Re: I Thought My Ivy League Degrees Would Protect Me From Bigotry. I Was Wrong.
I live in a small college town and most of my patients watch FOX and they don't even know names of news anchors on CNN. The hospitals news channels are all running FOX. I told them all once jokingly that one day I'll come in at 5 am, and change every tv to CNN and then laugh as the elderly walk in and are lodging complaints against the hospital administration. Cuz...they would do that.
I have to walk into rooms ROUTINELY, and watch them watch FOX as FOX bashes my people. I have to deal with "So where are you from?" and answer patiently "Florida", when they expect to hear "Afghanistan". I have been asked where I went to school, and have found people are politely smiling and thinking "She is taking our jobs". I have had people ask me all kinds of horrid questions like "Are you married? Oh no? Well I don't blame you, muslim men are so abusive".
It's NOT just Hijabis. I'm not complaining. You know why? Because I'm seeing what they see on TV, and seeing that our muslims are doing VERY little to combat extremism in their own communities. I have nothing to tell them when Pakistan releases extremist inmates from prison in the hundreds because some thug in TTP demands them to be released, or when Imran Khan gives groups like TTP sympathy or when groups like Taliban open fire on kids in a school and Lal Masjid gives out public statements of approval, and there are mass protests outside his masjid, and it's the PROTESTORS who are taken away by police, instead of the Lal Masjid cleric.
I have nothing to say to these people, because my people have done utterly NOTHING to put a stop to this nonsense. I have seen these backwards attitudes the terorrists have being BRED here in the masjids in the US even. I know worse is being taught in the masjids in Pakistan. It's only after 911 and FBI agents being strung in each masjid here, that masjid admin got serious and threw out fire-brand preachers and brought in Let's-hold-hands-and sing-Kumbaya type preachers. Until then, I remember there were hardliners coming from Somalia, and Kenya, and Saudi, and Egypt etc preaching hatred in the mosques.
I have heard all kinds of stupid *** from these people. Examples like you can't use the Western Calendar, it is haraam.
So what am I supposed to ? Throw out my calendar and stop calling this January??
I've heard all kinds of nonsense from these people and the worst part is we never had the courage to stand up against them. These groups were infiltrated even into our college kids MSA groups. You routinely saw Pakistani boys going into these groups normal, and coming out with beards, unable to socialize with anyone, and unable to smile. You know the types I'm talking about, you've probably encountered these people.
So, no I have nothing to say to my elderly patients. I just thank them actually for not being MORE brutal in their words against my people, because they have every right to be. If tables were switched, Pakistanis would be persecuting a minority group where a subset was behind bombings and killings.
With grossly judgmental, exaggerated and extremely ignorant statement like this you have proven that you are no better than Americans who are glued to Fox TV. There is absolutely no cure for people who are obsessed with every filth that right wing media espouses. You can justify it as much as you want.
For your information - have you ever heard about Operation Zarb e Azb? This one year old operation in Pakistan has done more to combat terrorism in the country that NATO forces' combined 15 years of experience in Aghanistan. So next you try to blatantly lie that "our people have done absolutely nothing" to combat terrorism, make you sure you pick up a reliable newspaper because I can assure you will not find true facts on Fox News channel.
Even if you are Fox News channel isn't painting 1.6 billion Muslims savages, they will running hate campaigns against the Russians, Chinese, Blacks, Latinos, Catholics, Socialists, Gays, Jews. Your White American patients will always have a group to hate if they are such avid viewers of right wing propaganda filth. Let's see if you would also have a the nerve to justify discrimination and hatred against innocent blacks and Latinos because Fox News runs negative reports.
History has proven that America always needed a boogyman of an internal and external enemy as a powerful unifying agent for the country. Before Muslims, it was the blacks who were the public enemy number one! But you as a supposedly adult needs to use your common sense and educate people that fringe minority doesn't not represent population that's nearly 2 billion! You cannot justify discrimination, rationalise it and make it look normal especially against people who are actually making positive contributions to the society. Maybe it's your little extremist mentality that you need to get rid of before settling personal scores with Hijabis and justifying discrimination against them.
You do know if all Muslims were terrorists, your lovely little Amereeeka would have been wiped off many eons ago. There are bloody billions of them.
I feel sorry for moderate Muslims, I really do. They are sandwiched between extremists from both ends, one groups that's hell bent on killing innocent moderate Muslims, and the other extremist group that's hell bent on painting those same moderate Muslims as killers and savages and impose guilt their perpetrators on them.