Ignorance fuels the fire of racism. After 9/11 Muslim Americans were persecuted and racially profiled. Their lives became more difficult in a country that is supposed to represent freedom. The media has ingrained negative images in the heads of Americans leaving them with nothing but hatred and fear of this religion. In class we watched a documentary about a southern white Christian man who goes to live with a Muslim family in Michigan for a month and leaves with a new perspective. I was very surprised to find out how little Dave knew about the Muslim religion considering it is the second largest religion in the world. Once he got to Michigan he didn’t seem to be very open minded and began to criticize some of their practices. As we learned earlier in the semester cultural pluralism is present in America, which I think it great. It gives everyone a chance to learn from their neighbors and become worldlier, however this is only possible if people remain open minded. During the show Morgan Spurlock asked people on the street what word came to their mind when he said Muslim and I was angered by people’s response. Dave did not even know that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all come from the same roots.
This documentary reminded me of how fortunate I am to have grown up in such a liberal state as New York. Every freshman in every New York high school has to take global history. One of the largest units of the course is the three main religions and the material goes very in depth. Teachers cannot skip over these lessons because at the end of the sophomore year every student in the state of New York has to take a state test and this material will be on it. Because my class freshman year had members of all three religions our teacher had people do presentations as well so we could learn from first hand experience. Learning that Islam is so similar to my own religion gave me a new perspective. Every religion has extremist. The Muslim extremists are in the public eye more often, but this does not mean that every other Muslim should be persecuted.
In class you asked us if Dave’s experience was beneficial and if everyone should go through an experience like his. Although, it is impossible for everyone to have a similar experience I do believe every state should implement learning about the Islamic religion into their curriculum. The more people know about the religion the more they will be able to understand it and not make snap judgments or criticisms. Knowledge won’t end all persecution of Muslim Americans but hopefully it will loosen some of the tension that has been created post 9/11.
I completely agree that after 9/11, there has been much hostility and hatred toward Muslim Amercians. Although the media and American's have aided in these opinions, it is difficult to not be jugemental when the attacks had such an impact on America. Also living in New York, I experienced the attacks first hand. My father was only a few blocks away from the twin towers, and my mother pulled me out of school for the day. The state was in complete panic, and at the time there was little sympathy toward Muslims. However, the suspicion people have whether in the airport or on a bus that a Muslim is a terrorist is horrible. People need to be educated about different religions and cultures to get an understanding of people's background. It is difficult to change people's attitudes, but I believe the prejudice toward Muslim Americans has diminished drastically as time has passed since the 9/11 attacks.
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