Thank you so much for giving me permission to do so.
I had a very interesting evening on Gather last night. I am relatively new to the community and I had the impression that it was a place for intellectuals, artists and thinkers of all sorts to "gather" and critique, discuss and brainstorm with and for each other. I still feel that it is, but I am truly realizing the diversity in this gathering community.
There was a woman online last night espousing hate and stereotypes. If she were able to present herself in a more coherent manner then I am sure people would have responded to her ideas and points more thoughtfully. As it was (and I am speaking for myself but I don't think I am alone) there was an instant disgust and contempt for anything she had to say. It was almost a knee jerk response to blanket statements, poor presentation and irrationality. It was like Fox News created a persona here on Gather and asked a 12 year old to write it.
But it got me to thinking. I have not always been a defender of Muslims. To tell you the truth, they scared me. It was so foreign, alien and counter to everything I believed and felt. Burqas? Barbaric. Jihad? Must be from another planet. Martyrs? Insanity. Ironically, I lived in India for three years as a preteen and interacted with and befriended many Muslims. But that was before 9/11 and before I was old enough to see beyond a shared candy bar or math homework. In fact, I used to beg my father to buy me a Burqa because the bilious black robes looked so fanciful and luxurious.
But after 9/11 I became a hater. I wanted to join the armed forces and kill me some "hajis." I forgot all about my childhood friends and remembered my Women Studies discussions on the evil oppression of the Burqa. I thought Cat Stevens was a freak (oops, still do) and mistrusted anything Islam. But then I started to read and learn and experience life some more. I traveled. I questioned the lines our government was feeding us. However, as this vignette will illuminate; it's hard to fully eradicate prejudice.
I lived in Tanzania for almost six months, returning home this April. While there, I met many Muslims who came from families that practiced Islam for generations; long before any Christians showed up. Most coastal regions in both East and West Africa are predominantly Muslim because Arab traders came down along the coast. They bought, sold and converted before Europeans knew of the large landmass to the South. These Arabs weren't angels. Many of the things they bought were human bodies to be sold into bondage up North. But Islam has been around, thriving for a long time in Africa in one form or another. I also met many Indians in Tanzania, many of whom were Muslim. This was a legacy of the British colonizers who brought over boatfuls to build railroads, mine and farm for them when the local tribes proved to be unwilling and hostile.
It begins in search of a light bulb. I found a hardware store about ten minutes from my house in the Tanzanian equivalent to the strip mall. All of the store owners were Indian. Entering this store I was confronted with what looked to me like an Al'Qaeda terrorist in casual business attire. A long beard decorated a thin face and was topped with large protuberant eyes. Large deep shadows under the eyes gave his face a haunted look and his mouth seemed to droop down at the corners in permanent sadness or disappointment. I visibly halted at the door. We were the only people in this small store and I couldn't help but feel a thrill of fear and fascination. Muslim men in Tanzania don't usually wear beards like that; the black Africans, as a whole, don't produce a whole lot of facial hair and the Indians I met just didn't have them. I was, I'll admit, scared of this man. Seriously, I felt that maybe I could call the Embassy and tell them I found the Al'Queda Tanzanian contact; they could call off the search. And though I knew that I wasn't being logical, there was no reason for my fear, I couldn't shake it. Simply judging by this man's appearance (hammered into my head by American media), I was quivering in my boots (sandals, really).
We exchanged greetings and he asked me my name. It has been a habit of mine to assume a local name when visiting a country so that I can break the ice and make people smile. In Tanzania I had to choose two names based on religion. One name was Christian and one name was Muslim. Naturally I gave this could-be-terrorist my Islamic name.
"Asha," I said and asked my own question, "Have you lived in Dar es Salaam your whole life?" Maybe I could get him to admit that he was from Saudi or the hilly regions of Afghanistan.
"Yes," he replied, "Where are you from?" Should I tell him that I was American? He might take out a home made bottle bomb and kill me right then and there...I decided to risk it.
When I told him that I was from the USA he became very animated and happy. He explained that he had a brother living there and that he himself had visited last year. I couldn't help but wonder if his brother was part of a suicide squad infiltrating American society. When he said that he'd been to the US for a conference I couldn't help but wonder if he was scouting out ideal sites for potential destruction. I am completely serious. These things really crossed my mind simply because he was a Muslim with a long beard and dark features. Nothing in our interaction led me to believe that this man was a terrorist. My fear was based solely on his appearance. We had had a very educated conversation. This man knew English very well and he even helped me with my Swahili. He spoke warmly of his family and wished me good luck in my endeavors to study. He was polite and helpful and went out of his way to get me the best light bulb for my needs. Yet I was freaked out by protuberant eyes and facial hair.
I left the store, light bulb in hand, shaking my head at my folly and wondering at this newly discovered side to myself. I was befriending Muslims on a daily basis, assuming an Islamic name and preaching tolerance and understanding, but I couldn't get over my irrational, instinctual fear of this man. I vowed to return and further eradicate irrational prejudice but I never did. I never saw that man again. Maybe it's because his terrorist cell needed him to go kill some innocents on a London train or something.
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Comments: 27
Americans are so blissfully ignorant, it is hard to argue or educate them. I worked under the auspices of the US Embassy in Riyadh, and was in charge of testing American children as they entered country, as to school placement. In order to attend the American school, children had to pass age. Grade equivalence tests. Unfortunately, if kids were older than 7 or 8, less than 5% tested high enough to attend the prestigious American school. And as kids were increasingly older upon entry to the country, they were far less likely to test high enough to attend ANY western school!
That is how abysmally lacking our educational system is for most American kids. The tests were administered to all expat children, no matter what their country of origin. Far more kids from other countries could pass the rigorous English, science, languages, math and "cultures" tests than American children could.
We would come up with a tutoring plan, and have the American kids apply to schools with less stringent standards. Most attended the Liberian or French schools.
I only share this as an example of how unprepared our children, and majority of adults are for the global economy. Most are very narrow minded, easily misled, mono languaged (Americans are the only ppl who basically speak one language), and unaware of the vast cultural and social divides that make up the majority of our global population. Differences do not make other populations wrong or ignorant. It is our own ignorance and lack of understanding that causes us such great anxiety and distress.
Our current administrations lack of cultural, social tribal and regional understanding of the middle east is a perfect example of how American ignorance will cost us our future.
Jackie, thanks so much for your addition. You should publish that as another article (that I can later beg to use again).
And this was a great article to steal, Sandy. Loved it just as much the second time around.
And Jackie's comment on the education is very informative and we have so much work to do to get our children ready for whatever the world is going to become in the future. I agree that not enough Americans realize their address ends with USA, Planet Earth.
Thanks for sharing a wonderful article.
That's an amazing story. I went to the American Embassy School in New Delhi for 3 years and upon returning to school in the US I found that we were reading books and doing math from classes I had taken 2 years previously.
(I quickly adjusted though ;-))
Did you wear a head scarf when you went out?
We almost were sent to UAE after India but the govt there decided it didn't want to adhere to the US's security procedures involved in buying the computer. India did.
Anyway - you should definitely expand on your story and print it as an article. Then I'll steal it and republish it here!
Thanks Sandy - this is great!
Excellent post - thanks to you and to Sandy.
I lived with my family in muslim countries for 18 years. Like you & others who commented, I befriended many Muslims. After returning to the US, I even hosted the daughter of a good Muslim friend for 2 years while she finished high school and enrolled in college here.
Even so, I understand your reaction to the shop keeper. Further, I don't believe that the admittedly poor American education is uniquely to blame for the ill will between Americans and Muslims from other countries. The poor education of too many Muslims contributes mightily, as does the seemingly reluctant criticism of fundamentalist Muslim extremism by mainstream Muslims. Just today, NPR reported on a Muslim immigrant man to the US who was sentenced to jail for sexually mutilating his young daughter. Every day we see rabid demonstrators calling for death to Americans and Israelis. American kids in Iowa have nothing to do with generating that hatred, regardless of their ignorance of the world.
Fair comments. Still, there are behaviors that are outrages against humanity, even if they are religiously or culturally inspired. We should "be outraged" at that behavior, without hating all members of the perpetrating culture, whether we are part of that culture or not. There are just so many examples of such outrageous behavior in Muslim societies, and too little outrage among Muslims over it.
Ignorance is one of the reasons why people hating each other. And ignorance comes from lack of education, interaction, understanding. In my interaction with Americans (my husband is American writer/novelist), they are very educated and have more tolerance and understanding. But of course there are those who are not. In my country, the same ignorance applies too. A group of people just hates Americans, well sometimes it is just the 'white' persons based on ignorance. Majority hates communists because of ignorance of what is communism and hearing only propagandas that were hammered to them.
Thank you-Thank you.
;p
;-)
I'm off to read Ms. Rachaelle now so (TJ) she gets the comments she deserves too.