On Friday, Mar. 27, approximately fifty students gathered in Coffee Grounds to engage in a critical discussion on “Hate Crimes and Fear of Islam in the United States,” with Professors Bhatia, Borer, Hammond, Jafar and Campos-Holland. Professor of Sociology Afshan Jafar opened the talk by commenting on how, although the event was originally supposed to take place in February, its content is still very much relevant today, globally and locally. She told the audience that what prompted her to want to hold the event was the murder of three Muslim students (Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha) by Craig Stephen Hicks near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Feb. 11, 2015. In particular, the lack of media coverage of the murders in Chapel Hill interested Professor Jafar because the few times it was covered, it was done in a “very roundabout way,” in that some people wondered if the UNC murders could be considered hate-crimes. Jafar said: “Why have we been going around in circles trying to avoid calling this a hate-crime? When it seems that there are very obvious clues leading us to this is a hate-crime…so why are we trying not to label it as a hate-crime?”
After opening the talk, Professor of International Relations and Government Tristan Borer discussed another incident related to the talk’s title, the attack by Hamyd Mourad, Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi on the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, that occurred in Paris in January. She noted that in the same week that the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred, Boko Haram committed acts of violence in the Nigerian towns of Baga and Doron Baga on Jan. 3, yet the former was less discussed by the media and by students. Professor Borer then mentioned that one way the media has reacted and covered the Germanwings incident has been through stereotypes and wrongful framing that attempt to connect the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, to terrorism because Lubitz’s girlfriend is Muslim: “The reports immediately [wondered] ‘oh is he Muslim? Was this an act of terrorism?’” Professor Borer also used the capturing of trophy photographs of Muslim prisoners at Abu Ghraib by American military personnel as another, yet earlier example of the ways in which the process of dehumanization of groups leads to violence.
During the event, students and professors alike frequently integrated the issue of belonging and citizenship into the dialog. “To me the question of belonging is at the center of all of this. And at the center of that is, do you have an entitled right to this? Are you an equal citizen…are you an equal citizen of the United States?” Professor Jafar said, first commenting on the theme of belonging or the lack of it. These questions then become further complicated when individuals are faced with the reality of living in an environment of ignorance and bigotry, which can lead to hate crimes and feelings of exclusion. Professor of Human Development Sunil Bhatia contextualized and expanded on Professor Jafar’s comment by stating that, “We want to establish here that this [hate crime and questions of belonging] happens in different parts of the world. The structure of hate crimes are very similar in many ways,” he said, using historical examples of atrocities during World War II to contemporary times. “There is a certain language that gets involved when we think about what hate crimes mean…think about the Nazis, for example. Hate speech was adopted as official policy so that the entire apparatus could use propaganda,” Professor Bhatia continued. Professor Bhatia stressed that there is real danger when the state sanctions the use of hate speech, making it “legitimate,” by giving it “full license.” In cases of hate crime, Professor Bhatia commented that the, “language [involved] is never neutral.”
Another prominent theme that filtered throughout the talk was the need for more conversations on campus, nationally and globally that seek to educate everyone on various levels. Several students of differing class years agreed that it is essential to gain a better understanding of groups and ways of thinking that people may not be familiar with. In keeping with the constant need to engage in dialogues, students at the talk believed that in order to address hate crimes and need for a thriving multicultural world, people must question the notion of hybridity, framing and American exceptionalism. In relation to “hybridity,” many students felt that by addressing people as say “Irish-American,” feelings of difference occur that cause those understood by the public through “hybrid labels,” to be seen as “non-American.”
As a Residential Education Fellows (REF) event, floor governors Molly Rosen ‘17 and Molly Tuohy ‘17 worked with REF Professors Bhatia, Borer, Hammond and Jafar to plan a meaningful event for students. According to Tuohy, coordinating the event was a “very collaborative process because the professors are truly invested in organizing productive events that will spark discussion in our community.” Tuohy feels “particularly excited” about “Hate Crimes and the Fear of Islam in the U.S.,” because of its “definite relevance in our community right now.” She feels that in light of the all-campus forum that took place on Wed., Mar. 25, the talk acts to “provide a setting to continue discussion about this topic.” Like many other REF events that deal with social issues, Tuohy says that “the overall goal of the event is to encourage and further constructive conversation in our community and I look forward to listening and learning more from continued dialogue.”
After the audience was told that Coffee Grounds was to close at 6pm, Professor Bhatia and others continued the conversation in the KB common room. As students filtered around Coffee Grounds, Professor Jafar passed out a handout that was brought by Professor Campos-Holland and was written by Jasmine Linnea Kelekay ’15 entitled, “Refining Boundaries: Hate Crimes and Racialized Informal Social Control Post-9/11.” •
