's changed in the years since 9/11. I'm looking for personal accounts from both American Muslims and Muslims in the Middle Eastern region of the world.

Hello, r/islam!

First and foremost, if this post is not allowed in this subreddit, please let me know, but I did not see anything against it in the community rules.

As the title states, I am writing a research paper on the portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the American mainstream media, specifically with how those portrayals have been affected and shaped in the aftermath of the events on 9/11. I have conducted considerable research into this subject using many academic resources, as well as through multiple news outlets, such as CNN, ABC, Fox, C-SPAN, BBC, and others, in order to avoid one-sided biased opinions, and to gather as many varying perspectives as I can.

For the final piece for my paper, I would really like to get some opinions on those who are actually affected by these portrayals, the practicing Muslims of the world. For anyone that doesn't mind participating, I thank you kindly for your time and personal experiences!

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The idea of Americans distrusting people that are different from them, whether in terms of religion, race, or politics, is certainly not a new one. This has been proven time and time again throughout the course of American history, with cases such as:

• The massacring of Native Americans during the colonization of America
• The capturing of African people and subsequent enslavement
• The discrimination of Irish refugees immigrating to the United States in the mid-1800's
• The segregation of free black Americans and the continued racism they still face today

Since 9/11, and especially in the past decade, there has been an evident shift in the focus of America's prejudice towards Muslims, citizens of Middle Eastern countries, and even American-born citizens of Middle Eastern descent. While these prejudices certainly do not represent America as a whole, much like how Salafi jihadists certainly do not represent Islam as a whole, there exists enough Islamophobia in the US to raise great concern on the issue. So my questions for you (those of you that have stuck with me this far) are:

1. Do you view the overall depictions of Muslims in the American mainstream media to be misrepresentational of your actual beliefs? Do you see mostly negative stereotypes being portrayed, or positive, factual representations?
2. Have you ever been personally prejudiced or attacked due to your beliefs? If so, do you believe widespread misinformation through the media is, at least partially, to blame? Did the incident negatively affect your own opinions on the the culture, religion, or people of your attacker?
3. Do you believe the mainstream media's portrayals of Muslims will over time get better or worse?
4. Any closing thoughts on the issue?

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I'll end my post here, as I don't want to make all of you read a novel's length text post. Thank you greatly to any of you that took the time to read my post, as well as to anybody who decides to contribute.

Ma'a assalama, my friends!

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