Preview

Islamophobia And The Injustice Of The Homeless

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
593 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Islamophobia And The Injustice Of The Homeless
Social Injustices occur everyday, especially in a hustle and bustle city like New York. It is sickening how many people are null to it and just decide to do nothing or walk away. It is our duty as human beings to prevent that, but unfortunately most fail. I’ve witnessed multiple forms of injustice in New York, but the two that stick in my mind is Islamophobia and the neglection of the homeless. It is known that ever since the tragedy of 9/11 Islamophobia in New York City has been evident. It is unfortunate in today’s society that even a presidential candidate is Islamophobic. One of the encounters of it that I witnessed resonated with me. I was on the subway and I noticed a couple of women with hijabs on just minding their business. The …show more content…
There is a homeless man that resides in my neighborhood everyday. The man has never once asked for money, nor anything for free. He even buys his own loose cigarettes instead of begging for them. The man seems like a good man, but just has some severe mental issues and no one helps him. Because of his modest and reserved personality, not that many people take notice of him. He rarely ever gets money and I’ve only seen one person ever talk to him. It is saddening that the least entitled man I’ve ever seen can be completely neglected. The neglection is due economic and social class. Most people haven’t experienced homelessness or even being close to it so they don’t have empathy since they weren’t in his shoes. They also feel that they are above him and shouldn’t have to even talk to the man. I am lucky with my circumstances in life and privileged to have a roof over my head and fridge with food. I was also privileged to have a job over the summer and took advantage of that by helping the man out with a large, iced drink. In other cases I’m under-privileged financially due to my family’s debt and income. My brother and I have to pay for our colleges primarily on our own, and our family is just making ends meet to pay for our education at Xavier. This has opened my eyes to help others that are less privileged than me and help connect with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Anne Applebaum’s "Veiled Insult" first appeared in the Washington Post in 2006. In this essay, Applebaum aims to convince her readers that it is disrespectful for Muslim women to wear their headscarves or niqabs (full bodied cloak) in our western society, just as it is disrespectful for our women to go to their society uncloaked. In delivering her message she also brings to attention the political issue of whether or not it is religious discrimination to allow, or not allow muslim women to wear their cloaks, and in the end she gives us her opinion, “it isn’t religious discrimination or anti-Muslim bias to tell her that she must be polite to the natives, respect the local customs, try to speak some of the local patois -- and uncover her face.” Applebaum uses her personal experiences combined with her American worldview to convince her readers (the American public) that for Muslim women to wear their cloaks in American culture is disrespectful and insensitive. Although those techniques may have worked, her strongest argument is perhaps playing on the emotions of the still sensitive and emotionally scarred, post 9/11…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Both modern day society’s view on homeless people and the donation of money to a poor homeless man support my opinion on the situation. Modern day society’s view on homeless people is that they are dirty bums who have nothing better to do in life than to sit on the street and beg for money. This is wrong in that many…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Naheed Mustafa, a young Muslim who began to wear the hijab once she blossomed out of her teenage years, finds it difficult to apprehend the fact as to why society views her differently compared to other girls her age. Due to the mere fact that she wears a hijab, she gets a “whole gamut of strange looks, stares, and covert glances.” Because she lives in Canada, which adapts the Western culture, wearing a hijab is not very common. Because of this Naheed and many others like her, are often viewed as outcasts and treated differently. This takes a huge toll on one’s identity which can be either negative or positive. However, Naheed abides by her choices and wishes to make a positive change out of it.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a Muslim who has grown up in America I related to this article on so many levels. Even though racism exists and the world is full of ignorant people, you can't never truly grasp the idea until you're a victim of it. Around the time of the September 11 attacks, I went to the mall with my aunt who was wearing a hijab or a traditional Islamic covering. Every store we walked into the reactions were the same and the customer service horrible. Store clerks would just turn away instead of greeting or welcoming us to the store, you could see the discomfort and revulsion on their faces as they checked us out. This truly sadden me, and showedme how hateful and ignorant people were.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you know what is really going on in our world? Behind the safety of your closed doors there is social injustice. Our past and present is a world full of unfairness. For example how the “Okies” were treated in The Grapes of Wrath, or how of the rich get richer and go to private boarding schools to get the best education in The Catcher in the Rye. Social Injustice arises when equals are treated unequally and unequals are treated equally…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Muslims After 9/11 Essay

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Participants were concerned by the use of the term “Islamophobia”, which currently describes attitudes and behaviors ranging from hate crimes to housing discrimination and has led to unclear and inconsistent use. Several participants noted that the term leads all problems experienced by Muslims to be viewed as religious based, when race, culture, and socio-economic factors have also been cited as reasons for tensions and problems.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Muslim women obviously dress very different than other Americans and their dress apparel stands out. This is one of the biggest issues and challenges that Muslim women in American face. They are taunted, and harassed every day because of the head-coverings that they wear, which is known as the “hijab”. Hijab, is Arabic for “cover”, which is extended to mean modesty and privacy. Hijab is actually a practice, but when women are practicing Hijab, is when they wear the scarf they wear. It usually covers the head, neck, and majority of the face in some situations, leaving the eyes open. Muslim women follow the rules of the Hijab, to show their submission to and love for God. However, this is all usually very misinterpreted. Women are looked down upon when they are wearing their head-coverings. Muslim women who wear head scarves are more likely than those who don’t to say they face discrimination and a hostile environment. Sixty-nine percent of women who wear hijab reported at least one incident of discrimination compared to 29% of women who did not wear the hijab. Muslim women have been prohibited from wearing their head-coverings in a number of contexts. These women have been…

    • 3795 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday when I am driving to college, I see homeless people on the side of the road and I can't help wondering if there is any way I could help them out. Housing First is a program solely dedicated to giving chronically homeless and homeless citizens a home first, although this program is mainly intended for chronically homeless citizens it can also be used by homeless citizens. Chronically homeless citizens have been living on the streets for more than a year, and homeless citizens have been living on the streets for less than a year. Once they are settled in their case manager they were assigned, help them focus on getting a job or rehabilitation if needed. The program also reduces the amount of money the state spends on chronically homeless…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Homeless Ethics Paper

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages

    I come from a fairly large city in California so I’ve been around many homeless people throughout my life. I’ve had good and bad experiences when it comes to being around them and dealing with them. My initial view of the homeless is that they are somewhat lazy and that a lot of them are on drugs. I feel this way because I’ve seen and dealt with so many sick, obnoxious people on the streets aggressively asking for money. I always think to myself, if I were in that situation I would find a way. There are so many resources that help people get back on their feet. Instead of begging on the streets, I would go get help. Instead of asking for money, I would ask for help from one of the many organizations so I can find a job and make my own money. However, there is another side of me that is extremely empathetic. This side of me knows that something sad and unfortunate must have happened to these people and that this life isn’t their choice. For example, children that are born into homeless families, people with mental illnesses, and of course people who have been laid off of work.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Whenever I walked down the street and see a homeless individual, I do nothing. I can’t really spare change because I use the money I have getting to and paying for school. But I also feel like there’s a bystander effect I think that someone will eventually help, mostly the government. I also feel like homelessness is a really big issue for me to tackle alone. So to answer this question, well I don’t really have an answer, but in my opinion the first step would be to have the willingness to take that first step which is to recognize the homelessness and housing is a problem, I also need to become more educated especially since I never really thought about homelessness and poor quality…

    • 1635 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dale Partridge once said, 'You were born with the ability to change someone's life, don't waste it." Throughout our lives, most people choose to ignore helping those in need. Many of those people, did not choose to be in a situation where they have to ask for help. At one point, homeless people had dreams of becoming someone important in life. Despite the situations these people have gone through , helping the homeless can change our community by lowering crime rates, and having hard workers.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Walking down the street we see many civilians a day living their own individual lives, but we never think what they could be going through or what situation they are in. We stereotype their status by what clothes they wear and how they put themselves together. We see the people who don 't value money like they should because it comes so easy for them, and we see the people who struggle to get a meal each day. The people who we see that struggle for that meal, struggle to think about where they are going to sleep that night. Many people think that all homeless people are acts and just pretend to be homeless so they don 't have to have a job or they are too lazy and need to find work, or even spend all their money on alcohol and drugs. Although many people like that believe in those…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They face being, cold, hungry, afraid, and alone. Almost half of America’s homeless children are under the age of six, they cannot survive by themselves. Six percent of homeless children die before the seventh birthday due to malnutrition, as a result of living on the streets. Yet and still nobody cares. You get too comfortable in the life you live and take it for granted. You see people who need help and still act as if they did something to you and they cannot be helped. You call them “bums”, “dirtybutts” and all types of names just because that is what society teaches you. But you forget that one day you could be in that same situation going through the same…

    • 2150 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Poverty in America is a subject that though everybody recognizes is existent, most do not pay attention to very often. In 2010 the poverty line for a family of four was $22,314.00 and 15.1% of Americans were living off of less than that (Tavernise, 2011). While 15.1% is a high number to begin with, the truth is that many more people are living on the verge of homelessness. Countless families are split up every night with children going to a friend’s house or an extended family member’s house to ensure that everyone has somewhere to sleep. These people are called the “hidden homeless” by the Charlotte Observer (Whitesides, 2011). Even more people are either living in tent cities or in their cars all around the United States. The events that lead to homelessness range from drug abuse to being laid off from a career because of a poor economy; but sadly the former makes it seem as if everyone who is homeless is in their situation because of their own faults. Many people who are approached by someone who is homeless or sees them panhandling for money hesitate to offer money because of the discourse that all homeless people are alcoholics and drug abusers. Unfortunately, the truth is that “many adults panhandle on corners for money to pay for a cheap motel room so that their children can have a warm place to sleep for the night” (Whitesides, 2011). Through this essay, the topic of homelessness and poverty in America will be explored by understanding some of the causes that have contributed to poverty throughout history and how the homeless are coping with their situation.…

    • 2431 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mosque Trip Report

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Of all the places in the world that I would like to see it had never occurred to me that I would actually visit a mosque. Even if I had desired to visit a mosque I believed that Christians such as myself would not be welcome. In reality, we were warmly received by a body of children Muslims by waving to us from above, eager to share their beliefs at the Islamic Association of North Texas - Dallas Central Mosque. From the moment we entered the lobby, our guide, an outgoing young man named Ken, patiently answered questions posed by my fellow classmates. While he described the mosque’s procedures, protocol and various rooms and purposes, a group of young women caught my eye. Each one wore a different type of hijab, a head covering. Muslims proudly wear the differences of their multi-cultural community through their clothing, prayer postures, and accents all the while embracing the common threads of faith and hospitality that serve to bind them together.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays