1996- There has been a buildup of discrmination against Muslims for quite some time at this rate. This is exactly seventeen, almost eighteen, years after the Iranian Hostage Crisis. This event is played off as a true turning point towards many people’s attitudes on Muslims. The Iranian people had taken the US embassy hostaged for exactly four hundred and forty-four days. Not only was this a traumatic experience for those involved, but also the ones who witnessed the events unfold for the other four hundred and forty-three days. 

Jimmy Carter was the President at the time of this great turmoil between Iran and the US. Due to the unexpected nature of the crisis, Carter made many questionable decisions in order to help the hostages while trying to convince American citizens to re-elect him for another four years. This failed as many Americans soon thought Carter was unfit of the role as President due to cracking severely under pressure for the hostages. Due to this, many people had begun to fear Muslims because of how quickly Iranian people were able to dismantle the order and peace that the Congress usually has for situations like this. After this event, many people worldwide had begun to blame Islam for many political, economic, and socieatly problems.

For starters in this long list of discrimination, Americans believed that any person affiliated with Islam or the Middle East were automatic enemies against the democracy we have established in America. Out of most religious groups, Islam and Judism are expected to be raising more in the diversity of America. In fact, Islam is supposed to be outnumbering Judism by a few more million people migranting from war stricken cities in the Middle East. Yet, as Ali A. Marzui states, American Jewish people are more than likely to be strategically placed in politics, the media, and other places of power instead of Muslim Americans. This is supposed to re-evaluate the foreign policies for Muslim immigrants ability to come to America for a better life. 

Since most people were still dealing with the crisis situation nearly two decades before 9/11, the main argument people had to counter Muslim immigrants was that very crisis. Many political groups banned together to stop Muslim immigrants from entering the country at all. This inspired other civilian groups to counter Muslim communities with violence to ‘remove the problems’ that the country was facing at the moment. A form of toxic patriotism started to form within Americans that Muslims were the root of all their issues at the moment; lack of jobs, more competition for homes and space, crime rates increasing at an alarming rate, other cultural changes they wanted no part of, and lastly, a new wave of diversity within the population that made people become aware of the privilege they had. 

Within Mazrui’s writing, there has been evidence claiming that both political parties do not favor Muslims as much as they claim to do. As Republicans (formerly) favor the migrant polices, Democrats were more favorable of domestic rights for Muslim and Muslim Americans. Yet, there was little talk about the discrimination that most Muslim communites had face trying to build a good life in America.