Students Wear Hijabs for a Day
Salma Syed and Kayla Lee participate in the Muslim Student Association meeting.
Islamaphobia is certainly no new concept for America; Muslim Americans have experienced years of discrimination, including anything from hate crimes to certain presidential candidates suggesting to ban an entire population of people altogether. Following the San Bernandino shootings, some broadcast stations even went as far as pointing out items such as prayer rugs and The Quran while investigating the home of the suspected shooters, thus inappropriately politicizing such significant material signs of faith.
In an interview by Huffington Post, Muslim American Rowaida Abdelaziz spoke about the issue.
“If someone went through my apartment they’d see those exact same things,” Abdelaziz said. “These are things that I use for my personal life, to get me through my day to day, that emphasize my spirituality…and all of a sudden, they are being equated to the tools of a terrorist.”
Panther Creek’s Muslim Student Association held a meeting last Thursday featuring guest speaker Tara Olhoft to talk about the basics of Islam, beliefs that are common among Muslims, and the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the Muslim faith in order to eradicate false stereotypes that uninformed people may believe to be true.
A few students wore a hijab for a day and shared some experiences and reactions they had received, including seniors Kayla Lee and Chandra Manivannan (pictured below in our gallery), both agreeing that while they received a few “weird looks”, there was nothing blatantly negative about anyone’s reaction – “Panther Creek is a pretty welcoming community,” Lee says.
While wearing a hijab for a day of course doesn’t make anyone automatically qualified to know exactly what it’s like to be a Muslim living in America, it’s certainly a step towards progress to understanding, and an eye-opening experience. The step is small, but definitely taken.
If you missed the meeting, you can check out photos from the meeting and the presentation below.
