I chose to read the book, How does it feel to be a problem? Being young and arab in America by Mustafa Bayoumi. I felt as if I could really relate to this because I am an Iraqi-American and I have to deal with the stuggles of being arab. After 9/11 struck, the racism and prejudice against arabs in general increased drastically. Certain people were actually too scared to even associate themselves with someone who is of arab decent. Its the sad truth and now it is finally starting to change.
A principal with a brilliant mind and a kind heart was driven away only because of her race. She desired to start an arab school which would not discriminate against other races and would allow anyone who wanted to attend to do so. As soon as citizens around the area started to hear that there was going to be an arab school in their community, most were outraged. They called her awful names like, terrorist, murderer and monster. She was confused because all that she wanted to do was ensure a proper education for young children. Everyday there were protests and crowds trying to do anything they could to stop this school from forming. Anything that she did was under heavy scrutiny from the public eye. In an interview they asked her what the origin of an arabic word was and she gave an honest interpratation of what it really meant. The press took it and twisted it to make her sound like a terrorist and the school ended up firing her because they did not want that image representing them.
It is a travesty that she was fired because she put forth all of her effort to ensure the school would become a success. If only those people protesting took time to find out who she was and what she was about, maybe then things would have turned out differently.
No comments:
Post a Comment