Earlier this month, the entire nation took a moment of silence in respect to remember those who lost their lives by the terrible attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. The people who tragically died that day will never be forgotten. About 3,000 lives were ended that day, which impacted their families, our society, our country, and the world.
We all know that the terrorists were Middle-Eastern Muslim extremists who were behind the hijacking of the four planes that shook up the nation that day, and the leader of those terrorists, Osama Bin Laden, was killed last year. What these men did didn’t only affect New York; it affected our national security, airport regulations, and most importantly our society. Once these evil men were labeled as terrorists, automatically so was everyone else who had any similarities to them. If you were of Middle Eastern descent or Muslim, that label was pretty much on you as well.
The thing about people is that when they see a few people out of an entire group doing something wrong, they automatically assume that the rest of the people in that group are exactly like them. People love to stereotype, whether they can help it or not. Stereotypes are built into our society and culture. So of course seeing innocent Americans and people dying by those horrific attacks affected the way Americans perceived Muslims and Middle Easterners in America.
Many Americans aren’t even sure what Muslims practice or what Islam is all about, so let’s start off by explaining who Muslims are and what they believe. Muslims are people who follow the religion of Islam, which means “peace” in Arabic. They follow the teachings of the Quran, which is their holy book, and believe that there is only one God and that Mohammed was the last prophet. The faith also includes the prophets Jesus, Moses, Jacob, and many others that are also included in Christianity. Many people are surprised to learn that Muslims have most of the same prophets and a lot of similarities to Christianity. A lot of people just think that Islam is a weird religion promoting violence and hatred towards America, when it’s really not.
After the 9/11 attacks, many Muslims and Middle-Eastern were labeled as “terrorists,” “suspicious,” “non-American,” and other ridiculous insults, just because the people who hijacked the planes were Middle-Eastern Muslims. As an Arabic Muslim, I can personally say that I have been and know A LOT of other people who have been discriminated against and interrogated with ridiculous questions too many times to even count. The questions consist of all the things you can possibly imagine: “So how are you celebrating 9/11?” “Why do you wear that thing on your head?” “So like, were you born here?” “How’d you learn English?” “Are you related to Osama?”– the list of ignorant, ridiculous questions goes on and on. I don’t mind people who are just curious and truly want to learn a few things, but what I DO mind is people who just ask things to get a reaction out of me and ask the stupidest questions I’ve heard in my life.
After 9/11, Muslims in America have been discriminated against, called names, bullied, etc. There are documented instances of hate crimes perpetrated against mosques, of Muslims treated hatefully on airplane trips, and of Muslims denied jobs and assistance because of how they were perceived. I almost feel like that’s how different races and cultures have to become accepted in America. It’s like joining a fraternity. You have to go through all these steps of practically bending-over-backwards just prove how you really are. I hope one day Muslims and Middle-Easterners can finally join and become accepted into the ‘fraternity.’
One should never judge anyone based off the actions of others–hold people accountable for their own actions, and get educated on different cultures and religions before jumping to any conclusions.
