The War on Terror and Other Social Ills: Inequity

The Tradition of Freedom in the United States

The tradition of freedom in the United States of America is well known. White men and women who emigrated from European countries in the early days to settle in the United States of America to escape the rule of their monarchs and other social as well as political concerns that afflicted their countries gave rise to the idea of liberty and equality in the country. The freedom that does not involve minorities and individuals whose beliefs and customs diverge from those of Caucasians is a component of freedom that is not frequently discussed. The democracy in the country only covers the majority ethnicity and religion. Even the laws are bent to suit the whites at the expense of the others, and the case is not any different in the fight against terrorism and other social ills like drugs and substance abuse. The article by Friedersdorf gives very practical examples of how the American society treats Muslims differently as compared Christians and whites in the war against terrorism. The minority populations are used as scapegoats and treated harshly as compared to the majority populations who significantly contribute to the social ills that the United States of America faces. The aim of the paper is to give reasons for the differential treatment of different people in the USA and offer recommendations on how to improve equity in the country.

Reasons for Differential Treatment

Several reasons encourage Americans to view their fellow citizens and foreigners that are culturally different from them differently and unfairly. The main stream media of the USA such as FOX and CNN report discriminatively (Friedersdorf). The media is supposed to promote fairness by utilizing the freedom that the constitution offers. However, the reporting of incidents that involve one group more than others makes one group always be on the side of the victims and the other group as the villains. When Muslims are involved in acts of terrorism, the media puts a lot of attention to the events and insist on the issue of Muslim extremism. However, when white people take part in the same activities like in the case of the attack on the Sikh temple, very minimal attention is given. In doing so, the media propagates the idea that when the culture of the criminal aligns with that of the majority population, then the crime is not as serious as when it involves Muslim perpetrators. The idea is also propagated by the Hollywood movies that usually depict terrorists in many cases as Muslims and Russians. The depictions in Hollywood movies make people internalize the idea that Muslims are enemies of other people. Other stereotypes that movies depict leading to differential treatment of individuals in the USA and the different types of phobia include the perception that African Americans are criminals and the idea that the natives are savages.

Long Historical Injustice in the Country

The second reason is the long historical injustice in the country. The United States image has been tainted for long with unequal treatment of the minority people. From the beginning of the settlement of immigrants from Europe, the natives who were different were viewed as savages and treated with distaste. The native Indians were forced to give up their land so as to allow the companies from Britain and other parts of Europe to settle and practice large scale farming. The grabbing was despite the fact that the rightful owners of the lands were the natives. The European immigrants spread Christianity with impunity and spread the notion that people who were not Christians were not uncivilized (Wyss 15). The idea of the whites being superior due to their color and religion further becomes evident with the introduction of slave labor and buying and selling of people of races that the Caucasians though were inferior to them. The victims of slavery were the Africans who were bought from Africa and forced to work in the large plantation farms without being allowed to enjoy the rights that other people enjoyed such as voting and freedom of movement. The laws were as used to protect humans only covered the white population on the continent. Black people were not allowed to marry or date white women, and people whose children were of mixed races were considered by law as being inferior. Minorities were not allowed to inherit races.

The Role of Laws

The laws of the United States of America have also contributed to the unfair treatment of the Muslims and other minorities in the country. Over time, the politicians of the USA have made laws that have targeted the minority populations leading to the justice system favoring the whites at the expense of the other people, hence setting precedence to the current day unfairness that is witnessed in the war against terror. Such a method was used in the war against drugs in which crack cocaine was targeted because it was employed by the African Americans and therefore given maximum sentences as compared to the powder cocaine (Provine 345). As a result, the war on drugs has been hugely unsuccessful. Rather than learning from the past and creating policies that ensure equal treatment of people, the successive governments have continued to involve themselves in divisive policies such as the war on terror. The targeting of Muslims has only increased islamophobia rather than reduce terrorism.

Contributions of Societal Institutions

The societal institutions also contribute to the perceptions that inhumane activities conducted by whites against other people are less severe as compared to when the same acts are performed by people from other ethnicities and races. The schools of the USA, the churches and security system all contribute to the corrupt perception that actions of whites can be justified regardless of how bad they sometimes are. The pretentious nature of the policies of the USA has been seen in the foreign policies that affect countries with majority Muslim citizens or different race from the white skin color such as in Africa and Asia. An example is that when the USA takes pride in being a sovereign country and the fact is repeated in many literature and films produced by Americans, Americans do not see people from countries that are Asian and African as sovereign. The fact is made evident by the massive presence of American soldiers in the Middle East and the interference of the American government in the issues or other countries. The interference has been seen in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq where the country in collaboration with NATO has followed its interest and left the countries unstable. The security forces are other institutions that enhance the harmful ideologies against minority races in the USA by racial profiling of the people. For example, the spying of Muslim students just because they were Muslims shows the contribution of the negative stereotypes against the Muslim population in the country. The profiling is despite the fact that according to Conor (2012) Muslim extremist in dropping in the USA while the non-Muslims are becoming more involved in terrorist activities like school shootings and the attack on the Sikh temple. Therefore, it is clear that equal attention should be given to all the people to secure the country.

Recommendations for Change

To combat the unfair treatment of Muslims and other minorities in the country, it is important that the stakeholders implement an integrated approach. The systems of the USA should not just offer lip service to the issue through the education system, but also implement policies that affect the security agencies as well as campaigns that will ensure unbiased reporting of social ills regardless of the races of perpetrators. Racial the security agencies should stop profiling Muslims as terrorists. The news outlets too should give the same attention to offenders from all races regardless of their ethnicities. The media outlets too should play their role in ensuring multiculturalism rather than the spreading of negative stereotypes against the Muslims and other minorities that lead to retaliatory attacks from either group.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Muslims and other minority groups in the USA are usually treated unfairly by the mainstream media, the security agencies and the American systems in general that favor the Caucasians and Christians who are the majority. Such unfairness leads to Americans and their systems targeting people and groups rather than the crimes they commit in their fight against the crimes. Therefore, the war on terror has become the war on Islam and the war on drugs has become the war on the minorities. Such thinking pushes the United States of America, a country that is supposed to be the beckon of freedom in the world into an era of modern inequality fueled by negative perception about people who are different from the majority. Hence the government, as well as the private sector and other stakeholders, should take appropriate actions to change the situation for the better-an equal America.

Works Cited

Friedersdorf, Conor. “Why the Reaction Is Different When the Terrorist Is White.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 08 Aug. 2012. Web. 30 May 2017.

Provine, Doris Marie. Unequal under law: Race in the war on drugs. University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Wyss, Hilary E. Writing Indians: Literacy, Christianity, and Native Community in Early America. Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2003.