One World, Many Colors
One World, Many Colors
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Discrimination is one of the world’s major concerns today. Many people are not aware of how much it still exists in our schools, work places, and society. Discrimination has indeed changed many lives and many people’s way of thinking about other ethnic groups and religions. Discrimination is looked at differently depending on the person. Discrimination also leads to people being racist against how one thinks about something, such as religion. I feel that discrimination is a plague in our society that only causes destruction. To some, being prejudice is a way of life, and for others, it is an offensive term representing closed-mindedness. Being discriminative or being racist develops from different cultural values, ethnic backgrounds, as well as physical appearances.
As the devastating terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th in Manhattan, New York, has changed the way people think about Muslims around the world. I was only 7 years old; when the most significant decision was taken in my life, shaping me what I am today. This is when I started wearing a hijaab. My decision started to concern my teachers at school. My teachers wanted to have an interview with my parents. I did not know what was going on, I was lost. Why was everyone talking about me as I walked by? Why were my teachers acting differently towards me? As I told my parents about my teachers wanting to talk with them, they were also confused and a bit scared. The next day, after school, my parents came in for the interview. As they settled down, my teachers’ first questions were “was she forced to wear the hijaab? “Is it necessary for Nawal to wear this?” My parents calmly told my teachers that it was my own decision to wear the hijaab and they had not forced me to
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Discrimination is one of the world’s major concerns today. Many people are not aware of how much it still exists in our schools, work places, and society. Discrimination has indeed changed many lives and many people’s way of thinking about other ethnic groups and religions. Discrimination is looked at differently depending on the person. Discrimination also leads to people being racist against how one thinks about something, such as religion. I feel that discrimination is a plague in our society that only causes destruction. To some, being prejudice is a way of life, and for others, it is an offensive term representing closed-mindedness. Being discriminative or being racist develops from different cultural values, ethnic backgrounds, as well as physical appearances.
As the devastating terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th in Manhattan, New York, has changed the way people think about Muslims around the world. I was only 7 years old; when the most significant decision was taken in my life, shaping me what I am today. This is when I started wearing a hijaab. My decision started to concern my teachers at school. My teachers wanted to have an interview with my parents. I did not know what was going on, I was lost. Why was everyone talking about me as I walked by? Why were my teachers acting differently towards me? As I told my parents about my teachers wanting to talk with them, they were also confused and a bit scared. The next day, after school, my parents came in for the interview. As they settled down, my teachers’ first questions were “was she forced to wear the hijaab? “Is it necessary for Nawal to wear this?” My parents calmly told my teachers that it was my own decision to wear the hijaab and they had not forced me to