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
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