The 9/11 Generation

In the 9/11 Generation, the author discusses the effects of the post 9/11 surveillance culture, and racial scapegoating. She analyzes these effects in an area that is supposed to be liberal and free from such discrimination, Silicon Valley. The area that makes up Silicon Valley is one of the most racially diverse in the nation. It is mythicized to be a place that has no incidents of racism and allows for equal opportunities for all races to achieve the “American Dream”. She goes on to tear apart this myth. She analyzes the wage gap in the Valley and its surrounding suburbs, she uses first hand accounts of time Muslim Americans had dealt with instances of racism. The individuals interviewed often make contradictory statements at first saying the did not experience racism in their communities because they are so diverse that did not happen in their communities, but then they would discuss times that people had subtly or verbally assaulted their religion. The idea that they lived in a liberal and diverse area negated their experiences with discrimination. Often those who’s experiences were verbal, such as the young woman who stated that a woman came up to her in the grocery store and said that she was the reason her son was in Iraq, felt that their experiences were not the same as the (often physical) experiences by those in other less diverse places. The idea that America had entered a post race time was causing Muslim Americans to feel confusion over their struggles and counts as racism. The public was pushing the idea that with the election of Barack Obama in 2008 there were no more race problems in the country. Also the media build up of California as a liberal haven with a great range of different ethnicities made issues of race seem like they were not prevalent and made those who experienced it feel unimportant.