A veil of ignorance: Public perceptions of Islam in the United States and their educational implications

Abstract

Many people in the United States gain most of their information about Islam, Muslims, and events in the Middle East from mainstream media sources. Since September 11, 2001, the need to know about Islam has increased in the schools while biased misrepresentations have dominated. This paper answers the question, how has the media shaped representations of Islam in US schools since September 11, 2001? First I discuss the general and educational need to know in light of media responses to 9/11 before exploring some of the major educational responses. I argue that representations of Islam today in US public schools reflect a divisive politics of representation going on in the United States today at large, around the nature of Islam and American interventions in the Middle East. I contrast two different educational accounts of Islam to explore the educational effects of the post-9/11 US political climate.