In his blog post, “Our Government, The Media, and Anti-Muslim Sentiment”, L. Anderson argues that since the terrorist attack on September 11^th, 2001, Islamophobia in America has vastly increased. He goes on to say that the anti-Muslim sentiment is still being used as an “inflammatory media and political tool”, especially by the current administration. He ends his post by citing the recent attacks Rep. Ilhan Omar faced to demonstrate how the administration has weaponized the tragedy of 9/11 to create “unrest and division.”

I agree wholeheartedly with L. Anderson. Trump has continuously tried to vilify Muslims with the intention of inciting hate and creating division. At the beginning of his term, Trump signed an Executive Order that banned people from 7 predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. There was absolutely no evidence to suggest that this would make the U.S any safer. It is clear that the only reason he issued this executive order was to try to encourage the public to irrationally fear all Muslims. It is telling that the President will fabricate reasons to fear and act against Muslims, yet, he won’t even mention the very real rise in white nationalism in the U.S. 

L. Anderson effectively highlights how Islamophobia has now become a political tool. In a time where the leader of our country ignorantly spews out vitriol to divide us, we must realize that no identity, whether it be race or religion, is inherently evil.