No Stranger to The Front Page
Muslims are no strangers to front page news. Rarely however, are Muslims portrayed in a pleasant light. Are the media presenting an accurate reality of what Muslims are like? Are Muslims extremists? Let’s see what the facts have to say.
Right-wing extremists are the most dangerous group in America
Contrary to popular perceptions around violent extremism in the United States, a new study by the Anti-Defamation League has found that essentially all murders by extremists were committed by right-wing terrorists.
Despite this, mainstream media outlets continue to show Muslims as extremists.
The Reality
This finding goes against the main ways we talk about violent extremism, as right-wing violence is almost never acknowledged as a legitimate problem to reconcile.
“For too long, policymakers have focused disproportionate attention on the threat of Islamist extremism, to the detriment of readiness to address many other security issues,” said the researchers from the Anti-Defamation League.
As easy as it is to talk about banning Muslims from entering the United States, or stopping a caravan invasion from South America for the crimes of extremism and violence, to apply the same standards to “conservatives” or “white-people” would be unthinkable, as it should be.
However, this also means that we are yet to fully acknowledge the underlying issues around last years attacks, which made it the 4th-deadliest year in the United States since 1970.
If we want to tackle extremist violence, we need to be serious about where it’s actually coming from.