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Navigating Muslim-American Identity

Explore the challenges and resilience of Muslim-Americans post-9/11 through personal narratives and demographics. Learn how youth balance dual identities in a society marked by discrimination and misunderstanding.

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Navigating Muslim-American Identity

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  1. Hyphenating Borders: Negotiating a Muslim-American Identity Michelle Fine, Ph.D. City University of New York, Graduate CenterCritical Psychology

  2. Historical context • On September 12th, 2001, Muslims in the US found themselves in a double bind. • their lives, like those of other US citizens, were under attack • they were perceived by some as a threat to the safety of their nation • Today, more than 40% of the US public support discrimination against Muslims even if they are US citizens (Gallup, 2006).

  3. Harim, age 19, Syrian-American Since 9-11, even more recent stuff…wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, I think strengthened the bond of a lot of Muslims and I think that’s brought us more to the idea of being unified and you know it’s not worth us being individuals right now cause we need each other and we all kind of just get support from each other

  4. Demographics of the US Muslims • 3 to 7 million • More than two thirds of Muslims in the US are immigrant: • Native Muslims are mostly African American • Immigrant Muslims are mostly South Asian, Arab, and from a number of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

  5. Asha, age 17, from Lebanon • There is always been this struggle of sort of conflating or managing all these identities within me. You know the main conflict comes from Islam and America… there is always this constant struggle between defining my values as a Muslim or an American.

  6. Nadim, 19 year old son of immigrants from Pakistan tells this story about his relationships with his mother: • I live near the mosque so I would go there for prayer—and my parents wouldn’t want me to go cause I remember one time I was in a class and Time was there and they took a picture. I wasn’t in the picture but just like the little corner of my head was in it, cause I was right in front of the camera lens-- only I knew it was me. My mom looked at the picture and she saw the top of my head and was like “This is you! This is what I am telling you! You can’t be going to the mosque and doing all this stuff, you don’t know what is going to happen!”I’m like, you know it was a good article too… I was barely in the picture…She knew it was me. She was like going crazy. She was like “you don’t know who is watching you.”

  7. Another participant tells his story: • I dropped my mom off at Bloomingdales I have nothing better to do so I go to the 96th St. mosque to just chill out there, read or do homework. It’s almost like a club area, it’s not like I’m excessively religious, I wish. And he gets mad about that. He’s like you are going to the mosque too much and I’m like what was I supposed to do? [our parents] are very paranoid and I think that they should take into consideration that they are messing with too many people’s lives and what are they catching in the end. They need to work with us.

  8. For more… Sirin, S. R. & Fine, M. (in press). Muslim American youth: Understanding hyphenated identities through multiple methods. New York University Press: New York Sirin, S. R., Bikmen, N., Mir, M., Zaal, M., Fine, M., & Katciaficas, D. (in press). Exploring dual identification among Muslim-American emerging adults: A mixed methods study. Journal of Adolescence. Fine, M. & Sirin, S. R. (in press). Theorizing hyphenated lives: Researching marginalized youth in times of historical and political conflict. Social and Personality Psychology Compass Sirin, S. R. & Fine, M. (2007). Hyphenated selves: Muslim American youth negotiating their identities across the fault lines of global conflict. Applied Developmental Science, 11(3), 151-163. Sirin, S. R. & Balsano, A. (2007). Pathways to identity and positive development among Muslim youth in the West. Applied Developmental Science, 11(3), 109-111. Balsano, A. & Sirin, S. R. (2007). Muslim youth in the West: “Collateral damage” we cannot afford to disregard. Applied Developmental Science, 11(3), 178-183.NYU Press in the Summer of 2008

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