Exploring The Common Experiences And The Emotional Aspect Of Muslim Culture
The point of this paper is to step out of my shoes and into another person’s shoes, which are those of a Muslim. By exploring the common experiences and the emotional aspect while realizing prime differences between our cultures. Within my own perspective, they are certainly different and I do not understand as to why they are labeled as “violent” or are seen as “terrorists”, assumptions like these come from people who have lived in the US their whole lives, like myself. I come from a middle-class Hispanic household and come from a very distinct place than those who would come from a Muslim culture. While studying the in-text sources it will help me have a better outlook on this cultural group. Labels distanced them from what was “normal” like Palo Atlans: white, clean-cut, and wealthy. That separation didn’t always exist but it was made by the conclusions of what “normal” Palo Altans made through labels. Just like Carlos in Torres’s story he couldn’t handle the labels that were thrown at him because those words hurt him more than anything, so he became the outsider.
I come from a place where people put another individual beneath their own personal microscope of stereotypes and then labeling them as something they are or are not. I take in consideration what would be their initial reaction and how it could affect them. Yet, what would happen if I were not privileged? It is true people would note make racial comments or look at me funny every time I would walk by them. If I were to be Muslim, the life I would be living would be completely different from the one I am living now.
My normal life living style such as my clothing attire would drastically standout while working at a job in a white dominated area. The rule is to promote modesty meaning to cover my body expect for my face and hands. As part of my culture, it is difficult for a white person to understand my way of dress here in America. “Culture is traditionally defined as the “total way of life” of a group of people. It encompasses both material and symbolic components and is an important dimension of understanding human life”. With my way of dress/appearance, that would give the public a reason to begin to stereotype and label me as a terrorist.
Due to my religious beliefs, there is a higher probability that I would need to work harder to get accepted in a working place and becoming part of the American society. Trying to live a normal life despite the fact that I belong to a different culture. I work my way into society every day and try to live a normal life. Because of my culture and customs, my interaction with society is very limited as I don’t share the same social activities as white individuals. “Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow “them” to be more like “us”. I have come to the conclusion that the attire and religion, particularity with white individuals will be more socially accepted into society. Making it difficult for people like myself of different customs or of other cultures to be understood and accepted here in the United States. “Because the concept of difference contains the unspoken question “different from what?” the difference framework can privilege those who are deemed to be “normal” and stigmatize people who are labeled as “different”.
Racism has been around for quite a while and targets many cultures not just Blacks and Whites as you saw in Jeremiah’s Torres’s excerpt on Label Us Angry. In this reading, it expressed the concern of racism among another culture while living in a white dominated area. While coming to a conclusion it seems as though we as human beings need to learn on how to embrace the differences or others, regardless of any labels that are been thrown. “Society constructs ideas, rules, and practices that define some groups in racial terms – and differently at different points in time. Racial meanings constantly change as institutions evolve and as different groups contest prevailing racial definitions”. Other issues that arise are that many people misinterpret what would be the differences between prejudice and racism.
Prejudice is more referred to people’s attitudes, “a hostile attitude toward people who are presumed to have alleged negative characteristics associated with a group to which they belong”. Racism is known to be discrimination against another race, “a system of power and privilege”. Many people think that expressing racism is always full of hate, well not always. Racists think that their race is more superior to others, rather where prejudice is thinking you are better than them. The laws, restrictions, and other standards in our civilization have been created by most in order to generate these prejudices against one another, varying from groups. My personal reflection would be that I didn’t think once what it would be like to be in the shoes of those of a Muslim’s. This is because I am content with where I am and I would have an uneasy feeling as to what it would be like to actually be them. The privileges I have would include being of the white race, and being treated well so far. “What it does mean is that I am also receiving an advantage that other people are denied, people who are like me in every way expect for being assigned to different categories”.
As a Hispanic woman, I can offer somewhat of advice to a person of a different culture, as that of a Muslim. I would be able to relate to the racism/ discrimination that would they have experienced while being here in the US. I can listen to what they have to say and share my experiences that I have encountered while living here. I will be able to relate as to how they feel in a sense as to what they are going to. “Understanding how privilege and oppression operate and how you participate in it is where working for change begins”.
