“Judge a person not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” said civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was a revolutionary time period that changed the race dynamics between black and white citizens in this country. Racism had been an ongoing struggle after the abolition of slavery in the United States, but had gotten progressively better as time went on.
Now the struggle of racism is not solely focused on African Americans, but on the Muslim community. The amount of hatred and racism that was sparked after the tragedy of September 11, 2001 has only grown in the past decade.
“People make assumptions about others based on the actions of people similar to them and most of the time these stereotypes are not true,” said junior Lauren Smith.
A misconception about the attacks on the United States was that they were carried out by Muslims, when in fact the extremist group Al-Qaeda was responsible for them. The actions of this small group, however, should not represent the Muslim people as a whole.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by a covert operation carried out by United States Navy Seals on May 1. Bin Laden was responsible for planning the September 11 attacks as well as other terrorist actions on the United States and European nations.
“I do not think that the death of Osama Bin Laden will decrease racism or violence toward Muslims because he was just one man,” said sophomore Curtis Macgregor. “He does not represent the Muslim people as a whole.”
Pastor Terry Jones started quite a controversy when he held a mock trial, found Islam to be a crime against humanity and then publicly burned the Holy Book of Islam, the Quran. United States officials advised Jones against burning the Quran as it would only cause problems. Since the burning of the book, Jones has gotten over 300 death threats and as a result at least 20 people were killed in violent riots in Afghanistan.
In times of panic or times of fear in this country, racism has played a vital role. As seen in World War II, the United States government put countless Japanese Americans in internment camps, even if they had lived in this country their entire life.
Racism can also be a form of intimidation. The Ku Klux Klan terrified and unsettled many African American families and homes predominantly throughout the 1960’s time period by burning crosses on their front lawns and destroying churches.
Hateful acts, similar to these, are now being directed toward the Muslim community in the United States and abroad.
One specific example of a hate crime occurred on the George Mason campus on March 8.
The police became involved after a girl called campus security on fellow Patriot senior Abdirashid Dahir.
Dahir, who happens to be a Somalian, Muslim student, had been studying in the campus library and left for a second to go get his laptop charger. While he was away, the young girl came along and moved all of his things to the hallway and took his place.
Upon returning, Dahir asked the girl what she was doing and if he could have his place back. She called security when Dahir would not leave the room without an explanation and soon the police arrived.
Dahir was arrested for abduction and spent 17 hours in jail with a $2,500 bond. Dahir received no explanation from the arresting officers and was just taken to jail. Later Dahir found out that he was charged with abduction because the two were in an enclosed room together.
After being released, Dahir went to school officials to file a formal complaint against the girl and the officers, as well as to get some answers. The case was set to appear in the Fairfax General District Court on April 6, but thanks to the support of fellow Patriots and websites such as “www.freeabdi.com” George Mason University announced on March 16 that the charges against Dahir will be completely dropped.
Acts of violence and hate against any group of individuals should not be tolerated. The United States was founded as a “Melting Pot” for all races and religions and should remain that way for every generation to come.