The Pity of Assumptions
And that’s only the beginning — as we saw in a video posted recently, Muslims (especially Muslim women who wear hijab) are often assumed not to be American, even when they were born here. Arabs are pulled to the side for “random checks” nearly every time they fly. And more often than not, when an Arab or Muslim does commit a crime, the entire Arab and Muslim communities are expected to speak out against it (ask yourself: would we expect the same every time a Christian or white person committed a crime?).
Here’s a thought: Perhaps if people, and the media, made more of an effort to know the difference between a Muslim, an Arab, a Persian, a Hindu. . . or better yet, a Moroccan, a Syrian, a Saudi, a Kuwaiti. . . Perhaps if everyone made more of an effort to see people as unique peoples from particular countries and cultures, or better yet — as individuals! — they would be less likely to commit atrocious acts against them based on assumptions. Perhaps they would be less likely to expect Muslims as a group to speak for one individual Muslim, and perhaps they’d be more likely to understand that an entire mass of 325 million people who just happen to share a common language most certainly do not share a common perspective.
This article was originally published at the blog, stuff white people do, and on Jillian York's site. It is republished with the author's permission.