Kalliope 2015 | Page 42

helped each other with homework, we played sports together, we hung out on the weekends. It would never have occurred to me that this scene would ever have taken place. I had never made an effort to conceal my Muslim faith, and had never felt the need to. As a member of a magnet program, I knew all fifty of my classmates. We were close, family in many respects. After all, I received the Most Helpful award in middle school and the Biggest Heart superlative in high school. I include these facts not to brag (I despise gloating and prefer to obscure my accomplishments), but rather to demonstrate the esteemed regard I was held in by my peers. They loved me, and I loved them. And yet, here they were, mocking my heritage. Of course many remembered my Muslim identity and refrained. But I wonder, if I had not been in that classroom, would some of my closest friends have jeered too? This experience becomes even more significant in light of recent global events. I can remember my horror as I watched the reports on the Charlie Hebdo murders. I could not believe that any group, no matter how extremist, could engage in such senseless acts. The community mosque immediately organized a prayer for the souls of the casualties. As I joined the ranks of the mourning, I prayed that the lost lives would not be in vain. The silver lining of this brutal attack, I pleaded, would be a movement towards solidarity and understanding. To act in a divisive manner would only play into the hands of the terrorists. A few days later, as I viewed the march in Paris to honor the victims, I was hopeful that the world was moving in a positive and constructive direction—until I read that fifteen anti-Muslim attacks were reported in just the first forty-eight hours after the terrorist killings. Weapons employed in these hate crimes ranged from your run-of-the-mill rifles, grenades, and bombs all the way to a particularly gruesome case where the head and entrails of a boar were left outside a prayer center. Desperate to restore my faith in humanity, I reviewed the responses of everyday people to the Charlie Hebdo attack on Twitter. I smiled as users reminded their communities that all Muslims are not terrorists, that the vast majority live peacefully, contributing to their community. These heroic members encouraged people to avoid an “us versus them” mentality, the false dichotomy that burns bridges and reinforces prejudice. They urged the world to stop the surge of bigotry 42