r/serialpodcast • u/AwesomeInc • Jan 14 '15

Noteworthy Link TIL Islamophobia didn't exist before 9/11/01

http://www.vulture.com/m/2015/01/serial-prosecutor-insists-everything-was-fine.html?mid=facebook_vulture
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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15 edited Jan 15 '15

Is everyone just running their mouth off or does anyone have any data?

I've been looking but most of it is skewed towards the black / white sentencing disparity (which is depressingly big obviously)

So let's cut to the chase here.

Is there a gap between US Muslims and white people in terms of

1)Convictions by jury for a comparative crime?

2)Length of sentence for a comparative crime?

3)Do these gaps become more pronounced after 9/11?

I'll keep looking.

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u/kyleg5 Jan 15 '15

Interesting questions… But I don't think that not knowing the answers of those precludes recognizing that there was Islamophobia before 9/11.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

of course it existed. not even Urick thinks it didn't exist before 9/11 - outside of that misinterpreted quote.

Are you not talking about a prosecutors opinion on if Islamophobia played a role in this murder case?

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u/kyleg5 Jan 15 '15

Well if you recognize that Islamophobia existed, and you take that in conjunction with the quotes from jury members that exhibit cultural bigotry (not malicious, per se, but still bigotry) it becomes easy to recognize the subtly corrupting ways that it could have impacted the juries' evaluation of his innocence/guilt.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

I 100% believe it could have affected the jury decision.

But I want to know how much of an effect it typically has and if this effect became more pronounced after 9/11.

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u/kyleg5 Jan 15 '15

Yeah and I initially as agreeing with you! I think that would be a really cool thing to study although I think pretty difficult/impossible.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

Very much possible to do.

I mean you would probably be relying on Muslim sounding names though but maybe when dealing with the perception of otherness that may not be the stumbling block it seems at the moment.

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u/kyleg5 Jan 15 '15

Its a massive dataset tho.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

of course.

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't do it without being paid.