Is It Too Soon for ‘I Just Look Like a Terrorist’ T-shirts?

Coming of age in a post-9-11 America was an eye-opening experience that I have no intention of reliving in my 30s.

And yet, the hatred against Muslim, and perceived Muslims, has reached another level altogether (again), from Republican governors opposing Syrian refugees to Donald Trump’s ridiculous call to end all Muslim immigration. And now the U.S. is looking into more stringent measures against the immigrant fiancé visa process, as if immigrating to the U.S. is not already hard to do.

The immigration reform crowd is unhelpful–they think they are better than this, when in fact, we all know just how they are: useless. Nothing new to be said here, so keep following the failed strategy of naturalizing people to vote for Democrats, who in turn, don’t do anything differently. I am falling asleep as I type. The point is that American democracy is an oxymoron, but I digress.

The media, and our Democrat friends would like us to believe that the right-wing is the real problem. That they are so much better than all this. That they are so much more enlightened because they support DACA now, or the non-existent unicorn that is DAPA. Insert more meaningless acronyms here. But the hatred and violent scapegoating of others is not any different from Franklin Roosevelt interning the Japanese, Andrew Jackson wiping out indigenous peoples, Barack Obama dropping drones on Pakistani children, and Jimmy Carter banning immigration from Iran.

There’s a lack of value for people of color lives here. The myths and legends continue: Muslims didn’t die in 9/11; were not among the first responders; are never the victims of mass shootings, and there is no active effort to wipe out Palestinians.

And if you are Muslim or perceived as a Muslim, you are fully expected to adopt respectability politics. Denounce violence done in the name of Islam, ridicule other countries, and faiths, and wave the American flag.

Then, there are the “We are all Muslims” crowd. I would rather not waste any time of these people. No, we are not all Muslims. Fact: Some of us, especially those of us with turbans, beards and brown skin, are perceived as more Muslim than others.

Friends from abroad often ask me why there is so much anti-immigrant sentiment in America, when it is supposedly a country of immigrants. After all, it was supposedly built by immigrants (and chattel slavery), but they don’t necessarily like newer immigrants who do not assimilate or bow down to their idea of integration. Perhaps, they feel immigrants will do what they did to the original inhabitants of this land: wipe them out. There’s a lot of insecurity and projection. They hate immigrants, because we are different from them. Because we are not like them.

Yes, we are different. I have no problem with that. Our food has more flavour; our movies are more colourful; our skins more beautiful; and our tongues are far sharper. And thank goodness for all that. Because really, who would want to be like this?

Everyone is supposed to be better than this. Few are though.