What comes to your mind when you hear the name 'Khan'?
Is it terrorist?
If yes, then you are not alone. Studies say that most times when a non-Muslim hears a Muslim word or name, a sudden burst of fright is consumed by the non-Muslim, and he tries to stay as far from the Muslim as possible.
Today, I'm here writing this with the hope that maybe after reading this article, you won't be that 'scared' of that Muslim boy in your school- because he is just like you and me- part of a wrong stereotype and suffering humiliation for something that he shouldn't be ashamed of in the first place.
Did you know that white terrorist attacks are more prevalent than Islamic terrorist attacks all around the world?
White supremacy or white extremism is defined as a centered upon the belief, and promotion of the belief, that are superior in certain characteristics, traits, and attributes to people of other and that therefore white people should politically, economically and socially rule non-white people.
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(Ku Klux Klan)
Let me show you why you are wrong with some (shocking) facts relating to the United States of America:
■ White extremism was dominant in USA even after the American Civil War, which is said to be the bloodiest war ever fought in U.S. history. The war was caused due to the controversial issues of slavery, with over 4 million people (mostly African-Americans) denied liberty from bondage.
■ In some parts of the USA, many of the non-white people were barred from government offices and jobs till the second half of the 20th century. The right to vote was restricted to white men of property.
■ The Naturalisation Act of 1750 limited U.S. citizenship to white people only.
■ Many states of the USA had banned interracial marriages till 1967 when the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated this law.
■ Since 9/11, white right-wing terrorists have killed almost twice as many Americans in homegrown attacks than radical Islamists have, according to research by the New America Foundation.The above examples show us that Racism has not been eradicated as much as we have hoped. Racism exists not only in politics, movies, corporate jobs, etc but also extends to terrorism. In fact, most causes of terrorist attacks is race/religion itself.
The purpose of this article was not to degrade white people or to say that Muslim terrorists do not exist. I have just taken these two examples of races to show you that terrorism is not limited to a particular race or religion. What country you come from or the method by which you pray to God does not determine whether you are a terrorist or not. Terrorists can be found in most (if not all) religions and races, but remember that good people can be found too. If each and every one of us takes up a promise to be peaceful, starting with ourselves, then the world can be a better, peaceful place.
If each of us make it a habit to be calm with ourselves, then the world itself will be calm to us
