Muslim in America – Voices

Yes, I definitely think that there is an understanding of Islam and Muslim in America. I have spoken with non-Muslims when I visit California to see my family, and they all respect the views and ask questions as well in case they don’t understand something but majority already know most information.

People fear Islam because they were told to or because of all the tragedies going on in America that always leads to the suspect being Muslim. All the media talks about is how bad Islam is when they never show the good side of it. Those people don’t represent Islam, the ones who are in the mosque every day or every week are the ones who represent Islam.

There is definitely prejudice against Muslims. A lot of people just assume all Muslims are bad people because of what they hear on the internet or on the news. They’ve never experienced the better side of a Muslim so they always assume the worst.

People are often not friendly to me and many are even rude right to my face for no reason other than what they see. I’ve even had people refuse to work with me in a professional work setting when they see who I am.

A lot of Muslims are discriminated against. A lot of women that wear hijabs, including women in my family I’ve seen, are made fun of or instantly searched or detained at an airport. My own mother has been refused service at certain places or a lot of people just want to be rude to her for no reason.

Attitude towards Muslims has definitely got worse. Islamophobia has become worse as ​well. More unfortunate attacks and political leaders giving their opinion on Islam has ​more people turning against Muslims than before.

I’ve noticed as more political leaders give opinions, people become more open with their prejudiced opinions. In the past, I hadn’t noticed so much, but recently my father goes out in public and is targeted and verbally attacked even though he is minding his own business.

I hope it breaks when people start realizing that not all Muslims are terrorists and the ones that pretend to be just to carry out attacks aren’t real Muslims. No Muslim is okay with murdering hundreds of people. The stereotypes people are fed by the media are harmful because they believe them and then take out their prejudices on innocent Muslims they see.