In just the last two years France has banned the wearing of burqas, a bomb was placed in a mosque in Jacksonville, Florida, and Switzerland voted to outlaw the construction of minarets on mosques.

These are atrocious testimonies to the rise of hatred and racism toward those who are “different” and, in this case, Muslim.

According to All Academic’s website, many sociologists and psychologists argue that in the face of increasing discrimination and prejudice people will begin to feel resentful, embarrassed and shameful of their ethnic, cultural or religious group.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

Yes, there may be those who have begun to hate being Muslim – correctly pronounced “Muss-lim” and not “Mooz-lum.”

I, however, am confident and proud of my identity as a Muslim.

Terrorist groups, such as al-Qaida and the Taliban, have committed murderous acts that have been attributed to the Muslim community as a whole.

To combat this constant onslaught, Muslims across the nation create events to unify and empower their community. There was Muslim Unity Day at Great America that took place mid-September and DVC’s very own Unity Dinner on Nov 8. Events such as these are meant to provide empowerment for Muslim youth and imbue them with a sense of unity.

Osama bin Laden and his followers do not have the power – I will never give them the power – to change my opinion of myself, my identity or my religion. We shouldn’t give these groups power to create mistrust and cause us to hate one another. 

Hate spreads like a disease and the key to stopping it is education.

If life were black and white, good guys vs. bad guys, the bad guys would be defined by bad traits including racism, hatred and prejudice.

In this ideological battle we can’t let the bad guys win.

We shouldn’t allow them to shape our opinions with their hate speeches and their scapegoating.

This doesn’t just apply to hatred against Muslims, but rather hatred toward any group, any person.

In the face of a repressive bigotry we should always stand up for  the oppressed, even if they are starkly different than us or don’t fall under our definition of “normal.”

Contact Taliah Mirmalek at [email protected]