We are living in the age of lost identity. Or rather are being pushed to dissolve our identity. Let it go and conform. That's the age we live in. Lands like America are proudly claimed to be melting pots, but that's not completely true; no land truly is. Some are better than others when it comes to promoting differences but hate still is a fluent language everywhere. Differences are more often than not criticized and ridiculed. As Dan Brown wrote, "we fear what we do not understand," and he's completely right; we are afraid of and despise what we refuse to try and understand. It's easier to hate than try to understand or to even just listen. We see in the media how individuals embrace their ethnicities, races, and backgrounds, and we are even told that we should. But then we see the news, we see hate crimes, we see reports of people being denied opportunities and jobs because of their identity, we see these things and we have to reevaluate. Is it worth it? Is our identity worth the shame we are pressured to feel? Is it worth feeling so bad so worthless?
Letting go of who we are is giving in; after all, we are nothing without our identity. We have to be strong. These people pressure others to hide and suppress who they are to feed that emptiness, and this forced assimilation only sustains these people for so long. The need for assimilation soon turns into hate and prejudice. Differences incite blind hate and prejudice, and they've been pushing people to assimilate in fear of hate and violence for too long. Most recently it has been occurring in China. China has of late created "Re-Education Camps," which not only sound eerie but are in fact very frightening in reality.
Consisting of forced dance practices (some variants of Islam forbiddance), forced to watch propaganda videos of what is alleged to be illegal, negative evaluations of citizens based on ethnicity alone (and even lower scores for prayer), and overall Islamophobic practices. Research has even shown that China had dedicated over $107 million to building and maintenance of these camps. These camps are to their core all about spreading Islamophobia and silencing Muslims.
In a first-hand account, Kayrat Samarkan, a native Kazakh who'd been living in China, said that he was "taught not to be Muslim." Samarkan then went on to detail how there were three categories of prisoners at the facility, "the first category was people connected to religion; the second was those who had gone abroad; the third were those who had violated social order." Samarkan, who was sentenced based on the first category, went on to say that this treatment had pushed him to self-harm.
And he wasn't the first nor the last. Tens of thousands of (primarily Turkic Muslim) people have been detained in Xinjiang and sent to re-education camps, as reported by U.S. acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Laura Stone. These sentences have lengths that vary, some even reaching 7 years.
China's efforts to silence and suppress Ughyur militants and Kazakh people is part of an on-going hatred between China and Kazakhstan. Sinophobia in Kazakhstan has increased as of late as well, with footage of Kazakh militants threatening the Chinese. China's often labeling of ordinary Muslim traditions as extremist fuels this fire. And these sentiments have been amplified via aid China is giving to nations that are fighting and opposing Kazakh forces in the Middle-East.
Bottom line is that both nations aren't letting go, and it's hurting their people. Hatred based on differences. And this isn't just evident amongst nations like China and Kazakhstan; this is something we see everywhere on varying levels. The mentality of fearing others based on differences is ubiquitous. There are people like Samarkan that go to lengths to hurt themselves because they hurt so much due to being told their identity is "illegal" or "wrong," and some even commit suicide. It's gotten so bad. Our world is hatred. It's not just a mindset anymore; it's a way of being, and it is too widespread. So when officials, celebrity figures, and those in leadership share their disdain and hate for certain peoples, this way of being is intensified, and it's getting worse. There isn't a direct solution. We've historically been hateful people. Humans aren't all bad but we've got a track record for being very prejudiced and hateful. We need a shift in leadership, and those leaders need to be stronger and less prejudiced to be able to influence the greater populations and create a more accepting and good world.
