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ASSIMILATION: HOW 

POST-9/11 GOVERNMENT 

STRATEGIES HAVE  
HINDERED MUSLIMS 

FROM SOCIOECONOMIC  
INTEGRATION 

 
TAHSIN MOSTOFA,  

MICHAEL MONESCALCHI (FACULTY ADVISOR) 
 

✵  ABSTRACT 
The devastating attacks of 9/11 left life-

changing impacts on how the world viewed national 
security. The United States, at its epicenter, formally 
overhauled its government strategies and ap-
proaches in assured attempts to prevent such oc-
currences ever again. Thus, the establishment of the 
Department of Homeland Security and the imple-
mentation of policies reflected new behaviors to-
wards individuals from certain religious or geo-
graphic backgrounds. While successfully eliminat-
ing the recurrence of terrorist attacks of such scale, 
these extreme approaches vociferously affected the 
United States’ Muslim population—many of whom 
have immigrated in pursuit of the “American 
Dream”—from integrating into society.  

This paper seeks to establish that post-9/11 
policies have perpetuated anti-Muslim bias in the 
minds of the American people, thus impacting the 
Muslim population’s ability to integrate into society, 
measured by sections of Milton Gordon’s assimila-
tion theory. Muslim Americans are vulnerable to un-
just constraints or responsibility for the extremist 
few, all by a governing body established to serve 
the interests of all its citizens. Studying the extent to 
which these tactics have affected Muslim Americans 
highlights limitations of the justice system and re-
veals calls to action where adequate support should 

be given. Publicly isolating people ties a negative 
connotation to their existence, which can cause 
wider society to disassociate themselves from iso-
lated individuals. 

 

1  INTRODUCTION 
The Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks launched in 

the United States on September 11th, 2001 
changed the U.S.’s perspective on national security 
forever. The most significant foreign attack on U.S. 
soil resulted in the deaths of countless individuals, 
as well as the destruction of the Twin Towers of the 
World Trade Center economic hub in New York 
City, triggering a turning point for all Americans in 
U.S. history. Tighter immigration policies and the 
creation of the Department of Homeland Security 
on November 25th, 2002 ensured that the repeti-
tion of 9/11 would never happen again. However, 
investigations carried out within the country with the 
intent of securing national security have brought 
upon consequences and constant discrimination 
within society, as well as the perception of individu-
als affected. Minority groups—namely Muslims—en-
tering the United States to escape violent conflict or 
find new opportunity face unjust obstacles in their 
attempts at integration. This raises the question: 
How have immigration tactics post-9/11 perpetu-
ated xenophobic bias in society? Have government-
launched investigations perpetuated certain per-
ceptions and impaired Muslim-American minorities’ 
ability to socioeconomically integrate and prosper 
within the United States?  

This paper examines the effects of U.S. gov-
ernment practices on the socio-economic integra-
tion of Muslim immigrants in the United States using 
parts of Milton Gordon’s assimilation theory, de-
vised into four sections, including: a methodology 
section discussing the implementation of Gordon’s 
theory; a literature background on the certain gov-
ernment practices being discussed; the implications 
of such government practices; and a socioeconomic 
analysis of the September 11th policies on Muslim 
populations, as well as further counters on political 
assimilation and research conclusions. Such dis-
criminatory practices have had lingering effects well 
into the 21st century, with the war on terror only just 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

officially ceasing on August 30th, 2021—twenty 
years after its declaration. The implementation of 
policies introduced during this period allowed the 
government to carry out unchecked and oppressive 
behavior, creating an imbalance and vulnerability to 
an integral community within the U.S. 

 

2 METHODOLOGY 
THE “ASSIMILATION” FRAMEWORK 

To avoid speculation and to properly wit-
ness if the level of social and economic integration 
of Muslims has been impacted by governmental 
practices, a theoretical framework must be estab-
lished. Milton Gordon is a famous sociologist who 
developed the “Classic Assimilation Theory” (1964) 
after observing the second and third generations of 
early European Immigrants in the United States. His 
assimilation theory is also known as the “7 Stages of 
Assimilation” or the “Melting Pot” theory, which is 
why he discusses the seven general steps immi-
grants take before full integration is achieved. Five 
of the stages are process steps: Acculturation, Struc-
tural Assimilation, Intermarriage, Sense of Identity, 
and finally, Civic/Political Integration. Two of the 
stages are assumptive, meaning that they involve no 
prejudice or discrimination. He muses that without 
these two steps, full assimilation would not be pos-
sible, which is why one must assume no prejudice or 
discrimination is occurring when looking at the 
other five steps of assimilation. These two steps are 
often overlooked by those observing the theory, 
who often criticized Gordon for failing to account for 
things like discrimination with regard to the assimi-
lation of other minorities. Parts of this theory will be 
used to measure the level of assimilation Muslim im-
migrants have had in the United States. According 
to the assimilation framework, the occurrence of dis-
crimination and prejudice will prevent full assimila-
tion from occurring. Thus, this paper will analyze the 
extent in which it was prevented for Muslims. The 
aim of this essay is not to argue for full assimilation, 
but rather to discuss the level of assimilation Mus-
lims have or haven’t been able to reach/achieve, 
and as such, this framework is still a viable measure. 
 

3 LITERATURE AND IMPLEMENTED 

GOVERNMENT POLICIES  
Scholar Dr. Ali Chaudhary (2021) discusses 

the discrimination Muslim Immigrant Organizations 
(IOs) have faced from society and the media after 
the government launched numerous investigations 
on them as “security measures.” In his paper titled 
“Ascriptive Organizational Stigma and the Con-
straining of Pakistani Immigrant Organizations,” he 
discusses how these investigations lead to a nega-
tive portrayal of organizations in the perceptions of 
members of society, connecting it to the theory of 
ascriptive stigma. Ascriptive stigma refers to a form 
of negative social stigma such as prejudice or stere-
otyping, attached to individuals based on a shared 
characteristic like race, gender, or religion. Dr. 
Chaudhary developed a sub-theory with his re-
search, “Ascriptive Organizational Stigma (AOS)” 
(Chaudhary, 2021, p. 88) which describes the same 
phenomenon, but on the level of organizations. 
Both ascriptive stigma and AOS can be used as 
terms to explain how the government is perpetuat-
ing ‘xenophobic bias’—the fear or dislike of anything 
someone perceives as ‘foreign’—in this case, as a 
majority/historically Christian country (Diamant, 
2023). Being Muslim is perceived as ‘foreign’ to 
white Americans, especially after 9/11. Scholars 
Anny Bakalian and Medhi Bozorgmehr (2009) dis-
cuss the implications of discriminatory incidents 
such as hate crimes in their book Backlash 9/11: 
Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans Respond. 
The government may have also limited individuals 
of Middle Eastern and Muslim origin from speaking 
out against these hate crimes, preventing aware-
ness and action (p. 129), while further perpetuating 
the “other-ing” effect—an effect which makes indi-
vidual(s) feel as if they are outcasted, objectified, or 
vilified by society—and discrimination. While they 
discuss the abstract impact of these incidents, the 
quantitative socioeconomic impact is showcased by 
scholars Neeraj Kaushal, Robert Kaestner, and Cor-
delia Reimers (2007) in their paper “Labor Market 
Effects of September 11th on Arab and Muslim Res-
idents of the United States” and scholars Michael 
Wallace, Bradley Wright, and Allen Hyde (2014) in 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

their paper “Religious Affiliation and Hiring Discrim-
ination in the American South: A Field Experiment.” 
They show this socioeconomic impact on Muslim 
Americans by measuring the Labor Market Effects 
on Arab and Muslim individuals in various time 
range from 2001 to 2005. The findings show quite a 
few economic impacts for Arab and Muslim individ-
uals, ranging from up to a 20% decrease in wages 
(Kaushal et al, 2007, p. 276), to increased probabil-
ity of these individuals leaving higher-paying jobs to 
lower-paying sectors in relation to post-9/11 (p. 
299), to 38% fewer e-mails and 54% fewer phone 
call job offers from employers based on their reli-
gious identity (Wallace et al, 2014, p. 201). 

The most significant foreign attack on U.S. 
soil resulted in a substantial overhaul in the govern-
ment’s approach to immigration, with the introduc-
tion of several discriminatory policies. Marissa Ti-
rona, president of Grantmakers Concerned with Im-
migrants and Refugees (GCIR), highlights the USA 
PATRIOT Act of 2001, which “allows/facilitates mass 
surveillance of individuals while also allowing for the 
arrest, imprisonment, and deportation of nonciti-
zens upon the orders of the Attorney General with-
out judicial review” (Tirona, 2021). A similar pro-
gram created by President George W. Bush titled 
the “CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program” al-
lowed the CIA to detain anyone determined a “con-
tinuing, serious threat,” sending them to “unmarked 
black sites” for interrogation methods (S. Rep. No. 
113-288, 2014). This was later determined as an in-
humane, degrading treatment “used by torturous 
regimes during the Cold War to elicit false confes-
sions” (Feinstein, 2014) by the Senate. Furthermore, 
a recent 2022 Aref v. Garland lawsuit highlighted 
the creation of CMUs (Communications and Man-
agement Units) in federal prisons, designed to iso-
late certain “high security” prisoners. The case cited 
that 60-100% of inmates in CMUs were Muslim, de-
spite making up 6% of the federal prisoner popula-
tion (Aref v. Garland, 2022). The plaintiffs were all 
low-medium security prisoners with clean or near-
spotless histories—leading to investigations that un-
earthed discriminatory practices and missing paper 
trails in the CMU designation process (Aref v. Gar-
land, 2022). The Long v. Pekoske discrimination 

court case in 2022 also highlighted measures such 
as the “No Fly List” and the “broader terrorism watch 
list,” which the government uses to restrict any indi-
vidual they deem a risk at various airports around 
the world.  The nature of these policies speaks to the 
government’s approach involving immigrants: cap-
turing, locking up, and interrogating people that fit 
the loosely defined category of “suspicious,” result-
ing in “false/fabricated information” (Feinstein, 
2014). A court ruling in 2019 resulted in the declas-
sification of the number of individuals who are on 
the government’s immigration lists. The released 
statistics are that 81,000 people are on the No Fly 
List (Nur v. Unknown CBP Officers, 2022), and 1.1 
million people are on the broader terrorism watch 
list. (Nur v. Unknown CBP Officers, 2022). These im-
migrant minorities’ goal is to assimilate into society, 
and the “other-ing” perception perpetuated by the 
government’s investigations and tactics prevents 
Muslim minorities from properly socioeconomically 
integrating into American society. Instead, they face 
inherent rejection and discrimination by those 
around them by cause of existing. 

 

4 IMPLICATIONS OF GOVERNMENT 

PRACTICES 
The role of the government as an institution 

of power is to protect and support the rights and in-
terests of all members within their jurisdiction 
(Bedesky, 2009, p. 4-8). This includes members who 
may hail from different backgrounds, migrating into 
their sphere of influence to create a new life for 
themselves. However, members of these minorities 
experience targeted discrimination from institutions 
such as the government due to geopolitical con-
texts out of their control. There is a court case that 
shows this through the government’s utilization of 
lists such as the No Fly List and its placing these peo-
ple under the scrutiny of border agents around the 
world. The plaintiff is a man named Abdulkadir Nur, 
and it discusses discrimination he experienced at 
airports for years due to his identity as a Muslim—de-
spite being a U.S. citizen for 15 years:  

Abdulkadir Nur is a 69-year-old American citi-
zen living in northern Virginia. He is Muslim and 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

from Somalia, having been naturalized more 
than 15 years ago. And yet, every single time he 
lands at Dulles International Airport or any-
where else from overseas, CBP officers illegally 
seize any phone or laptop with him. These CBP 
officers do so as part of a brazen, government-
wide program aimed at surveilling Mr. Nur and 
the Muslim community he belongs to…More 
than a decade ago, an FBI official imposed on 
Mr. Nur a status that identifies him as worthy of 
permanent suspicion. (Nur v. Unknown CBP Of-
ficers, 2022) 

The policies enacted by the government 
perpetuate xenophobic bias in the minds of the 
public, as their actions cause the public to develop 
ascriptive stigma towards these individuals. This 
hampers minorities and immigrants’ ability to suc-
ceed in the society they are trying to integrate into. 
From the legal complaint filed by the CAIR (Council 
on American—Islamic Relations) legal defense on 
behalf of Abdulkadir Nur, we gain insight into “more 
than a decade” of harassment he faces from border 
agents via “illegally seizing any phone or laptop with 
him”. This is an example of how immigration tactics 
post-9/11 could potentially lead to negative bias, as 
Nur is repeatedly being publicly scrutinized at Dul-
les International Airport in order to “survey they 
Muslim community he belongs to”, thus giving the 
public the impression that xenophobia towards 
Muslims is acceptable. The influence of government 
stance on public opinion is already evident by the 
fallout and incidents following the banning of hijabs 
in France and Quebec (Syed, 2013, p. 430). Isolating 
someone from the crowd to be searched, seizing 
their belongings and taking them in for questioning 
is another way of enforcing the “othering effect,” as 
it puts everyone’s focus on him and his status as a 
Muslim. This isolation could also be metaphoric, as 
these minorities are now isolated from the ability to 
be “normal” and untargeted, thus hampering their 
ability to integrate and achieve in society. A conse-
quence of perpetuating the othering effect is that 
people will find it acceptable to further discriminate 
against these individuals. Individual acts of discrim-
ination such as hate crimes become more apparent 

and socially acceptable. For example, “the immedi-
ate week following 9/11 resulted in seven anti-Mus-
lim murders and forty-nine related assaults.” (Ayers, 
2007, p. 188). This was just seven days after 9/11, 
which means at minimum, seven assaults occurred 
each day. Scholars Bakalian and Bozorgmehr dis-
cuss the gravity of hate crimes and how the govern-
ment is in a way promoting them: 

Jack McDevitt and colleagues argue that “hate 
crimes are inherently more harmful to the social 
fabric of society than comparable crimes with-
out bias motive” (2001, 698)...Hate crime report-
ing was particularly problematic after 9/11. Gov-
ernment initiatives may have prevented persons 
of Middle Eastern and Muslim origin from com-
ing forward and reporting experiences of bias 
to the police. (Bakalian and Bozorgmehr, 2009, 
p. 129) 

Hate crimes are already “experiences of 
bias” as targeted attacks based on a difference in 
identity. They disrupt individuals’ attempts at social 
integration and promote “othering,” as victims are 
targeted for their identity. But “government initia-
tives… prevent[ing] persons of Middle Eastern and 
Muslim origin” (p. 129) from reporting this to proper 
authorities is another tactic further enforcing xeno-
phobia. Further evidence lays in the discrepancy be-
tween the government’s reports of hate crimes ver-
sus the reports of organizations like the Human 
Rights Watch. “The FBI reported that the number of 
anti-Muslim hate crimes rose from 28 in 2000 to 481 
in 2001” (Human Rights Watch, 2002), yet “Arab and 
Muslim groups reported a total of two thousand 
hate crime incidents (Human Rights Watch n.d.).” 
(Ayers, 2007, p. 188). It is through keeping other 
parties in the dark about the true gravity of the situ-
ation that Muslim immigrants are further marginal-
ized since there is a lack of preventative action 
against hate crimes, while also acting as a signal for 
society to continue its bias due to a lack of repri-
mand. Phrasing hate crimes to be “inherently [so] 
harmful” (Bakalian and Bozorgmehr, 2009, p. 129) 
that it impacts the very social fabric of society” (P. 
129) implies that this type of crime should have zero 
tolerance due to the consequences of the message 
attached to the crimes. This only adds gravity to the 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

actions of the government, which prevents action 
against these Islamophobic hate crimes. It is 
through practices like these that the government 
has been able to perpetuate ascriptive stigma 
against persons with Arab or Muslim identities. With 
policies like the No Fly List, the government has 
warped public perception of Muslims, making them 
be seen as “the other.” With its tolerance of hate 
crimes, the government has suppressed Muslims’ 
attempts at integration, allowing society to develop 
on the path of “anti-Muslim.” 

 

5 SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF 

GOVERNMENT POLICIES 
IMPACTS ON STRUCTURAL ASSIMILATION 

The assimilation framework will be used to 
measure the actual socioeconomic implications of 
the United States government’s discriminatory prac-
tices against the immigrant Muslim minority group. 
While the government has perpetuated bias and re-
jection of Muslims in the perceptions of those in so-
ciety, the framework will help see how that has im-
pacted Muslims’ lives as they try to integrate. One of 
the stages of Milton Gordon’s assimilation theory is 
structural assimilation. Structural assimilation occurs 
through integration in sectors such as the labor mar-
ket. Suppose they are experiencing limitations in 
these sectors in any form: In that case, it is reasona-
ble to assume that the government has indeed im-
pacted members of the Muslim community’s ability 
to assimilate into society. Scholar Neeraj Kaushal 
and colleagues begin to shed some light on this, cit-
ing that “wages and weekly earning of Arab and 
Muslim men were reduced by between 9-11% be-
low what they would’ve been in the absence of the 
September 11th attacks.” (Kaushal et al, 2007, p. 
304). They explain, “It is possible that greater preju-
dice reduced employment opportunities for Arab 
and Muslim men and forced them to make less de-
sirable choices, resulting in earning decline.” 
(Kaushal et al, 2007, p. 289).  Having one’s earnings 
reduced because of an unrelated event seems to 
show failed structural assimilation, as these men are 
being “other-ed” by being singled out and pun-

ished for sharing the same religion as those in-
volved in 9/11. Furthermore, stating that “prejudice 
reduced [their] employment opportunities” further 
solidifies this notion, as these men are unable to 
pursue jobs in well-respected fields due to their re-
ligious identity, and “are [being] forced” into poorer 
livelihoods. Scholars Michael Wallace and col-
leagues go a step further, carrying out an experi-
ment where they send out fictitious résumés to em-
ployers throughout the American South, with the 
only difference being religious identification. The 
results found highlighted the extent of the labor 
market impact the fallout of 9/11 had on Muslims:  

Specific religions encountered varying amounts 
of employer discrimination. Muslims faced the 
most consistent and severe discrimination as 
they received 38 percent fewer e-mails and 54 
percent fewer phone calls than the control 
group and ranked lowest in the employer pref-
erence scale. Considering that the Muslim 
résumés did not contain Arab-sounding names 
or Islamic cultural references, this finding is 
probably a conservative estimate of the preju-
dice against Muslims. (Wallace et al, 2014, p. 
201) 

The rejection of individuals solely based on 
their religious identification is prime evidence of 
negatively impacted structural assimilation, as this 
represents a failure to integrate into the market due 
to one’s identity. Despite having up to a 54% de-
crease in ‘return calls/emails’ compared to the neu-
tral control group when applying for jobs, the schol-
ars state that this “finding is a conservative estimate” 
due to the résumés not containing Muslim/Arab-
sounding names. This implies that those with names 
like ‘Mohammad’ or ‘Ahmed’ are even less likely to 
be considered for employment, regardless of their 
qualifications. This heavily restricts their ability to as-
similate and improve their financial situation, while 
also showing how the perpetuation of bias has 
reached a fundamentally dangerous level. Society’s 
perception of these individuals has been negatively 
influenced to the point where they aren’t being 
hired regardless of their skill or qualifications.  
 
IMPACTS ON IDENTIFICATION ASSIMILATION 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

Within the workplace, Muslims are reported 
to face discrimination due to their religious identity 
after the September 11th attacks.  The Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated that 
workplace discrimination claims against Muslims 
rose 153% after 9/11, while discrimination claims 
from other religious groups stayed the same. 
(Ghumman and Jackson, 2010, p.7). There have 
also been numerous reported discrimination claims 
against Hijabis— Muslim women who wear a head-
scarf as a sign of faith (p.7). Furthermore, as of 2012, 
only 2% of US employees identified as Muslim, yet 
they filed almost 25% of religious workplace dis-
crimination cases submitted to the EEOC (Fournier, 
2016, p. 230) These statistics show how widespread 
labor discrimination towards Muslims has become 
since 9/11, while also showcasing how another step 
in the assimilation process is impacted. Identifica-
tion assimilation regards a shared sense of national 
identity, and by having to face such levels of discrim-
ination when trying to earn a livelihood, we can infer 
that these individuals yet again feel discouraged, 
isolated and “othered” from the ‘American’ norm, 
thus impacting their identification assimilation.  

So far it has been shown how the govern-
ment’s tactics post 9/11 have indirectly perpetuated 
ascriptive stigma and bias throughout American so-
ciety, thereby hindering the Muslim community’s 
ability to socioeconomically assimilate. However, 
there could also be a direct, deliberate discrimina-
tion for a possible ulterior motive beyond simply 
‘desiring the country’s safety’. Dr. Ali Chaudhary 
highlights an interview he conducted with a Muslim 
IO leader on their role after terrorist attacks such as 
9/11. In that interview, the leader offers an explana-
tion as to why the government may have fostered 
this perception and discrimination: 

[E]very time there is a terrorist attack or some in-
vestigation of a Muslim organization, we have to 
defend ourselves and show people that we are 
not some kind of terrorist support organization. 
So instead of getting people out to protest the 
government’s policies on housing or racism, we 
are wasting our time responding to some terror-
ist attack and telling everyone that…I think the 
racism directed towards Pakistanis and Muslims 

in general, from the media and politicians, is de-
signed to keep us down and out of politics. The 
more we have to defend our community and our 
organization, the less time we can be planning 
demonstrations and, more importantly, getting 
people out to the polls to vote. (Chaudhary, 
2021, p. 98) 

Because of the warped perception of the 
Muslim community fostered by the government, 
every time a new investigation of a Muslim organi-
zation is launched, they “have to defend 
[them]selves” (p. 98) against xenophobic and racist 
labels, to try and break said perception. “Every time” 
(p. 98) would indicate a frequent occurrence, which 
indicates that their attempts at breaking racist per-
spectives are not working. With society refusing to 
look at them as fellow humans and not terrorists, 
they are made to feel like an “other.” This “othering” 
feeling also impacts identification, as alienation 
would prevent Muslims from desiring to identify 
themselves with the society that shuns them. One 
way this can change is if there is political mobiliza-
tion: the last and final step towards full assimilation. 
However, the IO leader thinks “the racism directed 
towards Pakistanis and Muslims in general, from the 
media and politicians, is designed to keep us down 
and out of politics.” (Chaudhary, 2021, p. 98) The 
media and politicians are powerful entities, by stat-
ing that these entities intricately “designed” (p. 98) 
deliberate methods to keep Muslims “out of poli-
tics” (p. 98) through controlling the public’s percep-
tion, this attaches a much larger significance to the 
government’s discriminatory policies and actions. 
It’s as if it was deliberately done to prevent the po-
litical mobilization of an Arab and Muslim immigrant 
population—redirecting them to a cycle of “de-
fend[ing] their community and organizations” (p. 
98)—at a time when the US was heavily involved with 
their home countries. The idea that the government 
may have purposefully perpetuated discrimination 
with an ulterior motive of society’s approval of their 
military actions in Middle Eastern countries means 
that they have total disregard for the Muslim popu-
lation they are meant to support. The community is 
facing rejection by its society and is being used by 
the government as a tool. This is the true extent of 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

the damage done to Muslims’ assimilation process. 
The true level of suppression this community is fac-
ing, and the true extent of the damages done to 
their ability to socioeconomically achieve and inte-
grate into American society.  

 

6 THE COUNTER OF POLITICAL ASSIMI-

LATION 
The discrimination and bias that the govern-

ment has perpetuated in the minds of the public 
through their post-9/11 tactics/investigations, has 
limited Muslims’ ability to socioeconomically inte-
grate by impacting their steps in the assimilation 
process. However, scholars Bakalian and Bozorg-
mehr claim that this bias that the government has 
perpetuated has actually positively influenced a few 
of the steps of the assimilation process, particularly 
in political mobilization. The scholars state,   

We agree with Ismael Ahmed, co-founder and 
executive director of ACCESS, that 9/11 “cre-
ated a sense of urgency about continuing on 
the path toward integration and reaffirming the 
community’s validity and its loyalty to the na-
tion……[There was] unprecedented political 
vigor……The shadow of suspicion that fell over 
the community [was] converted into commit-
ment to the political issues of civil rights and 
immigration policy. (Bakalian & Bozorgmehr, 
2009, p. 235) 

The events of 9/11 had caused Muslims as a 
whole to be blamed, discriminated against, and 
treated as “other.” However, the scholars argue that 
discriminatory treatment increased assimilation, ev-
ident through stating it “created a sense of urgency” 
(p. 235) to try harder “on the path [of] integration.” 
(p. 235) This progression can be seen as the com-
munity is “reaffirming [their] validity and loyalty” (p. 
235) to being U.S. American, showing a strength-
ened sense of identification (the fourth step). Using 
those words to describe their relationship to the na-
tion implies a strong bond and sense of patriotism, 
which strengthens identification. The cultivation of 
fear and distrust is shown by describing a “shadow 
of suspicion” (p. 235) inhabiting the community. 
However, instead of it being a limiting factor as 

shown earlier in the essay, the authors state that it 
serves as fuel to political involvement on “issues of 
civil rights and immigration policy.” (p. 235) Describ-
ing Muslims’ political involvement as “vigor[ous]” (p. 
235) further emphasizes positive progression and 
mobilization, thus showing how the consequence of 
the government’s actions resulted in stronger as-
similation. Recent statistics do seem to back up this 
claim, with Jetpac Resource Center and CAIR releas-
ing a final count of  “82 local, state legislative, 
statewide, judicial, and federal American Muslim 
electoral victories” (Allison, 2022) in the 2022 mid-
term elections. There are currently 3 Muslims serv-
ing in Congress (Diamant, 2023). In 2001, “79 per-
cent of Muslims polled were registered to vote” (Ba-
kalian and Bozorgmehr, 2009, p. 234). In 2022, this 
percentage has jumped to 81% of Muslims (Statis-
tica Research Department, 2023), which is a signifi-
cant increase considering the overall population 
was best estimated at 1,886,000 in the year 2000 
(Smith, 2002), while it sits at 3,450,000 in 2017 (Mo-
hamed, 2018). These voters have been pivotal in 
election results, such as in 2006, “100% of the 25 
U.S. House members who voted [in accordance with 
Muslim voter views]…won re-election” (Bakalian 
and Bozorgmehr, 2009, p. 234-235), and “82 per-
cent of ‘candidates endorsed by Arab American 
community leaders’ won.” (p. 235). However, while 
there has been an increased political presence, es-
pecially recently, the scholars have missed the main 
point regarding this mobilization. They fail to ac-
count for the reason why there is political mobiliza-
tion despite the other steps of assimilation not oc-
curring: as they have been oppressed in every other 
step of assimilation, they have no other option but 
to turn to the political sphere.  

To understand why only political mobiliza-
tion is occurring from Gordon’s theory, we can look 
at a similar political history that the—now prolific 
Muslim community went through in the UK. The Brit-
ish Nationality Act of 1948 allowed any person in the 
former British Commonwealth to immigrate to the 
UK, which resulted in a huge influx of immigration 
from the Caribbean and South Asia—including a sig-
nificantly large population of Muslim South Asians. 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

These “New Commonwealth” individuals were ini-
tially encouraged to come to help with post-war la-
bor shortages, but new Immigration Acts in the 60s 
restricted these individuals from emigrating to the 
UK. Scholar Narayan discusses the subsequent con-
sequences of having this huge influx of racially dif-
ferent individuals in a previously predominantly 
white society in his paper ‘British Black Power: The 
Anti-Imperialism of Political Blackness and the Prob-
lem of Nativist Socialism’: 

New Commonwealth citizens often occupied 
the bottom rung of the labour market, regard-
less of their previous class trajectory, as white 
male workers moved into higher paying skilled 
manual roles that informally discriminated to 
keep non-white labour out of such jobs. British 
society’s insidious racism against its non-white 
citizens had also resulted in…racial discrimina-
tion in housing and policing. This economic dis-
crimination was accompanied with violence 
against migrant communities…forced New 
Commonwealth communities into pursuing a 
more radical political response to racial oppres-
sion. (Narayan, 2019, p. 948–949) 

Regardless of what socioeconomic status 
these New Commonwealth citizens had in their pre-
vious country, after immigrating to the UK, they 
worked the jobs described as “bottom-rung,” (p. 
948) which gives insight into their new (horrible) in-
come and living conditions. Promotions were also 
extremely rare, discrimination “keep[ing] non-white 
labor out of such jobs,” (p. 948) which in turn pre-
vented structural assimilation. Narayan described 
the racism occurring as “insidious” (p. 948) with “ac-
companying violence” (p. 948), thus implying the 
occurrence of hate crimes, which would significantly 
impact the step of identification. All this together 
paints the picture that the lives of these New Com-
monwealth citizens were bleak, horrible, and op-
pressive. In response to this discrimination, these 
minorities were forced to make a radical decision: 
banding together to create a common political 
identity in the pursuit of justice and change. Known 
as “Political Blackness,” it is an umbrella identity for 
any non-white person—though typically Caribbean 
or South Asian—which emerged due to the sheer 

political mobilization occurring to implement 
change (Narayan, 2019, p. 949). As a result, while 
their ability to fulfill some of the steps of Gordon’s 
assimilation model—be economically or structurally 
assimilated—was further dampened by the govern-
ment, this did not stop the political engagement of 
these communities from being very high: indeed, 
the current prime minister is South Asian. This his-
torical situation is parallel to what is occurring to 
Muslims now—The community has been forced into 
a corner by the government’s discriminatory prac-
tices, forced to break the typical assimilation se-
quence and move to the final step: political mobili-
zation in order to allow the development of every-
thing else. They are inhabiting a “politically black” 
identity position to try and enact change: to combat 
discrimination and create an environment where 
there is a possibility of acceptance. That is the point 
that Bakalian and Bozorgmehr missed: the effect the 
government has had on the assimilation process of 
the Muslim community. 

 

7 CONCLUSIONS 
Government practices post-9/11 have re-

sulted in the perpetuation of ascriptive stigma, bias 
and discrimination against the immigrant Muslim 
minority. The use of No-Fly lists and the tolerance of 
hate crimes are instances of the government directly 
perpetuating discrimination against the Muslim-
American community. Through Milton Gordon’s as-
similation framework, the impact of this discrimina-
tion is evident, limiting the ability to socioeconomi-
cally integrate into society. Economically, Muslims 
suffer wage reductions, and within the labor sector, 
job search yields were slim due to visible ties to re-
ligious identity. 

This “othering” also impacts identification, 
as alienation would prevent Muslims from desiring 
to identify themselves with the society that shuns 
them, signifying the importance of political mobili-
zation, the last and final step towards assimilation. 
Through personal insights of leaders in various Mus-
lim organizations, Muslims receive constant harass-
ment from media and politicians whenever the gov-
ernment launches an investigation on someone with 
ties to Islam. In doing so, Muslim organizations are 



ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 

 

often thwarted in being able to unite and mobilize 
politically. Despite this, political assimilation did 
eventually occur, with multiple Muslims in elected 
positions today. However, this does not mean the 
government did not impact assimilation. Mobiliza-
tion is a result of the sheer discrimination the com-
munity has faced. By looking at the history of the UK 
Muslim population, we learn that, when socioeco-
nomically cornered, they unified to try and change 
their situation politically. This is why the U.S. Muslim 
community is entering politics: facing oppression 
from all sides, they are trying to change these out-
comes through politics. While full assimilation has 
not been reached, attempts at achieving progress is 
occurring through mobilization.  

But what is the extent of change Muslim pol-
iticians were able to create? Have there been steps 
of assimilation that are now seeing positive growth, 
but have not been documented due to the recent 
timing of the change? Considering the many reports 
showcasing the structural assimilation and labor in-
corporation has been impacted after 9/11, there is 
a gap in archives and statistics regarding the Muslim 
experience during that period. Further research 
should be done on how employment—perpetuated 
by discrimination—has changed the way members of 
the Muslim community conduct their lives. 9/11 is a 
very significant event in the recent history of the 
United States, and the fallout has changed attitudes 
towards Muslims forever. Studying these circum-
stances is important, as recognition is the first step 
in eliminating discrimination∎ 

 

8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
Thank you to Dr. Michael Monescalchi for 

your unwavering support and review while I wrote 
this research paper. Making time whenever I had 
questions and providing feedback on how to im-
prove my analysis and critique really propelled my 
drive to finish this project. Without you, the comple-
tion of this research paper would never have been 
imaginable.  

 
 
 

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ARESTY RUTGERS UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, VOLUME I, ISSUE V 
 

 

Tahsin Mostofa is an undergraduate student at the Honors College of Rutgers-
New Brunswick, studying in the School of Arts and Sciences. He is also the 
Treasurer for the Honors College Residence Hall (RHA) Association. Arriving 
to study from the country of Bangladesh, he intends to complete a Major in 
Economics with a Minor in Business Administration. Graduating from high 
school with Higher Honors and an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma, 
that experience has propelled him to pursue knowledge and research con-
nections between real-world situations. Being from a foreign country, he has 
always had a fascination with the United States’ approach to immigration, tak-
ing a class on Immigration during his first semester in college. The knowledge 
gained from that class aided in his desire and approach to writing this research 
paper. He currently is continuing his pursuit of a bachelor's degree in Econom-
ics. 

 


