Muslim Americans

Muslims and Arabs are not merely synonyms for each other. An Arab is a person who was born in or shares the culture of the people who live in certain nations of the Middle East and Africa, Arabia. Muslims are those people who follow the Islamic religion. While Arabs are mainly associated with the Islamic religion, all Arabs are not Muslims and all Muslims are not Arabs. Arabs, in fact, can be Christian, atheists, or even Jewish. And Muslims can be or Asian, African, North American, or European ethnicities. Unfortunately, due to the many Islamic terrorist organizations in the world and their many threats or attacks on the different populations, many people have discriminated against persons who are, or who are believed to be, Arab or Muslim, regardless of what those persons actually believe or practice. In fact, in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has taken many actions. The government has made it more difficult for Arabs or Muslims to immigrate to the United States or to apply for citizenship or permanent residence classification. It has also undertaken wiretapping and other searches which once required warrants and used the information it obtained through them to prosecute Arabs or to accuse them of terrorist actions. Lastly, it has continued to hold Arabs in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, even after federal courts have specified those prisoners have certain rights that cannot be denied them. It is difficult to consider the rights of others when one feels they are threatened by them. However, ignorance can cause many problems and, for that reason, ignorance about Arabs and Muslims, as about other groups, should be reduced as much as possible. People can try to educate themselves through the library and by having their communities and schools participate in interfaith and inter-ethnic events and programs.