Erving Goffman And W. E. Du Bois Analysis
Recently, a lot of negative light has been shed on the Muslim community due to extremist Islamic groups inflicting terrorism upon various different countries around the world. Extreme groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda commit terrible acts like 9/11, the London bombing, the Paris attacks, and many more. These actions bring hate and prejudice to the peaceful religion of Islam. This racism has brought discrimination to the Muslim community from all over the world. I plan to apply the sociological theories of Erving Goffman and W.E.B. Du bois to better understand the anti-Islamic racism going on around the world and its effects on society. The first Theorist I will talk about will be Erving Goffman. Erving Goffman talked about stigmas, stereotypes,
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Du Bois’ text The Souls of Black Folk and the idea of double consciousness. In the text, Du Bois defined double consciousness as the concept of being a part of two separate identities that cannot mix. For him this was being Black and American. While he was technically both, the mixing of the two was impossible sine being black at the time meant he was less American then white Americans. With existing laws that ban Muslim religious cloth and statements from presidential candidates like Donald trump advocating for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on” (Donald Trump’s campaign press release, December 7th 2015), it is hard for Muslims not to also feel the same pains and double consciousness Du Bois talked about. Being discriminated against because of religion and not being given the same rights as other citizens forces them to feel as lesser than the rest of the world. The idea of being Muslim AND a citizen of countries like France, Belgium, and the U.S., where racism and islamophobic laws exist, seems to be two separate things and therefore
Du Bois’ text The Souls of Black Folk and the idea of double consciousness. In the text, Du Bois defined double consciousness as the concept of being a part of two separate identities that cannot mix. For him this was being Black and American. While he was technically both, the mixing of the two was impossible sine being black at the time meant he was less American then white Americans. With existing laws that ban Muslim religious cloth and statements from presidential candidates like Donald trump advocating for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on” (Donald Trump’s campaign press release, December 7th 2015), it is hard for Muslims not to also feel the same pains and double consciousness Du Bois talked about. Being discriminated against because of religion and not being given the same rights as other citizens forces them to feel as lesser than the rest of the world. The idea of being Muslim AND a citizen of countries like France, Belgium, and the U.S., where racism and islamophobic laws exist, seems to be two separate things and therefore