Race and My Community - Personal Statement Example

Race and My Community The United s of America; the says it all. It is a collective effort of people belonging to different s to amalgamate into one for a common cause, the betterment of their society. The country has seen different eras in which different people have inhabited the mainland. Therefore, as a result, it can be termed as a salad bowl full of all kinds of vegetables; only in this case, the vegetables are referring to people from almost all origins and backgrounds. They follow a single elected government, but actually they are people with diverse backgrounds and contradicting needs and wants. Racism in the United States of America, in my opinion, is not something that should surprise anybody. It is not because of any kind of ignorance of the government, it is because of the wide variety of people who inhabit this side of the world. When collection of this kind of variety is brought into a conflict, they are bound to form schemas and mental shortcuts that end up depicting in racial attitude towards certain race and community. Racism against many communities such as the African Americans was first evident in the political and law making bodies previously before the human rights associations intervened. It is now condemned on all levels; however, still practiced on many. Over the years, events have occurred, that have helped fuel the fury of racism in the minds and hearts of people all around the world. The situation is not different in the United States which boasts a sound political and culturally balanced system; a country that welcomes everybody. Since the acts of terrorism have been successful in creating a sense of terror in everybody around the world, the acts portraying racism against certain classes have aggravated. I, being a Muslim, can relate to the feeling of differentiation along the social and ethnic lines. Proud to be an American, I have also faced various racial interactions over my life. I have lived in this country for more than 10 years now; migrated here when I was 10 years old. Therefore, I have been fully exposed to the difference in attitudes of fellow American before and after the 9/11. The traumatic turn of events have altered the mind sets of the common American towards certain races and classes and sadly, my race is one of them. Even after being in a foreign country, I have been following the rules and guidance that Islam has prescribed about the wearing 'Hijab'. For those who don't know the exact interpretation, it has its tangible and intangible aspects. The tangible aspects are covering the parts of the body including the hair, that make a women look beautiful in the eyes of others. The intangible part extends to the fact that with the covering should accompany the morality, modesty and privacy. Post the 9/11 events, I did not face many problems; did not feel eyes following me wherever I went, be it a restaurant or my educational institution. I can call myself a modern Muslim girl, who under the limits prescribed by the 'hijab', wore western clothes such as jeans and t-shirts which were considered taboo by many in my society. However, my community had always been very supportive of it. Many Muslim residing in my vicinity did follow hijab, a considerable number did not. As the Indians and Sikhs are also belonging from the same geographical location South Asia, without the hijab, we all looked the same. We congregated, celebrated our differences with great fervor. The Hindus celebrated the Eid with us; the Diwali was equally celebrated by all. This behavior was not confined to members of our community. We had almost Black Americans, Hispanics; all integrating and celebrating different occasions relating to the various back grounds that we were related too. 9/11 changes the scenario of the world; the way people thought about others changed, the way people interacted changed, everything changed. This might sound a little clich but my friends outside the circle of Islam posed questioning looks at me about my dressing, their behavior towards me changed. Backbiting started which later aggravated to confrontation openly in front of large audience. They started questioning the things about me for which they had been respecting me for so long. I don't entirely blame them; some people from my race may have actually committed those crimes, but I was never supportive of them, neither were my other community members. Even my ethnic companions, the Hindus and the Sikhs, turned their backs towards me. Even some of them were subjected to racial attitudes by our fellow Americans, the people we had lived our lives with. One of my community's Sikh was tortured just because he wore a turban and had a beard which is considered mandatory for being a Muslim terrorist. The similar appearance had made him a victim. In South-Asia, Muslims, Indians, Sikhs, Parsis and Buddhists; all live in coercion; such is the diversity of our community. I myself believe that terrorism can be caused by anybody. For the animals, their hunters are terrorists. Those hunters don't have to be wearing a turban or possessing a beard to be labeled a terrorist. It is as simple as understanding that labeling a certain culture, race or creed with terrorism activities ends up worsening the situation rather than helping one solve the problems out. It is being condemned in my religion to the fullest extent; the prospects of self-defense have been labeled as being the ones to fight against the foreigners. 'Jihad' is strongly being portrayed as an act of terrorism; however it is just the act of self defense in broad terms (Hisham, 2002). For the poor people of Iraq, the American armed forces are the terrorists cause according to them; they are terrorizing their children, killing their fathers, and fostering thinking that the foreigners are the ones who have made them homeless. Who will take accountability when the same children grow up, with the idea of hurting the people who had hurt their fathers and fore fathers Personal experiences aside, I have other relatives who have experienced the same trauma living in their own country just because ethnically and by birth, they belonged to another place. A distant relative of mine, after the 9/11, was forced to keep her children from going to school due to the harassment the poor children of pre-school were facing from their fellow class mates. Imagine, a child from pre-school, has this mindset built at this early stage of his or her life; how would this problem be counteracted if this belief of his or her strengthened with the passage of time without any sound evidence. Media has played a very important role in portraying this face of the south Asians and specifically Muslims in the eyes of the world. The influence with which the media operates our minds and hearts has increased three-folds with the advent of advanced communication methods. In my locality, some radio stations have been successfully representing the Muslim community and their thoughts and ideas about various subjects of importance. There have been radio shows, online websites; that have helped enlighten the common man today about how we are different from the extremists; how Islam is not about killing, it's about peace and tranquility. Some of these websites are operated by fellow students like me, who have grown up here and do not want their fellow Americans to disassociate themselves from us by any chance. Many Muslim celebrities are working in Hollywood and Bollywood; however, even they were subjected to racial discrimination after the 9/11. One of the reasons in my opinion is the intense indoctrination that has been done by the same media over 100 years about the negativity of the Muslim character. Villains and vamps have consistently been shown to be Muslim; their character is shown as horrific and shameful women abusers. The Arabic culture, somehow, is characterized by belly dancing, killings, alcohol and extremism. In a book by the name of 'Reel Bad Arabs', the author Jack Shaheen talk about how the filmmakers have influenced this thinking in the minds of people. They have portrayed the Arabs as their number one enemy since ages (Tim, 2007). The minority groups have been represented in the government and their demands have also been met. Many Muslim representatives have been elected and they have had a voice, a representation. However, to a large extent, the major issue of self respect and identity still remain intact. Many people talk about our community and the problem we have been facing, and efforts have been made on a small extent too. However, largely this wrong schema is still being communicated across by senior officials in many cases. The US has been a country I can die for; all I would like to change about this country today is the mindset that is prevailing against us. I want to make everybody understand that their exist black sheep in every community, race, clan and sect. However, the human mind fails to understand this idea and ends up schematically portraying everybody in the same light. I don't want to feel like an alien in my own homeland, where I have grown, I have made friends, have cried, laughed; it is the place where I have found my identity as an individual. I want everybody else to know that we are as humane and peaceful as any other American living in the country. By exaggerating the differences, they can lose valuable man power that can help in the overall betterment and increasing the potential of the country. Last but not the least, as an American Muslim, it is my human right. Works Cited 1. Hisham Zoubeir (2002) Racism and Islam. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from the Website: http://members.tripod.com/etori/racism.html 2. Joseph Choonara (2006) Racism against Muslims has rocketed since 9/11. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from the Website: http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.phparticle_id=8271 3. Tim McSorley (2007) Real bad Hollywood; how western films demonizes Arabs and Muslims. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from web title Web site: http://artthreat.net/2007/03/84 Read More