“Acceptable bigotry? Understanding Islamophobia and Its Impact on Youth.”

 “Acceptable bigotry? Understanding Islamophobia and Its Impact on Youth.” Dr. Muhammad Khalifa (U. of Minnesota). UTSA main Campus, MB 0.106. (MB, or Main building,” is located between the John Peace Library and Baurle Road Parking Lot 2, on the east side of the campus.

Islamophobia is rampant and is one of the most uncontested forms of bigotry in the U.S. today. Because anti-Islamic bigotry and discourse is so prevalent, even widely promoted by U.S. presidential candidates, this has created a hostile culture for American Muslims in society and school. This lecture examines the earliest sources of Islamophobia not as an extension to other forms of oppression in the U.S., such as racism, ableism, or sexism. Rather, it situates this at a moment in Western European history whereby Colonialists began the process of othering Muslims, and then enacting genocide/epistemicide on Muslim populations. It ends by bringing all of these contexts to bear on young Muslims in school.