Written by Joseph Mayton from
hittp:/'www thedaily bast.com/witw/articles/20 13/08) 16/being-2-muslim-american-woman-
the-decade-after-9-11.ntm|
Written 08.17.13
"It ls Hard Emotionally To Be
A Muslim In America
More than a decade on from 9/11, young Muslim-American women still
report experiencing suspicion and discrimination. Joseph Mayton talks to
San Francisco-area girls about growing up Muslim in the U.S.
Standing in the light drizzle, 17-year-old Fatima packs groceries into her 1990s
red Honda Civie. Its the daily pick-up from a San Francisco Bay Area Middle
Eastern market for her parents, who don’t get off work until Spm. Fatima
believes family is important. She’s not an immigrant, but over the past decade,
she says, the feeling of being an outsider has become all-too-common,
“Lwas only five when September 1th happened, I don’t remember much,” she
said as she placed the final two bags into the trunk, shutting the door calmly.
“Everything seemed fine and normal until we were at Disneyland when I was
eight or nine and someone just told us ‘go back to your country’. I was surprised
because I am American and didn’t think about anything like that.”
‘These types of interactions went on for years, she said, Her darker skin, her
mother’s veil and her name were all scrutinized—at school, with friends, at the
cinema and almost everywhere. She had to grow up fast and develop a thick
skin,
“It was hard for my parents to deal with the things people said to me at school. I
‘was called a terrorist and other horrible names in middle school and even still
in high school after the Boston attack,” she says. “I think itis getting better, but
it is hard emotionally to be a Muslim in America.”
According to the United States government, some 65 percent of the Muslim-
American population are first-generation immigrants, and 61 percent of theforeign-bom arrived in the 1990s or the past decade. Seventy-seven percent of
Muslims living in the United States are citizens, with 65 percent of the foreign
bom being naturalized citizens. By way of comparison, only 58 percent of
foreign-born Chinese living in the United States are naturalized citizens.
Fatima is among the millions of young Muslim women who have grown up in
‘America following the September 11 attacks. Many of these gitls say they have
struggled to find their identity, facing verbal attacks for their ethnic and
religious persuasion.
Salma, a 25-year-old university graduate working at a Los Angeles marketing
firm, believes the way that Muslims have been portrayed in the media over the
past decade has played a major role in the antagonisms directed against her.
| wear a headscarf and this attracts a lot of attention,” she began. “When I go
shopping, people look at me, kids stare and sometimes I get questions as to why
Tam supporting the Islamic oppression of women.
Salma grew up in Orange County, California, went to UCLA and holds a job
with the potential for massive growth. But as a Muslim-American woman, the
afiershocks of September 11 have affected her daily activities.
“We Muslim girls have always struggled against America’s dislike of Islam and
for those of us who wear the veil, itis a difficult situation. We are seen as anti-
‘American just because we are Muslim. I don’t know how many times in school
Theard my classmates accuse me of being al-Qaeda or a terrorist. Twice, boys in
iy class pushed me around, saying ‘Isn’t this the Islamic way?" It was hard and
I still struggle to make sense of what it means to be American and Muslim.”
Dozens of other young Muslim-American women voiced similar tales to me
about facing down prejudice, racism and anti-Islamic sentiments during their
formative years. Some rebelled against their Islamic faith, like Sarah, 22, who
said in high school she joined the Christian student group on campus in order to
“fit in.”
[regret that now because my heritage and background is important to me as an
‘Arab and a Muslim, We must fight against the bigotry that continues to be heard
and seen in this country. The attacks on mosques, after I started to become more
aware, were the tuming point in my life because I felt the need to become an
advocate for women,” he said.For Sarah, that meant making friends and family aware of the struggle to be a
Muslim girl in America. She said that in college, many of her fellow students
‘would sexualize her behavior at parties and events.
“It was shocking. They were like, ‘Oh, you're an Arab and Muslim, so where’s
the harem and all the men?” It was hard to deal with because the perception and
understanding of Muslim women in our society is so limited to the oppression
of women in Islam, even though other faiths and other groups are equally as
restrictive,” she says.
Despite the negativity of being labeled un-American, these Muslim-American
‘women still hope for a better future.
tly after 9/11 I definitely felt more on-guard and constantly defensive, as
if L was the sole representative of Muslims and Islam,” said Alisha B., an
environmental NGO leader in New York, who was 18 years old when the
Towers fell. “People didn't know much about the religion back then just that it
was bad and there was not much knowledge of different types of Islam.”
Alisha recalls how, as a university freshman visiting Six Flags with her family,
‘aman yelled at her father, “Screw you, Osama.”
“People would also ask me offensive questions like if] hated Jews,” Alisha
says. She is of Indian heritage, does not wear a hijab and doesn’t have a
noticeably Muslim name, so “it was easy for me to just not discuss religion at
‘work for a number of years. It was easier to not deal with a difficult
conversation about Muslims, Islam and prying questions about why I do or do
not practice parts of my religion.”
But Alisha also believes that America is changing, especially in the past few
years as society moves away from September 11 and its legacy. She thinks that
depictions of Muslims in the media have changed as more American Muslims
speak out about their faith, and that acceptance can occur.
“I think we live in a much more accepting time than the immediate post 9-11
years, but there is still alot of work to be done. I'm in an interfaith marriage
With a Jewish man, and we are still struggling to find an accepting faith
community.”