Muslim in America – Voices

I’ve noticed that many of my non-Muslim friends have very little understanding of Islam and Muslim culture. I don’t know if this is a pattern that exists in the larger population as well, but I assume that most Americans have little more than a basic understanding of the religion and culture.

People have a fear of Islam because all they think they know about the religion is the negative stereotypes that are fed by the media. Anyone who is afraid of Islam likely only thinks of Muslims as extremists and terrorists. People don’t seem to understand that these extremists are not an accurate representation of Islam.

Yes, in fact, I know there is a prejudice against Muslims in America. This is evident in the fact that people are afraid of Islam and Muslim people in general.

People make judgments on those who practice the religion as a whole without even learning or getting to know anything about the person or the religion. I have experienced this myself. I used to have trouble making friends in school because people would judge me before they even talked to me.

Muslims are discriminated against in our society all the time. Particularly those who look a certain way or wear certain garments that makes them stand out from non-Muslims around them.

For example, my sister wears the Hijab. When she was younger she would come home from school upset most days because her classmates isolated her because she was the only one who wore the Hijab. She would beg my mother to let her take it off at school.

I was pretty young when 9/11 happened, so I don’t know for myself exactly what it was like. However, my father tells me that he and my mother had a very tough time.

Any time they went out in public people would stare and whisper. My father says they’d been yelled at, refused service, kicked out of public places, and so on. I have not personally experienced most of these things, so I would say things have gotten a bit better.

However, I still experience some troubles. I had trouble finding a job and a place to live, probably because of what I look like. So, we still have room to improve in our society.

In the future I think perceptions of Muslims will get better. I think if we keep moving forward and keep progressing, one day we will see a positive change.

I hope to see more representation of Muslims in the future. I would like to see Muslims more present in mainstream media, as well as in high-up positions in society.