9/11 Backlash: A Decade of U.S. Hate Crimes Targeting the Innocent (ePub)

Many journalists and news commentators deny the existence, length, and

intensity of the wave of intolerance that began immediately after 9/11

and continued for years afterward. This book is an attempt to document

that this backlash did occur, and was much worse and much longer in

duration than many Americans realize. In the years following 9/11, many

ethnic Americans and immigrant residents were affected by a surge of

hate crimes triggered by the terrorist strikes and the concomitant 'War

on Terror.' This book argues that the 9/11 backlash was fueled by

20th-century Islamophobia and Hinduphobia, coupled with local and

federal authorities' long-standing unwillingness to acknowledge the

reality of hate crimes or handle them with the gravity they deserved.

These factors created a "perfect storm" of xenophobia that swept through

the U.S. after the terrorist attacks and continued to affect diverse

minority communities for more than a decade.

Chapter one establishes the need for this book, discussing how reporters

and pundits often dismissed or trivialized the bias component of attacks

taking place in the aftermath of 9/11. This introductory chapter also

explores the incredible ethnic and religious diversity of both bias

crime victims and perpetrators. Chapter two provides an overview of

pre-9/11 bias attacks, arguing that poor local and federal response to

'Dot-buster' assaults, mosque arsons, and other 20th-century hate crimes

created an environment in which post-9/11 xenophobia flourished.

Subsequent chapters explore different dimensions of the decade-long

backlash, demonstrating how news commentators routinely minimized the

severity of post-9/11 hate crimes and local and federal investigators

denied that hate crimes were taking place in their jurisdictions.

Chapter three acknowledges the South Asian, Christian Arab, and Muslim

victims of the terrorist strikes in order to challenge nativist

interpretations of 9/11. Chapter four discusses physical assaults that

began on September 11, 2001 and continued for years afterwards. Chapter

five examines post-9/11 vandalism attacks and arsons at mosques, Sikh

prayer centers, and Hindu temples. Synagogues and immigrant-friendly

churches were also targeted. Chapter six investigates backlash incidents

on academic campuses. Chapter seven explores 9/11 hate crimes targeting

minority employees in their workplaces, establishing that taxi drivers,

7-Eleven convenience-store clerks, and gas station attendants were

particularly vulnerable. Chapter eight delves into bias-motivated

attacks on minority residences in the aftermath of the terrorist

strikes. Chapter nine examines death threats and verbal attacks after

9/11. Chapter ten discusses killings linked to the backlash. Each of

these middle chapters begins in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and

covers hate crimes in the decade that followed. These chapters also

include a discussion of Islamophobic and Hinduphobic television programs

and films that coincided with the timing of bias attacks. Chapter

eleven investigates 75 reasons why backlash hate crimes are undercounted

in the U.S., focusing on the unwillingness of minority victims to report

attacks to minimally-sympathetic local and federal authorities. Chapter

twelve offers 75 solutions to problems raised by the backlash. This

section questions the efficacy of specific 'War on Terror' federal

policies and proposes strategies to end post-9/11 discrimination, such

as the widespread racial profiling of airport travelers. This book ends

with a discussion of the August 5, 2012 Wisconsin Sikh Temple Massacre.