23 year old Adama Bah recounts her experience with her and her family after 9/11. “I was 13 when 9/11 happened. My teacher announced that a Muslim might have done it, and that there might be hatred against Muslims. I felt 9/11 when I came back to New York for Ramadan break. Altogether, there were six classmates who had to get on a plane to come back. At that time, we covered our faces. I couldn’t believe the looks. Everybody was scared, pointing. We got extra screenings, our bags were checked, we got pulled to the side. I’ve never had racism directed toward me before.”
Unfortunately, these acts of fear and bias are not a single story, and most definitely did not only happen to one person during this critical time in the United States. For Raed Jarrar, acts of prejudice were committed against him for merely wearing a shirt with the words, “We Will Not Be Silent” translated in both English and Arabic. This was in order to raise awareness for the wars and murders of innocent people in Palestine or Iraq. “Inspector H [at JFK Airport, in TSA] asked me, “What does it say?” I said, “It’s the same thing that it says in English. We will not be silent.” He said, “Oh, but we can’t be sure that’s the translation.” I was so confused that I didn’t know how to answer. Then he said, “We want you to take the T-shirt off, or put it on inside out.” I said, “It’s my constitutional right to wear this T-shirt. If you have any regulations against Arabic T-shirts, show them to me and I will take it off or cover it.” I was very polite, but it was becoming a scene and people were looking at us.” As you can see, just because of another country’s and culture’s language was present on a T-Shirt, officers within the airport requested that this man take his shirt off because they found it threatening.
Not only is prejudice an all too common reality for middle eastern people in the United States, but even practicing their religion is a time of fear and nervousness. Observant American Muslims—who must pray five times daily—are left with a problem within the United States. How do they maintain their religious faith without attracting attention in an environment of heightened fear? Some ask why they should be expected to change their behavior in a country that promises religious freedom. As the United States was once known as “the melting pot” of different religions, cultures, languages, and races, it is now becoming segregated out of fear, and people are unable to truly be able to practice their religion safely in the country.
Some may say that these people must be aware of the fear and caution surrounding Middle Eastern people in light of the terrorist attacks, but it is an unfair generalization based on ignorance and lack of motivation to be educated. Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, says that everyone should have a right to pray, but that in this day and age, “people must be sensitive to how their actions might impact those around them.” But Shahin and the North American Imams Federation say their group has taken every precaution possible. “That’s my question to the people,” Shahin says. “What more do I have to do? I am American, I speak this language, I do everything by the book and I’m still suspicious. I cannot change the color of my skin.”
Amad Shaikh, an American Muslim, shares his recount of 9/11, and explains the difficulty of sharing in grief with the rest of his country, but also feeling the effects of hate and prejudice.
“9/11 caught us all by surprise. American Muslims, ever so comfortable and free in our ways, were caught off-guard. We were grieving with our nation, but also required to share responsibility and answer for the actions of a few who claimed to share our faith. The wider Muslim community’s reaction was thus filled with confusion and inaction. Denial, victimization, silence and anger were all utilized to one degree or another. The only common voice was that of condemnation – but somehow, that escaped most of the public. The rest of the American public also grieved, but without the burden of “guilt by association”. Most Americans, to their credit, were actually quite precise in their initial raw reactions, with the larger focus on victims and the entity of Al-Qaeda, and less on the religion and practitioners of Islam.”
