Muslims have contributed to America since its founding. Here's how.
It's no secret that it's a difficult time to be Muslim in the United States.
Take for example the rising rates of anti-Muslim hate crimes. Or the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the Muslim ban. Or the misguided "anti-Sharia" marches that descend upon U.S. cities several times a year. Or the time when President Trump told CNN that he believes "Islam hates us."
As a result, a lot of Muslims feel as if they're treated as outsiders or enemies of the state.
But believe it or not, Islam has been a part of the U.S. since its founding.
Few people know that the first nation to recognize America's independence from Great Britain was a Muslim country.
In 1777, Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah — the Muslim ruler of Morocco — wrote a letter to Benjamin Franklin, the U.S. minister to France at the time. The letter let Franklin know that the newly formed country was welcome to use Morocco's trade ports at any time. This made Morocco the first country to seek diplomatic relations with and formally recognize our independence.
And that was just the beginning of a long friendship with Morocco.
A few months after George Washington was inaugurated as our first president, he wrote a letter to ben Abdallah expressing his desire to establish a friendship between the two countries. As a new nation, the U.S. had great difficulty accessing ports in the North African region without coming across pirates and rival ships, and the sultan offered protection and also to spread the good word about the U.S. to neighboring North African countries.
A few years later in 1786, the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship was signed by ben Abdallah, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams, among other American diplomats. Today, it's still considered the longest standing unbroken treaty between the United States and any other country.
But as we celebrate the U.S.'s 242nd birthday, let's not forget that Muslims still contribute to American society in modern times, too.
On July 4, a non-profit research group in Washington, D.C. called the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) released their "Muslims for American Progress" report, which features notable Muslim-American figures and their contributions to this country.
Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images.
Here's a selection of Muslim contributions highlighted by the ISPU report:
1. Muslims contribute 33% more than the national average in charitable donations.
While just under 769,000 Muslims live in New York City, they donated more than $608 million to charity in 2016. But it's not just money, either — these Muslims also donated about 124,370 pounds in food and 5,500 backpacks in 2017.
2. Muslims have been essential to economic growth and job creation.
In 2016, there were 95,816 Muslim-owned small businesses in NYC, employing a total of at least 251,864 people. Furthermore, Muslim households in the city contributed to approximately $17 billion in consumer spending.
3. Muslim medical professionals contribute a lot to the community.
According to the report, 9.7% of all doctors in NYC are Muslim. In addition to health care providers, Muslim lab technicians and other medical professionals facilitate 6.4 million patient appointments.
But more importantly, a lot of these health care professionals work to serve homeless populations and underprivileged and low-income communities.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.
It's vital now more than ever to use facts like these — as well as the stories behind them — to challenge anti-Muslim stereotypes.
The ISPU compiled the report in response to the alarming fact that more than 80% of media coverage on Muslims and Islam is negative. The context in which Muslims are depicted in U.S. media often fixates almost entirely on terrorism and national security. But that's not an accurate portrait of the Muslim community at all.
"In New York City alone we found Muslims at the forefront of the economy, philanthropy, education, accessible healthcare, STEM, groundbreaking arts, etc," Elisabeth Becker, the report's NYC principal investigator, says via email. But most Americans lack an understanding of this Muslim diversity because they get most of their portrayals through entertainment and media. That's what the ISPU hopes to change.
"We believe that combing quantified data and human stories on these impacts provides a much deeper lens into the realities of Muslim life," says Becker. "In so doing, we can begin to chip away at stereotypes and undermine dominant narratives that erroneously equate Muslims with threat."
Some strides have lately been made to portray Muslims more accurately in media and entertainment.
A lot of celebrity figures like Sarah Silverman and Gigi Hadid have been using their platforms to speak against Islamophobia. Hollywood has been working hard to include Muslim actors or diverse and relatable people like "The Daily Show's" Hasan Minhaj or "The Bold Type's" Adena El Amin.
As Muslim representation in media increases, and as groups like the ISPU work hard to change perception of the Muslim community, we can expect that non-Muslim Americans' understanding of their Muslim neighbors will continue to grow.
Fortunately, for now, the future is looking bright.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."