Before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the word "Islamophobia" was not part of American vocabulary. Now, more than three years later, the fear of Muslims or their potential link to terrorism has permeated the American psyche.
Austin Muslim Nahid Khataw would have described herself as shy and introverted in the past, but now she considers herself outgoing, even an activist.
"I feel like I'm more confident now than I was before," she said.
Khataw and her friends began spreading the word about Islam to clarify misconceptions.
"I've done quite a bit, and I would like to see and go to other places, and to other churches and synagogues and teach them or just tell them about Islam. This is my mission," Khataw said.
Khataw began her mission to teach people about Islam after her son was harassed at school for being a Muslim. She also decided to stop wearing the hijaab, the traditional Muslim veil, to protect herself.
"I was scared. I heard so many cases that people were being harassed because they were wearing hijaab. Children were pulling the hijaab off and hurting them. I thought it would be better for me and my family not to wear it," she said.
The word hijaab literally means screen or partition. Muslim women wear the veil to prevent the mingling of opposite sexes, which could lead to pre-marital sex, a sin according to the Quran.
But many modern Muslim women believe the hijaab is too restrictive. They say after Sept. 11, 2001, wearing the veil is like stamping the scarlet letter on your chest.
"They would be portrayed as a terrorist if they're wearing it – 'Muslims who wear a hijaab - they are bad,'" Nahid said.
To negate those stereotypes, one Muslim woman, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, embraced the hijaab after the terrorist attacks.
Annia Raja said in a way, she is embracing her faith.
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Islamophobia in Austin
Austin is considered a liberal town, and many Muslims feel accepted, but there are others who do not.
 
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"It really has made me more self-aware, as far as when I'm in public that I am representing Islam. And that I need to do all that I can to really show people what Islam really is. Through that, people are more invited to ask me about it," she said.
Raja said the veil has liberated her and helped her create a strong Muslim American identity on campus.
"I live with 11 other girls and I'm the only Muslim. They all know, they'll see me praying - my roommate will just walk in and see me praying. It's not a big deal to her at all. I'll pray in random buildings on the UT campus," she said.
Muslims from 65 countries attend the University of Texas. Students say they don't stand out as much because of the large international population.
"We have found that it's easier to be a Muslim and easier to practice Islam faith in college cities, in college towns like Austin, because people are more open-minded," student Zafar Sadiq said.
However, Jim Harrington, of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said he's seen many Muslims leave the country because of Islamophobia.
"There is Islamophobia here in Austin. I don't think there's any doubt about that. It's not that you can point to concrete things like cross burnings in front of the house, but it's sort of indirect words, sort of indirect pressure, unwelcome suspicion, remarks that make people feel very uncomfortable. When you put that together with government policy, people would rather go somewhere else, and that's a loss to us," he said.
Harrington said Islamophobia has manifested itself in four ways:
 | | racial profiling at airports |
| | surveillance of Muslim students |
| | hesitance to hire Muslims |
| | police treatment and detention of Muslims |
"Austin is not quite as liberal as everybody thinks it is...we have an East/West divide in terms of race right now, in terms of I-35 ...we've had that for years...even if you are more progressive than other parts of Texas, in that sense, it still doesn't mean that everybody in that community is progressive," Harrington said.
In the past three years, Harrington said about a dozen Muslims have come forward to report discrimination in Austin. He also said these blatant incidents don't represent the subtle Islamophobia that exists on a daily basis.
