Zaheer Ali: Islamophobia Did Not Start at Ground Zero - Long before Sept. 11, African-American Muslims were the targets of anti-Muslim fears.

Important article by Columbia grad student Zaheer Ali

http://www.theroot.com/views/islamophobia-did-not-start-ground-zero

Zaheer Ali is a doctoral student in history at Columbia University, where he is focusing his research on 20th-century African-American history and religion. His dissertation is on the history of the Nation of Islam in Harlem, N.Y., during the time of Malcolm X's ministry. You can follow him on Twitter.