From The Gainesville (FL) Sun
by Michael Barry
Unbeknownst to many, Muslims have lived in America for as long as the nation has existed. In fact, Muslims came to America as slaves before the United States was officially created.
As a minority religion in a predominantly Christian nation, Muslims have traversed numerous challenges and pressures for centuries. Islamophobia is not new to America, but the level of Islamophobic rhetoric and behavior exhibited by President Donald Trump is new.
One may ask: How is this possible when Muslim Americans lived through slavery, discrimination and the post-9/11 age? These were all indeed trying times for Muslim Americans and, yes, many Americans exhibited Islamophobic rhetoric and behaviors in these instances. But the sad truth is: America may be witnessing its most Islamophobic president ever.
Never before has a president explicitly targeted Muslim people simply because of their faith. Never before has a president called “for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” And never before has a president implemented such pointedly Islamophobic policies, such as Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
Yes, there have been bans before, like the 1924 Immigration Act, but this act was not as explicitly Islamophobic as Trump’s current ban. The 1924 act limited immigration from Southern and Eastern European nations, as well as Africa, Asian and Middle Eastern nations. While indeed racist, xenophobic and unjust, the 1924 act did not exclusively target Muslims.
