Are You My Equal?
By: Marium Dar
Racism has become embedded in American society with the increasing power of the media and spreading of negative stereotypes.
“Yo, Marium! How you do problem three? I heard that ya’ll Pakis and Muzzies know how to do this stuff,” yelled my classmate from across the room. Surprised by the ignorant comment and unable to respond back intelligently, I chose to remain silent and to complete my Geometry exam, as there were only ten minutes until the period would end.
“Brrrriiinng!” We all handed in our exams, and the young girl that made the rude comment, walked up to me only to complain about how teachers always favored us Pakistani and Muslim students. Her hatred for me and my friends shot out like venom. She told us we kissed up to teachers and did not belong here. Her ignorant remarks made me wonder about whether racism existed in our school and how I could educate myself and my peers to promote tolerance and diversity.
Again, I listened and chose to remain silent. I knew that combating racism involved beginning with changing myself and my community, and indeed, at that point I was upholding the values of the true Muslim I work so hard to be.
Coming from an immigrant family that lives in Midwood, Brooklyn, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York, I have learned to appreciate the diversity that exists here. During the eighteen years I have resided in this community, I have also witnessed many forms of discrimination, specifically racism.
According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, racism stands for the belief that some races of people are better than others.
In fact, to better understand this concept of racism and think of interesting ways to limit,
if not end, racism in the United States and
someday, the world, I conducted a research.
Originally, I emailed thirty three people, giving them a time limit of five days to respond to my survey. Of the thirty three people, only eleven responded. Although it is unknown whether mostly teachers or students responded, I received a variety of answers. I asked ten questions, all having to do with defining racism, sharing experiences of racism, and thinking of innovative solutions to ending it throughout the world.
While conducting my survey, I realized that 82% of the audience correctly defined and identified the difference between racism and discrimination. They all agreed that racism is the belief that one is superior than the other based on skin color, while discrimination is the unfair treatment of specific groups of people based on prejudice against them.
Knowing that more than half of my audience was aware of this distinction, I was able to further inquire whether they all agreed that “all humans are born free and equal in dignity of rights.” Everyone agreed with this statement taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and realized that 45% of the group was Asian, 18% was white, 18% was African American, and 18% was a mixed race.
With 73% of my audience claiming to have experienced racism while the other 27% said no, I found a positive correlation between the people who might not have been able to correctly define racism to those who have never experienced racism before.