Donald Trump’s polarizing tenure as U.S. president additionally affected Turks, based on historian Işıl Acehan, whose educational work has centered on Muslim minorities within the U.S. and Turkish employees who migrated to the U.S. through the Ottoman period.
Discrimination in opposition to Muslims within the U.S. rose through the 4 years of Trump’s time period as president, Acehan stated. Even earlier than Trump took energy in 2016, rising anti-Muslim sentiment after the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults additionally affected Turkish nationals in America, and peaked when Trump took workplace, Acehan stated. Campaigning to win the White House, Trump even falsely claimed that Muslim Americans had cheered the autumn of the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Acehan stated an government order Trump issued in 2017, which restricted the entry of refugees into the nation and launched strict safety procedures for immigrant visas, additionally harmed Turkish nationals and Muslims. “Trump imposed a journey ban on residents of seven Muslim nations however could not impose a ban on Türkiye due to industrial ties. Trump repeatedly acknowledged throughout his marketing campaign rallies and afterward that Muslims don’t belong in America and that they’re enemies of the American folks,” stated Acehan, who teaches at Bahçeşehir University within the Turkish capital Ankara.
“These speeches triggered discrimination in opposition to Muslims and even modified the notion of many Americans towards Muslims and Turks. Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric manifested as hatred among the many public,” she stated.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump within the November 2020 race, has made extra inclusive strikes to cut back polarization within the United States, Acehan stated.
His internet hosting occasions on the White House marking Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr), the vacation on the finish of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, aimed to carry the federal government nearer to Muslim communities within the nation, she stated. Acehan careworn that Biden’s initiatives in favor of the rights of Muslims within the nation have lowered anti-Muslim sentiment in society.
“There is growing awareness of Muslims since Biden took office … Biden celebrated American Arab Heritage Month (this April), similar to (February’s) Black History Month, and in his statement, he mentioned that Muslims have been living in the U.S. for many years. “Biden meant to open an (Islamic) group middle challenge (together with a mosque) close to the (Twin Towers) website of the 9/11 assaults, which was halted by the Trump administration, however there was a big lobbying effort in opposition to it,” she added.
Acehan highlighted that the frequency of assaults in opposition to Muslims and Turks varies relying on the schooling stage of the town. In multicultural cities like New York, the place there’s a numerous vary of cultures, these assaults are minimal, whereas, in smaller cities, they’re extra widespread.
Knife assaults within the U.S. on ladies sporting Islamic headscarves in 2017 had been the end result of longstanding Turkish and Muslim hatred that escalated quickly after 9/11, stated the historian. The household of a Pakistani little one who died within the 9/11 assaults was subjected to accusations just because they had been Muslim, Acehan stated. Their telephones had been illegally tapped for six months as a result of their son was branded as a terrorist. When it emerged that the kid was an harmless sufferer, no motion was taken.
Ottoman migration
Speaking on the multi-ethnic tapestry of Ottoman instances, the place folks of varied faiths and backgrounds discovered a welcoming house, Acehan stated: “Migration to the U.S. principally passed off from the southeastern Anatolia area. There was an ideal want for employees within the nation, and (ethnic) Armenians who had gone to Protestant colleges right here introduced their neighbors and kin to the nation with out passports and even identification.
At that point, Armenians and (ethnic) Turks (from the Ottoman Empire) had been dwelling in the identical homes within the U.S.” Graduates of Harput American College, which was established by Protestant missionaries in Harput within the japanese Elazig province in 1857, performed a pioneering function within the first migration to the U.S. by Turks, stated Acehan, including that the primary group to go to the U.S. comprised profitable Armenians from the college.
The first immigrants from the Ottoman lands that might later turn out to be Türkiye settled within the northeastern U.S. state of Massachusetts and labored in shoe manufacturing, she stated, including that Turkish folks stuffed the labor hole within the U.S. however confronted discrimination. She stated the primary Muslim group to immigrate to the U.S. had been Turkish folks, however they weren’t warmly welcomed by locals as a consequence of their faith.
“There were problems between Turks who immigrated to the country and Americans due to religious and cultural differences. Turkish people were discriminated against and marginalized,” she explained. Acehan stressed that the U.S. is a secular state built on Protestant culture, and that Protestant Americans tend to discriminate against non-Protestants and races other than their own. Leading newspapers of the time included such headlines as “Turks don’t slot in” and “They ought to return to their nation,” she stated.
“For locals, Turkish meant Muslim, so there was excessive bias in opposition to Turkish. The first Turkish who immigrated to the U.S. confronted discriminatory and racist therapy just like what African Americans skilled,” Acehan stated.
“The press continuously fueled this Turkish hatred among the many public. Newspapers wrote Turks had been vulnerable to crime, unable to adapt to American tradition, and there must be minimal interplay with Turks. Isolated incidents had been exaggerated, creating a continuing portrayal of Turkish as criminals,” she stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
