At work a few days ago, I had a grown ass man ask me if I was related to Saddam Hussein. If it was a child at the school that I work at, I would have written it off as curiosity and a learning experience, but when you are a TEACHER, it gets written off as ignorance and stupidity, sir.
Now, I have had my fair share of people ask me that question, and my fair share of times, I have looked people straight in the eye, deadpan, and said, "Yeah, he's my uncle." Just like Will Smith is related to John Smith, and Denzel Washington is related to George Washington (for all I know, they might be, I did not research this ... But, for the sake of making a point, there you go).
Usually after saying that people realize, "Shit, I look like an dumb mf-er right now." Nope. Not this guy. He straight up was like, "Nooooooo wayyyy." Ummmm, first off, our names are not even spelled the same, bro. Second off, NO. We are not all related. And, lastly, comparing me to one of the world's most hated men and maniacal terrorists in the history of time - super offensive, especially in light of recent events.
For anyone who may have this compartmental way of thinking - yes, it may make your black and white life easier - but it is NOT RIGHT.
When you talk and you say things like "People from there are blah blah blah" or "I guess it was the so-and-so's again" and "The terrorists did this ..." you are simply exacerbating an already hateful world. And when you do say these things do you think about who the "people" are that you are referring to and who "the terrorists" are? When you say things like that, you have already painted a picture of who the problem is, and of who a terrorist is. You are simply adding fire to an already humongous flame. A terrorist can be anybody. Terrorism knows no creed, color, nationality, religion, or ethnicity. Yousef Erakat of FouseyTube put out this video today, which I think sums it up wonderfully, especially when hate crimes have already been on the rise in the past week against what many people paint as the stereotypical "terrorist" in today's society.
Now, am I saying that a terrorist is never a Muslim? Obviously not. Am I saying that they are never of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent ... No. I'm not that naive. What I am saying is that there is no reason to paint all people of one faith, or one color, into one horrible picture, and to put them in one small box. That is simply ignorant.
And, on top of that, I refuse to get into the "But guys, you need to understand you shouldn't do that because Islam is a peaceful religion" argument ... Because, you know what, personally, I am tired of having to apologize for the sins of others. I am tired of having to think, after every horrible tragedy, "I hope it wasn't a Muslim" for fear of all Muslims being blamed, and I am sure that this is the feeling of billions of Muslims all over the world.
As the innocent bystanders of these horrible incidents that occur, we also deserve the time to grieve alongside the rest of humanity but oftentimes we are not given that because we are too busy worrying about apologizing for the actions of others, but you know what? I'm sorry I'm not sorry. There is no reason that the innocent should have to apologize for the misguided actions of a select group. What I should be able to be sorry for are the families who lose loved ones in these tragedies. I should be able to mourn the lose of life due to these actions ...
But the one thing I will not do from this moment on is apologize for the actions of others.
Why can't we talk it over? Always seems to me that sorry seems to be the hardest word. (Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Elton John)
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