[Mb-civic] America's Muslim Ghettos- Salam Al-Marayati - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

America's Muslim Ghettos

By Salam Al-Marayati
Monday, August 15, 2005; Page A15

Reports that the culprits in the London terrorist attacks were in fact 
homegrown British Muslim lads are reverberating throughout the U.S. 
Muslim community. They are forcing Muslims to focus on how to prevent 
such incidents in this country. The way to do this, it is clear, is to 
combat the Muslim-ghetto mentality that is proliferating in Western 
countries these days. This has so far been mostly a European phenomenon, 
but it could easily take root here.

The word "ghetto" comes from the name of the island near Venice where 
Italian Jews were made to live in the 16th century. A ghetto is a 
section of a city occupied by a minority group whose people live there 
largely because of social, economic or legal pressure. Make no mistake: 
British Muslims are by and large living under such conditions. And it 
should come as no surprise that residents living in isolated, homogenous 
pockets -- such as Leeds, where the suspects resided -- do not feel a 
sense of belonging to their nation or the West. Social and economic 
isolation of minority communities makes them more prone to political and 
religious radicalization.

Throughout Europe, cultural barriers separate Muslim ghettos from 
mainstream society. In general, European Muslims belong to the 
underclass. British Muslims are mostly Indo-Pakistani; French Muslims 
are largely Algerian, Belgian Muslims are immigrants from Morocco, etc. 
In many of these countries where Muslim populations are largely 
homogenous, the forces of isolation are stronger than the forces of 
integration, partly because of the socioeconomic status of Muslim 
communities throughout Europe and partly because of self-imposed isolation.

In the United States, it has been a different picture and a different 
reality. Because American Muslims are relatively more educated and 
affluent than European Muslims, they are typically far more interested 
in integrating into mainstream society. That American Muslims do not 
have a "ghetto problem" may be one reason U.S. officials consider al 
Qaeda more of a threat in Europe than within the United States.

But that doesn't mean some American Muslims don't find themselves on the 
fringes of society. While social forces in Europe may alienate Muslims, 
it is political forces in the United States that repel many. Although 
the vast majority of American Muslims do not live in economically 
depressed physical ghettos, many live in a psychological ghetto caused 
by the lack of acceptance they feel from their neighbors and colleagues, 
especially in the post-Sept. 11 era. This psychological ghetto may prove 
the largest challenge in the war on terrorism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081401038.html

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