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Home » Inside Appalachia: Rising Above Islamaphobia
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Inside Appalachia: Rising Above Islamaphobia
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How do Muslims living in Appalachia feel about increasing Islamaphobia in America? What role does the media play in creating such fear?
This issue has been heating up in the last year. As refugees from Syria have been arriving in Europe, some Americans, like Donald Trump, have called for barring them from entering the United States.
But there are Syrian people already here, including an 11-year old boy named Zain. He’s the youngest member of a family that immigrated from Syria six years ago. Reporter Ikram Benaicha is friends with the family and she brings us a story of a boy growing up with one foot in Syria and another in America.
11-year-old Zain says he feels comfortable here – and many Muslims say the same thing.
Harassment of Muslims in America is on the rise, according to an analysis from California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Their research shows a rise in assaults on Muslims, death threats, and vandalism at mosques since the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.
Today, Americans are more fearful of terrorist acts happening in this country than they were in the days after September 11, 2001. So says a New York Times/CBS News poll published last December.
In this episode we also hear from:
Ehteshamul Haque, who used to live in West Virginia as the Imam in South Charleston. Haque was featured on a recent episode of “Us & Them”. Host Trey Kay explores how America’s anxiety about Islam has evolved over the past two decades.
Willa Johnson, Brandon Jent, and Tanya Turner in Whitesburg Kentucky. They’ll talk about what happened when a gun store in their community hung up a sign that said “Muslim Free Gun Store.” The Anti- Muslim Gun store got a lot of media attention across the country. But there was another side to this story that you may not have heard about. Listen to the episode to hear how the community responded.
Ali Ziyati, a professor of Media Studies and Chair of the Communication Arts Department at West Virginia State University. He talks with Inside Appalachia Host Jessica Lilly about how the media has affected the rising Islamaphobia in America.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson with the Council on American Islamic Relations, who talks about what his group thinks may help reduce the number of threats and harassment of Muslims in America.
Inside Appalachia Host, Jessica Lilly, shares these thoughts about why the issue of Islamaphobia is important for our region:
I think it’s important that we keep talking about the truth about our people. Just like the rest of the country, most places in Appalachia are an eclectic mix of people. After all- African Americans along with immigrants from all over Europe and the middle east traveled here to work in logging or in the coal mines.
On this West Virginia Morning, according to state code, the attorney general’s job is to enforce West Virginia’s laws as they relate to – listed in order – consumer protection, unfair trade practices, civil rights and other important areas. As Randy Yohe shows us, the four primary candidates running for attorney general, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.
On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia is seeing a boom in low and no-carbon manufacturing, thanks to tax credits and other federal programs designed to spur investment in energy communities. Curtis Tate spoke recently with Brian Anderson, a senior adviser on energy communities at the U.S. Department of Energy. They spoke at the University of Charleston.
On this West Virginia Morning, the Jewish holiday of Passover is coming to an end. It is a time for celebration and reflection. This year, it has been a bit more difficult, according to Rabbi Victor Urecki from Charleston. He spoke with News Director Eric Douglas to discuss the holiday and the struggle with the war in Gaza.
In March, broadcast journalists from Virginia and West Virginia were recognized when the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters met to present awards for notable stories produced in 2023. This week, we listen back to some of our award-winning stories.