Islamophobia: Unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear and dislikes for most Muslims. It's directed at a perceived or real Muslim threat through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social, and cultural relations while rationalizing the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve "civilization rehab" of the target communities. ( Source: Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkley).
Microaggressions experienced by American Muslims an excerpt from Subtle and Overt Forms of Islamophobia: Microaggressions toward Muslim Americans by Kevin L, Nadal (Source: Simmons College Anti-Oppression Guide: http://simmons.libguides.com/anti-oppression)
- Endorsing Religious Stereotypes: statements or behaviors that communicate false, presumptuous, or incorrect perceptions of certain religious groups (e.g., stereotyping that a Muslim person is a terrorist or that a Jewish person is cheap).
- Exoticization: instances where people view other religions as trendy or foreign (e.g., an individual who dresses in a certain religion’s garb or garments for fashion or pleasure).
- Pathology of Different Religious Groups: Statements and behaviors in which individuals equate certain religious practices or traditions as being abnormal, sinful, or deviant (e.g., telling someone that they are in the “wrong” religion).
- Assumption of One's Own Religious Identity as the Norm: Comments or behaviors that convey people’s presumption that their religion is the standard and behaves accordingly (e.g., greeting someone “Merry Christmas” or saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes conveys one’s perception that everyone is Christian or believes in God).
- Assumption of Religious Homogeneity: Statements in which individuals assume that every believer of a religion practices the same customs or has the same beliefs as the entire group (e.g., assuming that all Muslim people wear head coverings).
- Denial of Religious Prejudice: Incidents in which individuals claim that they are not religiously biased, even if their words or behaviors may indicate otherwise.
