Teanna Haslett + Christina O'Donnell Geo 102 FA 15 Religious Tolerance

1. RESEARCH PRESENTATION
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
TEANNA HASLETT + CHRISTINA O’DONNELL
12/18/15
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY 102

2. TOPIC DEFINITION: ISLAMOPHOBIA
• Merriam – Webster dictionary defines ‘phobia’ as an illogical fear of a particular object(s) or situation.
• -Gallup.com defines Islamophobia as an exaggerated anger and hostility toward Islam as a whole and
also Muslims. They also point out that we give off a negative stereotype and discriminate and isolate a
group of people based their religion.

3. LOCATION:
• Focus on Islamophobia in the Inland Empire, specifically San Bernardino.
• Grown tremendously in the last 30 years and gained hatred toward refugees and Muslims
of the Islamic community.
• The number of hate crimes in the US has gone down, with the exception of those dealing
with Muslims.
• Public opinion has become more negative and county’s of SB and Riverside have attracted
more hate groups according to locals residing in the cities.
• According to Southern Poverty Center of CA, we have the most active hate groups in the IE.
• {Referencing hate groups}“This is a significant concentration in the Inland Empire, unlike
anywhere else in the nation.” Brian Levin
• 2010: NYC officials had been debating whether a mosque should be built near 9.11 attacks,
at the same time IE had been debating whether we should allow a proposed mosque to be
built in Temecula Valley.
• Some American’s are working to justify their hate by referencing attacks committed on 9.11
and now 12.2

4. WHO IS AFFECTED:
• Three weeks after 9/11, an ABC News poll that was conducted saw that Americans are more favorable
of Islam than unfavorable. 47% to 39%. Ten years later there was a dramatic change of another poll
done by Shibley Telhami in April 2011. The poll showed that 61% of Americans admitted unfavorable
views of Islam, when 33% admitted favorable views.
• Shibley’s recent poll shows that nearly the same views of Islam in 2015 are as positive as how it was in
2011 of 61% of American’s are showing unfavorable views. Fortunately the views of Muslim people
have improved a little bit with 53% showing favorable views despite the negativity viewed on the
religion as well as the rise of Islamic State of Iraq, and the bombing in Paris and more recent, the SB
shooting.
• According to Adrienna Wong, a staff member attorney for the ACLU Inland Empire has said they have
seen an inspiring amount of action and unity in the community of San Bernardino. If any negative acts
toward Muslims would be seen as counter-productive of what they are doing now.
• “It’s certainly a great tragedy and we extend our condolences to families and everybody else that’s
affected by this. It’s not a time to succumb to fear. It’s also not a time to let this event divide us, or
allow people to exploit this tragedy to demonize any particular segment of the population.” Atty.
Wong said.

5. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT PEOPLE:
• On December 27, 2015, from 10a.m. - 5p.m. in San Bernardino at the National
Orange Show, they will be donating their venue for a San Bernardino Healing
Memorial show hosted by 93.5 KDAY-FM’s Tha Goodfellas and 99.1 KGGI-FM’s. In-
N-Out is set to feed the people working behind the scenes and those who are
being honored.
• Frankie J. who will be performing said, “When I heard about the tragedy that
happened in San Bernardino, I was glued to the television when this was
happening. I have some friends in the force in San Bernardino, so I was listening to
everything in the news. I felt devastated about how the world is turning upside
down.”
• There aren’t really any benefits when it comes to Islamophobia really unless you
consider the fact that since the shooting has happened we have brought our
community closer to create unity and stop Islamophobia in parts.

6. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Some of us think that this had started within our life time, and
we would be mistaken. I had thought it did, but I was also
wrong.
• TheRoot.com informed us that this started as early as the
1500’s when the European colonies had passed anti-Muslim
importation of African Muslim’s. They were specifically
targeted because they were seen to be strong supporters of
inspiring slave rebellions against their white ‘masters’.
• This had also surfaced in 1959 and this time came on U.S.
media while taking part of an on air show that had been
anchored by Mike Wallace. This session was called “The
Hate That Hate Produced.” This session brought up the
discussion of the differences between ‘orthodox’ Muslims vs
African American Muslims. Wallace voiced his opinion
against Elijah Muhammad
and Malcolm X , saying that they were dangerous
because they were hosting and forming the most
powerful of all black supremacist groups.
• 9/11 brought on a strong sense of anti-Muslim
affiliation and instilled it in our lives and has lasted
over a decade.
• Dec 2nd verified that this is a war we are at with a
group of extremists who had decided to label their
beliefs under a preexisting belief and degrade its
meaning.

7. SOLUTION + EFFORT:
• Raising money for awareness and support: A Pomona neurologists prompted a
donation on crowdfunding.com to raise $20,000 to donate to affected families
for funerals, medical bills, etc. Four days in to the effort, Muslims United for
San Bernardino helped raise over $200,000 from over 2,000 supporters
through out the country.
• Zakat: Most people do not know that one of the 5 Pillars of Islamic faith is
Zakat. This pillar specifically requires Muslim followers to donate 2.5 of their
assets. This donation follows not only financial, but also requires the value of
all of one’s possessions. Some categories listed on religionfacts.com had been:
grains, fruit, camels, cattle, sheep, gold and silver, and last, but not least,
movable goods. These assets are given to: the poor, pilgrims, slaves seeking
freedom, etc.
• As followers of different beliefs, we can take the time to educate ourselves.
Find a physical copy of the book or even ask questions to someone you might
know. There is no good way to ask someone without facts about something
someone else believes and practices it.
• Do not contribute to negative remarks. Instead maybe avoid the fight by
realizing that every single group of people have extremists. Take a stand to end
stereotyping. Be understanding that everyone is capable of committing these
acts, but not everyone who looks the part commits the crime.
• Do not refer to Muslim followers as ‘terrorists’. Terrorists come in every religion
with all ages and all races.

8. REASON OF CHOICE:
I decided to tackle this topic because it hits so close to home. I
was raised to not judge people and to give everyone the same
love and compassion as you would a friend. Judging someone
by what you think are their beliefs is not fair. Judging someone
on their actions is appropriate. I had originally planned to do a
presentation on Jehovah’s Witnesses, but after recent events I
had decided to stand up for a group that is so often put down.
Personally I thought that tackling a religion subject would be
too touchy for our class and difficult to explain. After these
events I felt it wasn’t fair for me to avoid a topic because I was
scared to disagree with someone. These are events happening
in our country, and now officially in our back yard and officially
my front yard. It is not right to judge one group as a whole
because of some extremist’s actions. Every time I open up
Facebook I see multiple posts degrading this very respectable
religion. After taking an Intro to World Religion class this
semester at CHC I (Teanna) learned quite a bit about Muslims
and their core beliefs. I hope that after this presentation you
learn to research and understand other people have beliefs just
like you do. I do not hope that you take my word and opinion,
rather than do un-bias research and develop your own opinion.

9. SITES USED:
• http://www.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx
• http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2010/09/islamophobia_did_not_start_at_ground_zero.html
• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-muslim-fundraise-20151208-story.html
• https://www.launchgood.com/project/muslims_united_for_san_bernardino
• http://theodysseyonline.com/toledo/stop-calling-muslims-terrorists/216613
• http://fusion.net/story/241599/faces-of-muslims-san-bernardino/
• http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/12/09-what-americans-think-of-muslims-and-islam-telhami
• https://digital.finalcall.com/publication/?i=284197&article_id=2343629&view=articleBrowser&ver=html5#{%22issue_id":284197,"article_id":"2343629","view":"art
icleBrowser"}
• http://www.dailybulletin.com/arts-and-entertainment/20151217/san-bernardino-healing-memorial-show-set-for-dec-27-at-national-orange-show