Today, what we understand as terrorism is deeply rooted in our pre-conceived notions of people’s skin color and religion. Terror, to many people, is any crime committed by a person with brown skin, regardless of what the crime even was. The fact that a person of middle-eastern descent harmed someone else automatically means they are terrorists guilty of treason against “real” Americans. How terror is actually defined really means nothing to many (white) people - they have a double standard that exempts them from this label.
Terrorism, to me, is any use of violence or force that seeks to make some type of political point or an act that strikes fear into a population. This is not limited to race, religion, sex, etc. We can not exempt groups from this “terrorist” label because that automatically makes other groups discriminated against. The way terrorism has been presented to us makes us afraid of our fellow citizens, accusing them of the most heinous crimes just based on appearance.
I just wish people were more open about their sentiments towards people that are not like them. If these deluded people stopped defending and guising their hatred as not wanting to be “politically correct.” The excuse for racism, bigotry and excessive overgeneralization is this false fear of being politically correct. If only Barack Obama stopped being “politically correct,” we could solve all of our problems. If he called terrorism “radical Islam,” this would be game over!
Honestly, sometimes I wish I could have this mindset. Imagine your life is so good that the only thing you are concerned with is “radical Islam.” This is something that will most likely never directly affect your life. Instead of being worried about dying by the hand of ISIS, shouldn’t you be concerned about being gunned down by some crazy lunatic down the street from your own home? Shouldn’t you be worried about how you are going to find a job that supports you and your family? How are you going to afford an education? Has your life really been affected by ISIS and other militant extremist groups? Or has it been affected by people in your own government who create these problems? Open your eyes.
I know people are afraid, and they are entitled to feel afraid. Being attacked is certainly a reality in our world. But attributing this fear to the Muslim community is not only unfair, it is flat out wrong. Why aren’t people like the Sandy Hook shooter considered terrorists? Or the guy who shot up the movie theater. Those are the things that scare me. I am going to have a child one day, and now I have to worry about someone shooting him/her in his own classroom? Those bigots who blame Muslims for terror will tell you something like that is unlikely. Isn’t it far more unlikely that you will be harmed by “radical Islam?” Give me a damn break.
So, yeah, let’s give into our fears and surveil Muslim neighborhoods and their mosques. Let’s violate their civil rights. Freedom of religion only counts if you’re Christian, right? The right to feel safe in your own neighborhood doesn’t matter to our politicians if you aren’t white. Ironic how the people who are all about “religious liberty” (ahem, Ted Cruz) does not understand and respect the Islamic faith. He is a bigot who lives by double standards...and the scary thing is, there are people who support him.
