Blog Post 3 Islamphobia #JustThink

I recently watched a TED talk addressing an incident in which three Muslims, Deah, Yusor, Razan were shot and killed by their neighbor in Chapel Hill due to a hate crime. Deah and Yusor were newlyweds who were on their way to a successful career, not knowing that their dreams may end sooner than they expected. Suzanne Barakat, the sister of Yusor, felt the need to stand up and speak against the execution of her brother due to his faith. She opens up to her audience about the difficulty of losing someone dear to her. She talks about the pain she goes through every day knowing that her brother won’t be able to wrap his hands around to hug her. Also, Suzanne points out that in the United States we have a candidate running for president, like Donald Trump, who openly claim to ban Muslim immigrants among other immigrants from coming into our country. She has come to a conclusion that “it’s no coincidence that hate crimes rise in parallel with election cycles.”

I agree with Suzanne because many recent incidents have occurred right after Trumps win for the presidency. It’s shocking to learn that police reports were filed a couple of hours after Trump’s victory speech. A Muslim student at San Jose University was attacked in a parking garage by a man who removed her hijab and choked her. The incident at San Jose was not the only police report filed, at San Diego University another Muslim student was followed by two men who were making comments about Trump right before they robbed her. These incidents show that many people agree with Trump’s ideologies about Muslims not having a place in this country.

It is tough for me to wrap my head around the fact that many people live in the United States due to the many rights they have, like freedom of religion, only to have that right taken away from them. Everyone, regardless of our race and ethnicity, should be able to worship as they please. There are many Muslims that have experienced backlash after Trump’s elections that is putting their lives at risk. Suzanne hoped that after her talk people make a choice to join her in standing up against hate, and I hope that we do the same. We should try to end the hate in the world. Instead, we should try to promote peace and equality so that we don’t end up losing more innocent lives. We are only in this world for a short amount time, so why not make a difference and help change the world.

#JustThink

Three victims of the shooting (from left to right: Deah, Razan, Yusor)