The rise in islamophobia in the United States , after the attacks on the World Trade Center , is an example of symbolic interactionism in practice . After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11 , 2001 , " Arabs and Muslims ( as well as Latinos , South Asians , and other individuals who were mistakenly perceived to be Arab or Muslim based on their skin color , dress , or organizational affiliations ) suffered an unprecedented outbreak of backlash violence " because of assumptions by others that they were terrorists who intended to do harm to Americans . In the days and months following the 9/11 attacks , Muslims and Arabs were subject to hate crimes based on personal characteristics such as their clothing , accent , facial hair , and skin tone . From a symbolic interactionist perspective , the violent attacks against Arabs and Muslims resulted from the shared assumptions and meanings that Americans attributed to Arab and Muslim people and culture
9/11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Sociology of immigration