Labeling Differences: Is it Wrong to Identify People by Their Religion?

One of the issues that I am personally most passionate about is race and "othering," but othering isn't just about casting someone out as different based on their race. Religion is also a hot-button topic that many people have difficulties talking about due to strong differing values and opinions. Senator and potential presidential candidate Lindsey Graham had a few less than kind words to say about president Obama and his recent lack of identifying terrorist group ISIS by a religious affiliation-namely Islamic. According to Travis L. Dixon, who conducted a study on the correlation between race and sentiments towards victims and criminals, African-Americans tend to be overly represented  and stereotyped as perpetrators in the media, whereas Caucasians are more closely portrayed as the "victim." But what about religious groups? Do certain religious groups represent the majority, while other affiliations are overly stereotyped as dangerous, violent, or "terrorist?"

In a recent ABC News article, the South Carolina senator stated that while president Obama loves and is a patriot of the United States, he is failing miserable as president. According to Graham, this is due to Obama's failure to label ISIS as "radical Islamists." Graham goes on to say, "I've never been more worried about my country than I am today in terms of radical Islam, and yes, it is radical Islam."  What was most worrisome about the article was Graham's dubbing all Islamic affiliates as belonging to a country that is trying to convert Christians, Jewish, and even vegetarians (sarcasm noted) into members of the Islamic religion, following with, "they're not going to stop unless somebody stops them."

While the Obama administration has been under similar criticisms recently, they maintain that 'ISIS and other extremist groups represent a perversion of the religion and to call them Islamic would legitimize a false claim.' Leaving the issue of race aside, it is quite interesting that a good number of American citizens are upset by the fact that the president of the United States refuses to stereotype an entire religious groups as Islamic terrorists or "radical Islamists." Stereotyping seems to be a strong component of the media, with images of Muslims in the media being portrayed predominantly in the light of terrorists (see first blog on 'American Sniper'). The increase in the number of attacks on Muslims just goes to show the effect of creating and reinforcing negative images of "radical Islamics" in the media.

This is an interesting photo I happened to come across on Facebook within the past week that sheds light on the fact that we continue to reinforce the idea that Muslims (Islamic faith) are dangerous "terrorists," meanwhile, we are forced to forget the injustices that have been dealt against African-Americans during slavery and the antebellum period through to today. This leads to a pressing question: Who is the real victim?

'No Doubt' President Obama Loves His Country, Says Sen. Lindsey Graham:

http://news.yahoo.com/no-doubt-president-obama-loves-country-says-sen-213801258.html