Racism is an epidemic in America. There are so many different ethnicities, religions and skin colors, that sometimes it confuses me to why it is such a problem here. It is unfortunate that I have seen many of my family members go through it, including myself. I have even experienced it through my own family.
My mother comes from an Irish Christian family. My father comes from a Jordanian Muslim family. I have always heard from both sides’ racist comments. It was hard for my parents to even get married; they struggled a lot because their families didn’t accept it. My grandfather on my mother’s side cut ties with her because of this. My dad’s side was more accepting of my mom, but they wanted her to act like the typical Arab wife.
Racist people are often closed minded. My father’s family loved my mom but made sure she was always reminded that she was not one of them. My mother’s family was upset that she converted to Islam. They thought that the religion was filled with hate and violence. They believed that women were treated badly and were not looked at as equals. This was all taught, the first Muslim they ever met was my father, the only time they heard about Muslims was through the news. In an article that I read it states, “The researchers also found that US newspaper coverage of Muslims was “significantly more negative in tone” than overall coverage of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos, or Jewish people, although they observed that the average tone of Muslim articles had become less intensely negative over the previous five years.” (Iftikhar) The news outlets paint out Muslims to be the villains. People are closed minded and it’s hard to change their mind when even the media is putting a negative light on entire group of people.
Muslims are not perfect, but Islam is. We can’t control what people do in the world, but we should not think an entire group is bad based off what some do. Islam promotes peace, it is a way of life. Islam teaches we must treat others with respect and not cause harm to anyone. I leave you with this quote from the Quran, [2:190] “You may fight in the cause of GOD against those who attack you but do not aggress. GOD does not love the aggressors.”
Reference:
Iftikhar, A. (n.d.). Report: Muslims most negatively portrayed minority in US media. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/report-muslims-most-negatively-portrayed-minority-in-us-media/
Agreed many racist people are often closed minded but I’m here to play devil advocate. Racism may look like the person is closed minded due to the fact they have never experienced or been around anyone different then themselves.
We see this example in children all the time they do not see color and when the question of race arises, they have no concept of the mean unless it has already been told to them by others. (Davis 2020) People are amazing and confused about thing we don’t know about, this can then lead to quick judgement and learned racism.
I’m so glad your father’s family loved your mom but it deeply saddens me that they did not fully accept her for who she is. Your father is a great example that racism can be taught through generations but you can always break the cycle an dchose to be accepting of all.
Davis, L. S. (2020, June 6). Children aren’t born racist. here’s how parents can stop them from becoming racist. CNN. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/06/health/kids-raised-with-bias-wellness/index.html
Gruman, J.A. Schneider, F.W. & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage