I remember at a very young age my cousin was turned back to my house from the airport. I did not know why, all I knew was that something happened. I did not find out what happened until I came to the United States in 2006. My cousin was supposed to come to the United States in 2001, but as I later learned he could not because of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Moreover, what I was not aware that New York had so much diversity and there was anger in many American’s against Muslims. At first when I went into elementary school, I was still not fully aware of 9/11, until in sixth grade a girl from my class asked me my religion and said, “So you are a terrorist.” I was baffled at her assumption because at that time I was not even aware
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At the same time, I also realized that I didn 't feel ready to wear it, so I only wore it outside of school. To me the hijab wasn’t the first priority; the first priority was believing in the religion and praying routinely. If I couldn’t fulfill that, there was no need for a hijab. Coming from a very poor family, my parents didn 't have money to buy a car or use cabs for transportation. They encouraged the habit of using public transportation. What I started to realize was that people in the trains or buses would stare at me in a certain way when I wore a hijab, compared to when I didn’t. I never thought people would stare because I thought New York City was full of diversity and the “ melting pot” would accept me no matter what. Obviously, this wasn 't the case because people did stare at me. This made me very uncomfortable and I didn 't want to wear a hijab anymore. In Andrew Solomon 's TED talk titled “How do our worst moments shape us?” He spoke about being bullied and said our worst moments shapes us because after we deal with these issues, we learn our lessons and change for the better. I never really thought about my identity until I felt oppressed. In fact, to me identity had no significance. My experiences in middle school as well as media portrayal of Muslims in the United States and the ridicule of society against Muslims made me a firm believer in my …show more content…
I cannot keep saying that because of recurring violence in the United States, I have to hide my identity. Wearing a hijab is not just my identity but it will show that the stereotypes against Muslims are false and that all Muslims are not terrorists. Terrorists idealize violence claiming that they are fighting for Islam, but Islam teaches abstinence from violence. My family came to the United States for our education and to earn money by working for it. We did not come to become and traitors and betray this country. We are grateful for what the United States offered us and cannot wait for more accomplishments to come our way, but the stereotypes against Muslims makes it very difficult for other Muslims and
At the same time, I also realized that I didn 't feel ready to wear it, so I only wore it outside of school. To me the hijab wasn’t the first priority; the first priority was believing in the religion and praying routinely. If I couldn’t fulfill that, there was no need for a hijab. Coming from a very poor family, my parents didn 't have money to buy a car or use cabs for transportation. They encouraged the habit of using public transportation. What I started to realize was that people in the trains or buses would stare at me in a certain way when I wore a hijab, compared to when I didn’t. I never thought people would stare because I thought New York City was full of diversity and the “ melting pot” would accept me no matter what. Obviously, this wasn 't the case because people did stare at me. This made me very uncomfortable and I didn 't want to wear a hijab anymore. In Andrew Solomon 's TED talk titled “How do our worst moments shape us?” He spoke about being bullied and said our worst moments shapes us because after we deal with these issues, we learn our lessons and change for the better. I never really thought about my identity until I felt oppressed. In fact, to me identity had no significance. My experiences in middle school as well as media portrayal of Muslims in the United States and the ridicule of society against Muslims made me a firm believer in my …show more content…
I cannot keep saying that because of recurring violence in the United States, I have to hide my identity. Wearing a hijab is not just my identity but it will show that the stereotypes against Muslims are false and that all Muslims are not terrorists. Terrorists idealize violence claiming that they are fighting for Islam, but Islam teaches abstinence from violence. My family came to the United States for our education and to earn money by working for it. We did not come to become and traitors and betray this country. We are grateful for what the United States offered us and cannot wait for more accomplishments to come our way, but the stereotypes against Muslims makes it very difficult for other Muslims and