Over the last couple of decades pundits and policy makers have claimed that Samuel Huntington's argument in The "Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" will be the fault line of 21st century world politics. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the emergence and radicalization of unconventional international actors in the name of Islam and their subsequent terrorist attacks in major metropolises such as New York, Madrid, London, Istanbul and most recently in Paris and Copenhagen unfortunately led to stigmatization of ordinary believers of Islam who live in various Western countries as minorities. One way to read the unfolding events concerning the global war on terrorism is to focus on its unintended consequences in domestic politics, exemplified by the increasing racism toward the faith of Islam and its ordinary practitioners in these liberal democratic host societies. The terrifying incident in North Carolina that resulted in the death of three young Muslim Americans marks a sharp controversy for years to come. It is not certain yet whether the perpetrator, who happens to be an atheist, committed this crime due to hate or a parking dispute. However, this infamous event reveals several points regarding rising anti-Muslim and Islamophobic rhetoric in the U.S. and many other Western countries with Muslim minorities. Islamophobia came to the public agenda in the West by a peace-driven British think tank, the Runnymade Trust, in 1997. However, as a form of racism and ideology, it can be traced back to 19th century European social thought in connection with orientalism and colonialism. This could be considered the European trajectory of Islamophobia, which is rooted in deep historical animosity toward Muslims in general and the Ottoman Empire in particular. As a result of decolonization and immigration in the second half of the 20th century, today many xenophobic European circles seem to be having deja vu, once again confronting Muslim populations once they had forcibly rid them from Spain and the Balkans. Given what we know of the public memory of European countries, the current existence of Muslims in Europe is not very desirable for the native societies. In contrast, the United States does not have such a historical memory. It is a blank slate . Thus, the American trajectory of Islamophobia is a new phenomenon. But, it shows itself as a particular operationalization of racism and bigotry toward Muslims that identify all individuals of this faith with certain derogatory labels such as backward, terrorist, oppressive and radical. Such a strategy also sees Islam as monolithic. It makes Muslims identifiable through symbols such as beards and hijabs. This reasoning is quite similar to the stereotyping of African-Americans in racial terms. For instance, African-Americans may well have different socio-cultural values and ethnic identities, but a mindset of "otherizing" reinforces the socially constructed normalcy that all African-Americans are identical because they have the same skin color. Likewise, stereotyping Muslims is consistent with the demonization of communists during the Cold War in which individuals who identified themselves with communist ideology were treated as traitors. However, Islamophobia poses greater challenges to Western societies than these examples. Not only does it undermine the social cohesion of these societies whose core values rest on human rights, rule of law, and difference, but also fuels global cultural wars in the name of religion. The media in the U.S. and the West in general have contributed to the diffusion of Islamophobia as a hegemonic discourse. The nationwide news channels were reluctant to focus on the Chapel Hill event in the first place. The mainstream media started paying more attention to the incident as a result of pressing worldwide criticisms. Had the murderer been a Muslim, this incident would have unconditionally been considered a terrorist attack under Islam. Similarly, if the murderer had been an African-American, the media would play its cards on racial tones. The recent events also show that one does not need to be a believer to be Islamophobic. That is, Ismaophobia is not about religion, but about bigotry and racism. Furthermore, it is an invalid argument that it is only Muslims who kill in the name of religion or a belief system. Let us recall that the perpetrator of the Chapel Hill murder is an atheist. Some atheist public figures in the U.S. openly asserted that Islam is the only religion that acts like a mafia and kills a person if one says a wrong thing. Likewise, some feminists in French society humiliate Muslim women in France who wear a hijab, veil or burqa. Such racist and bigoted attitudes do not add any meaningful value to improve our urgent human conditions such as racism and hatred. Perhaps the unfortunate thing about the media in the U.S. is that those who speak and criticize Islam on dismissive grounds and demonize Muslims are not knowledgeable of Islam. Thus, they set false debates. Their discourse, just like that of their 19th century British counterparts, public intellectuals such as James Bryce and William Gladstone, continues to shape many ordinary citizens who gain their knowledge mostly through nationwide news channels.The media has an enormous complicity in the spread of Islamophobia in America, a country that is distinguished by its capacity to absorb religious differences compared to many religiously homogenous European countries that are hostile toward religious difference and its visibility in the public sphere. Compared to mainstream European countries that made little concerted effort to accommodate the Muslim minorities, the U.S. has the necessary, democratic means to overcome Islamophobia. The American trajectory of Islamophobia, so to speak, could be improved if the media and policy makers act more carefully. It is likely that Islamophobia will increasingly become a hotly-debated topic. The actors in society such as the media, policy makers, and nongovernmental organizations should more actively open the ways in which misperceptions about Muslims can be dispelled before this issue becomes intractable.