Southern California is home to approximately 500,000 Muslims and according to the Los Angeles Times, even in “liberal California,” many Muslims “anxiously wonder how much the president-elect Trump’s tough-talking rhetoric will be matched by legislative actions.”
Since the election cycle, anti-Muslim hate and rhetoric has dramatically been on the rise. Trump has proposed a Muslim Registry (though the Times notes that the president-elect has recently hinted at a revision to focus more on people coming from countries linked to terrorism, rather than use religion as a criteria). Trump’s Cabinet picks and members of his transition team have greatly alarmed Muslim leaders and activists. According to the Times, “Trump’s choice for national security advisor, Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, has said he believes acts of terrorism by Muslims are rooted in mainstream Islamic faith and once tweeted that ‘fear of Muslims is rational.’”
“I’m really concerned that Trump has brought out something that was maybe hidden before,” says Majid Mahmood who lives in San Marcos with his wife and two sons. “The hate is just out now, especially when you see an increased rate of hate crimes against Muslims.”
Anti-Muslim incidents accelerated after the December 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino, according to researchers at Cal State San Bernardino. “If you talk to older Muslims, they will talk about 1979 with the Iran hostage crisis and Iranian Revolution. That brought to the fore this feeling of being other, or liable for things that happen outside of your control,” says Brie Loskota, executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC. “With each political moment or international crisis, there is a turning up of the heat or the pressure under which the Muslim community in America exists.”
