I would just like to let people see things from a different point of view. I am one of the Arab Muslim students at Everett High School. People seem to think that we (the Arab community) weren’t really affected by Sept. 11, or that we were even happy.
After the Sept. 11 tragedy the media did things to portray Muslims in cruel ways, for example, making them look like cold-hearted terrorists. Such as when they showed a very small percentage of Palestinian kids dancing in the streets because they were “happy about what happened” in New York. It was only mentioned later that those few children only counted for a very small population of the Palestinian people. Sept. 11 affected not only the people who died and the people who knew them, but it affected the Arabs in this free country. The hate was turned towards us, like we personally had anything to do with it. We were just as shocked and terrified as anyone else. Mosques were vandalized, people harassed, fired from jobs, and it was just terrible!
Personally, I had people yelling to me, “This is America!” as if I don’t know that. People would stare at me, ignore me, and just be plain rude. I don’t feel safe or comfortable anymore going out to the store or the mall. The only place I can really say I feel comfortable is at school. The only harassment I got at school was from a freshman – enough said. The teachers and our principal, Mr. Sullivan, did a lot to make it clear to the students that we personally had nothing to do with Sept. 11, and harassment would not be tolerated. We’re normal teenagers too, we’re not terrorists. Thanks to all the teachers and students who tried to understand and not judge us just because of our nationality and religion.
Everett
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