“If I were to go to America, I would be hated.” Noor Khwaja, a Pakistani-Muslim teen, said these strong words in the spring of 2010. Muslim men and women are discriminated against in our country. The attacks that transpired over 15 years ago, still strikes a cord with American’s everywhere and has caused a type of discrimination that is unjust and unlawful. This type of discrimination is vastly similar to the type seen in the 1950’s to African Americans and is an ethical prejudice that needs to change. By transcribing the detail of Noor’s story, a relation of the 1987 poem “On The Subway” by Sharron Olds will be made. Illustrated also will be the ways we can make change for not only the Muslim people, but how we can demonstrate “justice for
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Specifically with the poem “On the Subway,” by Sharon Olds, I saw a common theme between the stereotyping of a black male vs. the stereotyping of a member of the Islamic faith. In the poem the speaker, believed to be a wealthy white women, finds herself on the subway with a black male. She begins to judge his outward appearance and states: “he has the casual cold look of a mugger,” and that “he looks at my grandmother’s coat, and I don’t know if I am in his power- he could take my coat so easily, my briefcase, my life” (Olds). Just by facing this man on the subway cart she begins to infer that he is a dangerous man and the woman begins to fear for her life. Just one look in his direction, a molecule of a glance, and she already pegs him to be a danger to her. That fear, that instant judgment that categorizes a person as a threat, is an unethical inference and one that is seen rapidly in American Muslims today. Numerous attacks are noted everyday and it is reported that hate crimes against Muslims are up 78% (Lichtblau). Some specific examples include: In New York just over a year ago, a sixth grade girl was attacked on a playground for wearing a hijab, with children claiming that she was a member of the Islamic state (Lussenhop); in Brooklyn just this year, two Muslim women …show more content…
Like the man in “On the Subway,” the Islamic people are faced with a national hatred that is steamed from attacks that happened 15 years ago. As a nation the Muslim American’s also absorb the murderous beams of the nations heart and like the young black man are stereotyped by white Americans. As a nation we must be better and fight against religious discrimination; we must end this religious
Specifically with the poem “On the Subway,” by Sharon Olds, I saw a common theme between the stereotyping of a black male vs. the stereotyping of a member of the Islamic faith. In the poem the speaker, believed to be a wealthy white women, finds herself on the subway with a black male. She begins to judge his outward appearance and states: “he has the casual cold look of a mugger,” and that “he looks at my grandmother’s coat, and I don’t know if I am in his power- he could take my coat so easily, my briefcase, my life” (Olds). Just by facing this man on the subway cart she begins to infer that he is a dangerous man and the woman begins to fear for her life. Just one look in his direction, a molecule of a glance, and she already pegs him to be a danger to her. That fear, that instant judgment that categorizes a person as a threat, is an unethical inference and one that is seen rapidly in American Muslims today. Numerous attacks are noted everyday and it is reported that hate crimes against Muslims are up 78% (Lichtblau). Some specific examples include: In New York just over a year ago, a sixth grade girl was attacked on a playground for wearing a hijab, with children claiming that she was a member of the Islamic state (Lussenhop); in Brooklyn just this year, two Muslim women …show more content…
Like the man in “On the Subway,” the Islamic people are faced with a national hatred that is steamed from attacks that happened 15 years ago. As a nation the Muslim American’s also absorb the murderous beams of the nations heart and like the young black man are stereotyped by white Americans. As a nation we must be better and fight against religious discrimination; we must end this religious