Islam and Race After the Election

Trump ran a campaign that targeted Muslims in his rhetoric and proposed policies. And during 2015, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose to the highest levels since just after 9/11, surging 67 percent over the previous year, according to the most recent FBI data. Researchers with Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative have argued that the recent uptick in hate crimes corresponds with the presidential contest. And in the weeks since the election, that trend appears to be continuing. Mosques in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania have been targeted with hate mail, stating that President-elect Trump would do to Muslims what “Hitler did to the Jews.” Muslim women who choose to veil are especially vulnerable, given the public ways in which their religious identity is marked. There have been many reports of forcible removal of hijab, threats and acts of violence, and harassment of Muslim women across America in the weeks since the election.