In explaining Islamophobia in America, The Economist recalls anti-Catholic 'convent inspection' laws

Donald Trump's proposal to keep Muslims from traveling to the U.S. didn't come out of nowhere. "Anti-Islamic rhetoric in America has escalated" since the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, The Economist says in a video that freely mixes analysis with opinion. And anti-Muslim attacks have been reported with increasing frequency since the terrorist mass shooting in San Bernardino last week. The Economist found three main causes for America's uptick in Islamophobia — and all rashes of nativist fervor: economic trouble, anxiety over national security, and racial and religious unease.

"This isn't the first time American nativism has reared its head," The Economist notes, with "Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing, unnecessarily, in the background. Specifically, the magazine focuses on the locking up of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the anti-Semitism between the world wars, and the anti-Catholic wave before that. A century ago, "Catholics were a chief target of bigotry, often suspect of loyalty to a foreign power," The Economist says. "Several states sanctioned 'convent inspection' laws to uncover weapons supposedly stashed in nunneries." Today, the U.S. vice president, House speaker, House minority leader, and most of the Supreme Court justices are Catholic.

One way of looking at this is that Trump and his fellow Republican presidential candidates warning about the threat from Muslims are following in a long American tradition, maybe even a rite of passage. The Economist doesn't see that as a good thing: "There is an uncomfortable incongruity between America's lofty principles of 'liberty and justice for all' and the tendency of some to ostracize and scapegoat minorities in times of trouble. A country that extended a hand to those most in need could better fulfill those ideals." You can watch more of The Economist's analysis in the video below. Peter Weber

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