Islamophobia: A dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force (Google.com). In today's day and age, Islamophobia is prevalent everywhere: in schools, stores, social media and everywhere else imaginable. As a sheltered kid, I, too, was a victim of Islamophobia at an early age, myself being unsure about this group of people that I had not been exposed to very well.
I'm sure everyone has heard of Donald Trump and his policy to "build a wall" and "keep all Muslims out." I have one question to Mr. Trump—and all people who support this idea — are you 100 percent Native American? Didn't think so. So somewhere down the line, everyone was an immigrant or a refugee at some point. As an Irish-German Catholic White male, I should, according to Mr. Trumps logic, be kicked out of the US. Let me explain.
According to Council of Foreign Relations, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has killed about 1,800 people, including 650 civilians. Following this logic, I should be labeled a terrorist due to my Irish heritage.
Roughly six million Jews alone were killed, along with other groups, by the German Nazis in the Holocaust, according to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Following this logic, I should be labeled a Nazi due to my German heritage.
According to the Washington Post, the Crusades lasted about 200 years, resulting in the death of about 1.7 million people. The inquisition is another result of Christian extremism. Following this logic, I should be labeled as a murderer and terrorist due to my Christian beliefs.
Islamophobia is negatively impacting the world's perception of the refugees fleeing the Middle East. Due to the actions of a few Islamic extremists, the whole group is unnecessarily bearing the hate, fear, and rejection. According to the Amnesty International Charity Limited, around 250,000 have been killed in Syria. 13.5 million people trapped in Syria are still in urgent need of help, and the stigma of Islamophobia is halting the acceptance of refugees in other privileged countries, such as the United Stated. The discrimination needs to stop. Just as Christians are not labeled as terrorists and Germans are not labeled as Nazis and how Irish people are not labeled as terrorists, Islamic people can not be labeled as terrorists. If Trump decides to halt the acceptance of Islamic and Syrian refugees, then he will have to halt acceptance of Irish, Germans and Christians alike. The actions of few cannot be a description of the group as a whole.
