Re: rock heads and then some more...anti- Muslim America
I chose on purpose to live with someone wom I knew little about. my first year in undergrad, I asked for a jewish roomie. they could not get me one, but when i moved into the fraternity house a few months later, my first roomie was a jew. we learnt so much from one another.. and while we had racist nicknames for one another.. he calle dme abdul and I called him stein..we had a blast. Not only did I learn firsthand about jews, i was able to experience their cuisine, cultural events etc etc. and vice versa. I have an old pic somewhere where we made fun of stereotypes and for halloween I dressed up as a caricature of what ppl in middle east think a jew is and he dressed up as a caricature of what many jews think muslims (or really arabs) are like.. it was hilarious.
That sounds like an amazing experience, and it is brave of you to jump in and experience the unknown.
I have always been drawn to other cultures, part of that comes from being stationed all over the world as a child, so never had the fear of the unknown.
I don't believe in assimilation, because this is a nation of immigrants, and the US is so much richer for all of the cultural traditions that have become an accepted part of the culture.
My husband and I lived in the UK for several years early in our marriage, and I met so many ladies who spoke no English, even after living there for decades. I feel that so many of the issues that British muslims face can be attributed to the attitudes of the community. There is, however, an underlying racism I noticed there that I have never felt here. Maybe I am oblivious to it because this is my home. To me the UK was a warning of what life could be like here for muslims if we weren't careful.