Stereotypes Of Refugees

Stereotype: a fixed idea or image of a group of people without actually getting to know them. Innocent refugees are being stereotyped to be terrorists everyday they walk outside, and it needs to stop. Sabha Al-Ali, Motab, and their children are Syrian refugees that arrived in Pittsburgh in 2015. In Syria, they were bombed everyday, and kept in refugee camps. It was an extremely hard journey to get to the United States. They came here to escape the terrorists, not to become them. They have a hard time fitting in, without knowing English. They are afraid that President Trump will send them back to the life that they wanted to leave forever. They long for opportunities to blend in and become part of whole. They said, “If you’re really afraid of
these six beautiful children blowing you up with a bomb, you shouldn’t ever leave your home. You’re too afraid of anything.” We need to help people like Sabha Al-Ali and Motab who have escaped their homes for a better life, but are being stereotyped as terrorists. It is unfair to them that we make judgements without knowing them and what they have gone through to get to the United States for a better life. When you walk down the street, and see someone wearing a turban, or with darker colored skin, do you walk over and say hello?
Or steer clear from them, having an immediate thought that they want to hurt you? Most people avoid refugees, keep them on the outside of their vision, and do not accept them into our culture and society. Even though you wish to be nice and accepting, that is not the reality. You are concerned for your safety, even though you know there is such a little chance that anyone who looks different than you wants to shoot you. Instead there is a single story for all refugees: they are terrorists and came to the U.S. to cause harm. We have to stop stereotyping refugees based on their appearance. Most are not terrorists. They are just normal people who come to the U.S. for a better life, not to cause
harm. In a crowded city, or in your neighborhood, there could be so many refugees who long to fit in. However, people give them glares when they walk past or avoid them completely, thinking that just because they left their home countries and came to the United States, they want to cause harm. The Atlantic magazine states, “over the last four decades, 20 out of 3.25 million refugees welcomed to the United States have been convicted of attempting or committing terrorism on U.S. soil.” That is equivalent to 0.0000062 percent. This means that there are very few refugees that are actually convicted of committing terrorist attacks in the U.S. They come for better jobs, and a better life for their families. It is very rare, and we should try to accept immigrants into our culture because they deserve nothing less for all that they have been through. They try so hard to not stand out, and all we do is stereotype them as dangerous and isolated. Anyone around you anywhere could be harmful, yet we still have an instinct that all refugees we walk by are terrorists. “...the chance that any given Arab is a terrorist is only marginally greater than the chance that anybody else is a terrorist. One needn't be an ethicist to realize that it is unjust to slap such a noxious label on a whole group of people on account of the misdeeds of a few,” says The New York Times. It is wrong to label someone with different colored skin or a turban as a terrorist, when people with white skin and average clothes could be destructive. We don’t steer clear from those types of people. However, when we see someone stand out, we single them out as terrorists, when in reality, anyone could be. In addition, it is proven that refugees in many countries are often the ones being victimized. This is evident in the Paris attacks and the Pulse Nightclub shooting. More often than not, they are in front of the attacks, not behind them, and it is completely unfair. Just imagine how refugees feel in the United States, from being children all the way up to a grandparent, and never being able to overcome the judgements and labels others slap onto you. Some immigrants may be harmful, illegal, or dangerous, and we should take caution in some circumstances and settings to ensure that we are safe. We should be aware of suspicious things that may occur. If you feel unsafe, removing yourself from situations may be the best decision. Certain environments may be risky, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go places and explore just because of a group of people that live there. Furthermore, we should not reject immigrants just because of their background and appearance. These occurrences are very unlikely and it is rude and disrespectful to these refugees to be avoided or stared at. Our perception of Muslims and Hispanics needs to change and we need to accept them into society and make sure they feel at home. We can prevent these stereotypes, by standing in the shoes of Muslim or Hispanic refugees, and seeing how they feel when they are seen as terrorists.
We can start by opening up to them, being accepting, not avoiding them, not changing directions. We can create opportunities for them to thrive and fit in, such as jobs and more housing options. We have to welcome them into our culture and society before we make judgements about what they came to the U.S. for. We need to lend a hand, even if we do not know them. We can help by assimilating and integrating refugees into our towns and cities. With open arms, we need to get to know refugees who may look different than the average person, before we make
judgements. More often than not, Muslim and Hispanic refugees walking along side you are not terrorists. They have come to the U.S. for a better life for their family, not to ruin yours. It is unfair to them that we steer clear of them, and make assumptions. They feel rejected. They are part of us, and don't deserve to be isolated on their own island of hopes. We need to accept them and welcome them into society because they will help us, not hurt us. The judgements and stereotypes need to discontinue. They deserve better and have been through so much just to migrate to another country. We need to combat the single story based on appearances that all Muslim and Hispanic refugees are terrorists, because they deserve to be apart of us.