OUR STORY
THESE ARE OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ON SOCIAL ISSUES
AIZA'S STORY
Hi, I'm Aiza Akhtar and this is my story. Growing up as an American Pakistani, Muslim girl, it was really hard. In elementary school I was constantly called a terrorist and being asked Bin Laden was my uncle, oviously that isn't true. My fellow peer's would pick on me and call me names for being myself and expressing my culture. There was a point in my life where I hated being Muslim and Pakistani because of all the racist comments I was getting. As a little kid you don't really understand what is happening, but as I got older it started to make sense, but at the same time the comment were getting worse. People in my school would run passes me scream "Allahu Akbar",god is greater. To them it was a word that they associated with terrorism, but to me, I say that when I am praying, Allah (swt) is my god and it hurt when they would do that. But I didn't let it phase me. I started to imbrace my culture more and started to educate people about my relgion. There is a huge sitgma around Muslims becuase of all the terroist groups claiming to be Muslims and I want to help break that. If you actually look at Islam it is a very peacful reglion and people choose to belive what ever the news says in ture, when it is not. There has been numerous time where I would be in tradional Pakistani clothes and would go to the store to get something and I would be followed around. I also live in a very diverse town and it still happens so much. It is not just in my town, every single time I go to the airport my whole family and I will get an extra security check. We live in where people are scared of you based on you skin color or relgion. It should not be thsi way. People have discriminated to so many years on end.
JUSTINE'S STORY
Hi, I'm Justine Sarkodie and this is my story. The current racial debates and protests have forced me to reflect on what it means to be a person of color. Being black in America shouldn’t be such a struggle but it is, and I want people to at least try to understand where I’m coming from. My skin color comes with an abundant amount of stereotypes and as a result, I felt like the whole world was out to get me. People assume that I am ghetto, unprofessional, and unintelligent. Though I refused to let their opinions become a reality and felt the need to prove myself. I sought the validation of those around me. I strived to be the first in my class, to get good grades, and be involved in so many extracurriculars. Despite my efforts, my own people still found ways to bring me down, saying things like, “she’s just trying to act white.” They themselves became so comfortable with the poor representation of black people that they refused to believe being black and successful could coexist. Slowly I realized that they can coexist and I had to trust that staying true to myself will always be good enough. I’m proud to be black. I’m proud to be the student that strives for more both in and out of the classroom. I began to fall in love with who I am. I stopped letting people make me feel like striving to be great was a bad thing. Being black and successful doesn’t mean you're trying to be white, it means that you’re proving society wrong and that’s a goal I will always strive to accomplish.
JAMES' STORY
Hi, I'm James Moreno and this is my story about how I was able to educate myself and leave my own ignorance behind. Coming from a once close minded hispanic household, there was much racism involved as I grew up particularly towards the black community. Even my family that would come from Ecuador would have something unjust to say towards them. They would believe dumb sterotypes that all black people are thugs, or that black people are lazy, or even that they are violent people. And for a while, I believed them. Growing up and only hearing racist things about a group of people, you start to believe them for yourself. Sadly, I fell victim to this as well. These racist stereotypes and generalizations became embedded into my mindset and this hindered me from being able to treat others equally, the way we should all be treated. The way I was able to let go of this ignorance and find value in all people regardless of their skin tone or complexion was through communication with people of all different backgrounds. In high school I was able to meet so many intelligent and dedicated black students that live their lives going against these stereotypes that give black people such a bad reputation and why racism has been such a struggle for them to overcome for centuries. I discovered for myself that my black friends and black people in general do not all live up to these bad stereotypes and that many of them are very hardworking people that just want to have a successful future. It is unjust and a crime to generalize an entire community in such hateful ways that promote the racism we have been seeing over the past couple of months. I can say for sure that after opening my mind to other possibilities and giving others a chance, I feel like a more supportive and loving person to all people, and it truly has taught me to look beyond people’s skin color and to instead judge others as individuals, not based off of stereotypes that ignorant people believe in order to bash an entire community of 41.4 million African American people here in the U.S. The incident of police brutality on George Floyd helped me realize that I am an ally and it filled me with anger that a police man would do that to a citizen over their skin color, something that we are born with, something that we cannot change. I have taken it upon myself to educate my family members and help teach them about the wrongs of being racist and judging others based on their skin colors. It is my duty as something who is open minded and educated to teach others and correct them when they say something that is blatantly disrespectful. There is no justification for racism,and racism isn’t an opinion. It is hate and we should not stand for it. I am glad I have been able to better myself and come out of this shell of ignorance that was forced upon me as a kid. People are people and we should all be treated the same way we would want to be treated despite our differences. My journey was by no means an easy one and it was very difficult with the differing beliefs of my family, but I know my journey was one of the best decisions I could have made to help everyone around me feel good about themselves and comfortable around me as someone who will never judge based on something so trivial as the color of your skin. Thanks for reading.
PAULINA'S STORY
Hi, I'm Paulina Maczko and this is my story. Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, as a white person never really had an affect on me until I started going to high school. My friend group became more diverse and we would always talk about certain issues ranging from how their day was to what’s going on in the government. Hearing their experiences made me realize how much of white privilege I actually have, and I wish I recognized it sooner. The common misconception of white privilege is that white people, or those who appear as if they are white(have a light skin tone) don’t have any struggles in life. I spend a lot of time explaining to those people that it’s actually not what white privilege is. I’m aware of my white privilege and I’m aware that it doesn’t mean that I don’t have any struggles in life, but it certainly does make my life easier. I don’t experience a brief feeling of anxiety when I pass a group of police officers, I have never experienced walking into a room and having the woman next to me clutch her purse closer to her. I know that if I got pulled over, I most definitely would not get the same treatment as someone who is POC. Understanding the fact that I have white privilege has made me more aware how discriminatory society still is, how they tend to forget that segregation was still around 60 years ago. I use my white privilege to help those who are treated differently based on their skin color, and I want to keep helping those people, and eventually be a part of the change in the justice system/how society views people who have a darker complexion.
ARAFAH'S STORY
Hi, I'm Arafah Shahil and this is my story. Growing up as a Muslim-American I can say from first hand the different underlying issues that I faced and my fellow Muslims have is astonishing. After the 9/11 attacks, people have pictured Muslims as being “terrorists.” In school mostly, is where I faced discimination and hateful comments that really made me angry. I even began questioning my own religion because I was so brainwashed by the remarks people would make. As I grew up I realized I was being discriminated against because of my religion. Alot of my friends didn’t even understand the teachings of my religion and assumed it was just a violent religion. I never let that get to me because I knew that Islam was nothing like that. I decided to educate friends about the matter and although some were ignorant I knew that by me educating them on the topic I was spreading the correct teachings of Islam. Oppression, discrimination, hatred, is all I have faced and many other Muslims throughout America. The best way to deal with that is through educating people on the truth. Sexism was also a major issue, as people confused culture with religion. The way women were treated in my country and other countries made me want to advocate for them. Women were told to be servants for men and only obey men. Women were told to wear clothes that cover their entire bodies. However, none of these “teachings'' ever applied to men. There on I realized the significance of the issue and raised advocacy to even my own parents. All I can say is that things have to change and oppression and discrimination need to be stopped. It’s an underlying mis understanding of the past that leaves residue in the minds of the ignorant.