Terrorism. Violence. Extremists. Bombs. The list could go on.
These were some of the responses at a recent community action forum hosted by Welcoming Gainesville—a local organization seeking to create a space for immigrants to thrive in their new community—when participants were asked by Hassan Shibly, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida, what the first words were that came to mind when they heard “Islam in the media.”
When asked why, the crowd collectively concurred that the media over-reported instances where Muslims committed acts of violence, avoided calling non-Muslim violent extremists “terrorists,” and generally did a poor job of covering Islam.