Chapel Hill shooting reveals media’s double standards in treatment of Muslims

On Feb. 10, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Deah Shaddy Barakat — all Muslim college students around the age of 20 — were shot by their next-door neighbor Craig Stephen Hicks in Chapel Hill, N.C. Though the Chapel Hill Police Department stated that the crime followed a dispute over a parking spot, the question as to whether it was motivated by religious bias remains open.

The victims were killed execution-style, with shots fired directly to their heads. The female victims, Razan and Yusor, wore hijabs that would have visibly identified them as Muslims. It would not be unreasonable to believe the murders were a hate crime when Islamophobia has only become more and more prevalent — a trend reinforced by unfair coverage of Muslims in the media.

Others contend that Hicks has a history of bullying his neighbors, regardless of their religion. His neighbor Samantha Maness characterized his dislike of all religions as “equal opportunity anger.” Testimonies by other neighbors and Hicks’s ex-wife add weight to this opinion, and it is likely they were not trying to defend him, considering that the neighbors disliked him and his wife had filed for divorce shortly before the shooting.

Since then, Hicks has been indicted on three counts of first-degree murder, and the FBI is investigating the possibility of a hate crime. Yet regardless of the outcome, the incident has sparked sorely needed questions about the public’s attitude toward Muslims. It reveals why many Muslims in America feel marginalized, and it demonstrates that the public must take far more steps before it can claim to respect all religions and minorities.

The delay in media coverage about the shooting is especially concerning; despite news of the crime spreading rapidly online, large U.S. news outlets did not report on it until a day later. It is equally ridiculous that the Independent, a British newspaper, posted news of the incident a full five hours before mainstream U.S. newspapers like the Washington Post did.

This lack of widespread coverage led Muslim communities to feel cast aside and helped contribute to the international trend of the hashtags #ChapelHillShooting and #MuslimLivesMatter on Twitter. Notably, many Twitter users expressed outrage that they learned of the incident through Twitter rather than major media news outlets. Only after this increase in public pressure did the media report on the incident.

Yet another source of anger stems from the fact that the victims often did charity work and were well respected by their professors and peers. In fact, Barakat had been fundraising in the hopes of providing dental care to Syrian refugees in Turkey.

This failure to report on the shooting in a timely manner should point to a double standard in the media. If the situation had been reversed, and a Muslim man had murdered three young non-Muslim students, the story would undoubtedly have been covered sooner and by far more news outlets.

Besides increased media attention, outrage and suspicion would run amok. The media would mirror a sentiment shared by many: “Isn’t this another Islamic terrorist attack?”

Underlying Islamophobia lurks in American society, in part due to incidents such as Charlie Hebdo by extremist groups and influences of the entertainment industry. The movie “American Sniper,” which has grossed over $330 million in the U.S., displays Muslims in a negative light. Likewise, many video games portray Muslims as terrorists and enemies.

These stereotypes have led to past anti-Muslim crimes similar to the Chapel Hill shooting. Take the incident on Dec. 4, 2014, when the 15-year-old Muslim boy Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein was run over and killed in Kansas City, Missouri, by an SUV with the bumper sticker “Islam is worse than Ebola.”

Afterward the mainstream media had the opportunity to at least address the issue of Islamophobia. Instead it reinforced the double standard by reporting little on the incident, and when it did offer coverage, it often simply republished a report written by the Associated Press.

The media’s lack of response only reflects the widespread prejudice against Muslims — and sadly, with each action by Muslim extremists, it has only become more difficult for mainstream, peaceful Muslims to be accepted in American society.

Still, the stereotypes and growth in anti-Muslim rhetoric could be lessened if both the media and the public were willing to change. The media must help to lead thoughtful conversations in the community by reporting more extensively when incidents like the Chapel Hill shooting occur. Meanwhile, citizens should become better informed and treat media reports with a dose of skepticism.

Thanks to Islamophobia, Muslims feel less safe and are unfairly perceived by others in a country that supposedly embraces all. Double standards in the means by which people receive information do nothing to help lessen existing prejudice.