There are 319 million people living in the United States, 41,888 of them are enrolled at the University of Houston.
In today’s society, we often judge people with no understanding of who they are. There’s no denying it - we’re all guilty. Injustices occur daily across the nation regarding race, religion, sexual orientation, body image. Students are no exception. Students experience injustices daily because of their race, religion or looks. We often develop certain stereotypes about others because of the way we have been raised, or because of the way our friends act towards others. In the past months, the U.S. has seen countless acts of injustices to countless groups of people. Whether it’s Ahmed Mohamed, Caitlyn Jenner, or the victims of the Charleston shooting, there have been too many stories of intolerance. Fourteen students from five different schools share their stories.
Muhlenberg College | The University of Alabama |
University of South Florida | University of North Georgia
“I’ve faced prejudice more when I was little and, fortunately, it has decreased over time. People do make jokes every now and then, but I understand that they’re not meant to hurt me. When 9/11 happened, a majority of the time people treated me different. Of course, it was a result of their parents who were telling them things that weren’t even true. I was only 6 years old when it happened. How could I have any sort of affiliation with it? I just felt that it was wrong to accuse me of terrorism because I wasn’t even aware of what was going on at such a young age. I learned about the tragedy when I was older, around middle school. People would call me a terrorist and would use certain words that would indeed hurt. People who say such things are ignorant and although it has affected me to an extent, it doesn’t affect me as much anymore. Rather than taking their ignorance to heart I try to educate them instead. People often just listen to the news that portrays Islam as an extremist religion, which it’s not. CNN, Fox, all these news channels are always portraying any Muslim who has committed a crime as a terrorist. But if he’s a person of white skin he’s said to be mentally ill, handicapped, or as someone going through depression. It’s as if Muslims can’t go through depression or illness. I personally feel like there is victimization mainly because of the way that the media portrays us minorities. Yes, there are several corrupt people in this world, but I can guarantee that I’m not one of them. Or at least I hope I’m not one of them! *Chuckles* Bias on the news is one of the biggest factors that influences people’s decisions and their points of view. Prejudice is, however, eradicating because of how diverse my city, Houston, is. On a campus where we hold 4 daily prayers for Muslims, several clubs promoting religion, race and different ethnicities, societal injustice is slowly but surely dying out. On the other hand, some campuses do still have racial discrimination. Even in the workforce people may not get jobs because they’re African American, Muslim, Hispanic, etc. Because of this I believe that prejudice does still exists in the United States, I just haven’t faced it directly for a while now because I live in such a diverse area.” – Zain Battla
One of our fellow Cougs, Zain Battla, made it clear to us that thankfully much of the prejudice he faced has gone down significantly. For Zain, growing up as a Pakistani Muslim American was not easy. Recalling flashbacks of the time around 9/11, what terrorism shook not only the United States of America but the majority of countries in the Middle East as well. They were obviously not easy to think about as he talked about his experiences with a heavy heart you could see the buried torment in his eyes.
"I haven’t personally experienced prejudice based on my race, color or culture. However, the media has transmitted everything that I have in my mind. All of the perceptions that I have are not based on experience; rather they’re based on people who look like me, that face prejudice on a daily basis. One of the reasons that I don’t have any major injustice to share is that if I see that a person has something negative to say, I don’t see that as my problem. It’s the person’s problem. In fact, they’re the problem for having such a negative state of mind. I tend to brush off such negativity and often forget prejudice that I may have faced. I’m trying to recall a moment where I’ve faced prejudice because I’m black but I haven’t really faced any. It may be the positive vibe that I give off. People tend to trust me because of that.
One thing I’d like to point out is that when it comes to dating, certain races date only their own kind. It’s not something that bothers me too much, but it is something that I’ve noticed over the years. Hypocrisy is something that does however bug me. When African Americans say fu*k the cops, they’re doing the same thing that they want other’s to avoid. That, my friend, is also racism. Just because of one bad cop, you can’t categorize all of them as inhumane and corrupt individuals. We’re all different. We’re all unique in our own way. For anyone to generalize blacks, Muslims, Hispanics, etc. as bad people is highly illogical. I guess one of my biggest strengths is that I don’t let the media dictate what I should or shouldn’t know. The news isn’t always right. Take the weather forecast for example. They said it’s going to rain all day today and I haven’t even opened my umbrella yet! Apparently it was supposed to rain 4 days straight but according to my phone it’s only 2 days. My point is, don’t believe everything that’s show on the news. They need to get it together before conveying false information. I’d just like to add that I live by a mosque. I am not a Muslim and I haven’t in any way shape or form been terrorized or been discriminated against.” – Gerardo Moreno
Gerardo took a different approach when asked, “What kind of injustices have you faced?” He was not able to recall a time where he was treated unjustly. Though he explains “One of the reasons that I don’t have any major injustice to share is that if I see that a person has something negative to say, I don’t see that as my problem. It’s the person's problem.” Though he is fully aware of the unfairness he is vulnerable to as a black Columbian American, he chooses not to dwell on that, and takes pride in the fact that he has not let it affect him personally.
“Back in elementary school, there were a group of kids that would call me chino because I was Asian. It kind of bothered me at first but then I realized that they’re just ignorant. There are so many other races and religions that are discriminated against so I shrugged it off as if it’s nothing new. I just hated the fact that I was different from them. I felt out of place and nobody likes to feel different or likes to be made fun of. I started hanging out with people who were more like me so that I wasn’t made fun of. Eventually, however, you get over that stuff and learn to live with it. We all have to grow up one day. It wasn’t always just kids, but adults too. Kids do learn from their adults anyway.
Honestly, the traditional Asian parents are racist towards African Americans. Back in the day my parents and grandma weren’t okay with me hanging out with black people. I saw no problem in them and questioned my elders’ ideology. I thought African Americans were cool, what was wrong with them? I’m pretty sure it’s like that with several other races as well. It’s all about how you’ve been raised. My grandma told me not to hang out with African American people when I was young. She doesn’t tell me that anymore, but unfortunately she was racist. In the end, the prejudice that I’ve faced is something that I’ll never forget. It hurt right here, in the heart. But as you grow up the pain does fade away and you learn to let go of the past. When I grow up and have kids, I’m not going to tell my kids anything; rather I’m going to SHOW them that it’s okay to associate with other races. After all, we’re all human beings. Action speaks louder than words!” –Edward Phan
We met Edward as he was leaving the Learning Commons at the University of Houston. As I asked Edward about his experiences nothing but positivity shone from him and his presence. What I considered the most enlightening about his incidents was how open he was. Edward explained how growing up he had a lot of negative influences from people close to him, stating, “traditional Asian parents are racist towards African Americans.” Yet for him he never felt that was right, and doesn’t plan on implementing that into his own kids lives in the future. He told me about the times he would go into the playground in elementary school and other kids called him ‘chino’ due to his Asian ethnicity. I asked how this affected him personally and if he would ever get over it. His response, “In the end, the prejudice that I’ve faced is something that I’ll never forget. It hurt right here, in the heart,” as he pointed to his chest.
