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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Conflicting Emotions

Man it’s tough just to keep your wits about you sometimes. I know there are some American greats who have moved past race, but I certainly haven’t. It colors so much of how we view the world. I’ve studied Middle Eastern politics, am studying Arabic, and still, I find myself essentially terrified of people wearing all that shit on their heads. Not really Sikhs, they always seem hip. But for example, I was driving home and about a block from my house was a young-ish guy with some kind of Afghanistan-looking contraption on his head sitting in a Scion xB. He’s probably a conservative, polite, religious fellow who would be a pleasure to know. But all I could think was, “dammit I don’t feel like getting blown up today.”

I’m just being honest. I know I can’t be the only person who battles with pre-programmed stereotypes. I KNOW it’s ignorant, but dude I can’t help the fact that they scare the shit outta me. Even the women.

I know how to address the problem, though. In my experience, most irrational fears can be cured by knowledge. I got to know this really sweet Muslim girl in one of my last classes. I initially felt somewhat, I’ll admit it, hostile towards her. I really believe the hijab is a means of subjugating women, and it pisses me off to see women voluntarily proclaiming themselves as inferior. Yes that’s my opinion that’s why I said it (I saw someone use that line on a message board and thought it was funny). I understand it’s in deference to God. But then why don’t men have to cover their faces? OK, anyway, my point was that my attitude towards this girl totally changed after having a conversation with her. I still disapprove of women covering themselves up, but it makes a huge difference to understand other people’s point of view. Of course one or two conversations isn’t enough to overcome a lifetime of negative stereotypes, but it’s a start.

So my point was, as individuals, both Muslim and non-Muslim, we need to seek out opportunities to get to know each other. I immediately got the vibe from this girl that there were a lot of negative stereotypes of non-Muslims that she held too. This I believe sums up the bulk of our country’s problem. You’ve got two groups of people who know very little about each other taking actions against one another based on misinformed stereotypes. I was surprised by the remarkable similarity between this girl’s world-view and that of a western Christian fundamentalist. I don’t mean that negatively either. I mean that her primary concerns were with morality and the negative influence of the media and American culture on people’s spiritual development.

OK, so I wanted to get that off my chest. Why? Well because this image got me pretty pissed off this morning. It’s hard not to hate these people when they kill someone like this. Just outta West Point. Beginning a successful career, killed before she even got her foot out the gate. Fucked up. R.I.P. Lt. Perez. Your country loves you, and appreciates your sacrifice. May God help us honor your memory.

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