Combating Islamophobia

The Structural Manufacture & “Our Muslim Neighbor” Project

Muslim Sikh Muslim

Islamophobia in US

Scale from 1 to 10

10 – representing the worst possible situation for Muslims

1 – representing an America free of Islamophobia

Hate Crimes

(Case 1) (Case 2)

(Case 3)

The Structural Manufacture (1)Inner Core – groups whose

primary purpose is to regularly promote prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims Outer Core – groups whose primary purpose does not appear to include anti-Muslim themes but regularly support Islamophobic rhetoric •“Islam is not a religion.”•“Islam is an extremist religion.”•“All Muslims are violent extremists.”•“Muslims and Shariah are taking over America.”•“The Muslim Brotherhood is the driving force behind every Muslim.”

The Structural Manufacture (2)Legislation:

•4 Bills or Amendments Passed•6 States with Anti-Islam Laws on Books

Training in the US Government:Anti-Muslim trainers serving law enforcement and military personnel

Inaccurate materials used for training programs

Changing +

Our Muslim Neighbor

Hearts

Personal ContactMeet a Muslim

Minds

KnowledgeNew

Perspectives

Negative External Events

Hearts and Minds

OMN

Collective Impact

1. Common Agenda2. Shared Measurements3. Mutually Reinforcing

Actions4. Continuous

Communications5. Backbone Support

Our Muslim Neighbor in Nashville

-- Fighting against Negative External Violence:1. Developing a Toolkit of Rapid Response 2. Positioning religious leaders in public forums 3. Training local and national spokespeople

-- Constructing positive image of Muslims4. Distributing educational information5. Training police officers, public representatives and teachers6. Arranging opportunities for positive and productive interactions