Since the start of American history, people have always feared foreign countries. In the past, the Americans in the era of Joseph McCarthy could not tolerate anything that could not be construed as normal, and they were suspecting everybody (Michaels, 2017) . The American mind was that any strange subject that could drive a small change was a threat to the domains of the American society as well as their laws. Consequently, the Americans reacted to such threats with fierceness, segregation, and paranoia. An instance of paranoia includes the Red Scare around the time of the Cold War. Since this time that communist began to be feared, Joseph McCarthy came up with his influence. McCarthy's doctrines and practice has influenced the United States’ foreign engagement, policies, and each part of American life until today.
The events of the Cold War contributed to the Americans’ distrust of communists. McCarthy defined communism to be any group of people including the government officials and famous people who have communist beliefs. He further described that the communist party had people that were enemies of the nation, but had instead hidden their intentions by demonstrating American patriotism (Michaels, 2017) . These people were enemies who on the outside could be seen working and shaping policies, but internally working against the Americans.
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Joseph McCarthy made accusations against government officials, famous people, and some citizens that were, unfortunately, untrue sometimes. He spearheaded the blacklisting of 320 artists, many of which did resume to their careers afterward (Michaels, 2017) . His action of sacking more than 2000 government employees from their jobs was based on suspicion and was not accurate. On the grounds of suspicion, McCarthy could question and accuse people and lay them. The time when these inaccuracies were fully determined was when he suspected that communists intruded the American Army.
Comparably, the American citizens have always lived with a fear of the ISIS and other Islamic groups thinking that they can be attacked at any time. McCarthy created the mood of suspicion so that the American citizens feared the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) at that time by being too cautious in every aspect of their life. In fact, the time the USSR exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1949, America had to expand its military and equip them more because they felt that Russia’s invasion was an imminent attack (Michaels, 2017) .
The commission on radical Islam that the Trump administration has set up could be likened to the McCarthy era. The commission was given the responsibility of recognizing warning signs of radicalization by Islam. The United States government is so keen to scrutinize the belief systems of terrorists and their suspected practices. The current government is known to be tarring all the Muslims with the terrorism claim, which is quite unfortunate for the community. The commission appointed by the Trump established that pointers to terrorism comprised political activism as well as signs of Muslim religiosity. Such propositions are risks because they can lead to grouping tens of thousands of Muslims in America as possible terrorists that need to be monitored by law enforcement.
It is valid to draw comparisons between anti-communist rhetoric and anti-Islam rhetoric. The anti-communist rhetoric was steered from one individual, McCarthy, who never had a sober tribunal to investigate the suspect though. Joseph McCarthy had tarnished committee’s hearings and investigations so that his suspicion of communists led some of the most acute political authoritarianism in American history and destruction of innocent lives. Similarly, a lot of research and responsibility to dig out networks that sponsor radicalization accompanies the anti-Islam rhetoric. Even though this is a good course but it sounds like a witch-hunt that could trap politically aggressive American Muslims and civil society organizations that strive to promote the community’s rights. Today, as lies are transmitted speedily on the internet and construed to be true, the risk of capturing innocent American Muslims could be even more acute.
Reference
Michaels, J. (2017). McCarthyism: The Realities, Delusions and Politics Behind the 1950s Red Scare . Routledge.
