Dear President,

“You are murderers, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. All Muslims are the same.” This is what I was told once while I was walking on the sidewalk going to school. I am here to talk to you about a very important issue which is islamophobia. As a young Muslim girl, I really feel bad, lonely and left out when I hear people say bad things about my people and my religion because I know I will never do anything to hurt a human and that we are innocent of the things people are blaming us. This issue has been a big problem in the United States for a very long time. There has been a lot of discrimination toward the Muslim community. It is true that some Muslims are doing bad things in the United states but that’s not a good reason for all Muslims to be treated unfairly.

Since the incident in 9/11, many Americans have developed hatred toward Muslims and the hatred keeps increasing every year. Cases of hijabs being ripped off of the heads of Muslim women and terror of mosques getting set on fire, keep growing every day. We have to raise awareness on this issue because “The Council on American-Islamic Relations has tracked a growing number of attacks on mosques and on individuals in the months following the Paris terrorist attack” (Allam, 2015). Another example is, “ In Cincinnati, Ohio, a driver tried to run down a young Muslim woman. In New York City, a customer called a female pharmacist wearing a headscarf a terrorist and told her to get out of his country. In San Diego, a man shoved a pregnant Muslim mother’s stroller into her belly, and a San Diego State student reported a man tugged at her headscarf while yelling at her” ( Los Angeles Times, 2015). Now this is unfair because these people didn’t do anything, they are being bullied and receiving punishment for a crime committed by some group of people claiming that they are Muslims while they don’t even know what true Islam means.

These innocent people came to the U.S for a better life, some run away from war, some was dying of hunger. Before I came to America, I was told that this country is a country of freedom, equality, and peace, a country with no racism, no discrimination but that’s not what I see. All I see is hatred, hatred toward immigrants, hatred toward the Muslim community which is really not fair because everyone deserves the right to live a peaceful life. No one should be judged or discriminated because of their race, gender or religion. When you become President, please do something about this problem. This need to change, Islam is a peaceful religion. Innocent Muslims are getting punished for something they didn’t do, they don’t deserve these treatments. Non-Muslims needs to be educated more about Islam to make them understand that not all Muslims are terrorist or bad. 

Sincerely,

References:

Allam, H. (2015, December 11). Anger at Paris attacks takes a toll on America's Muslim community. Retrieved from https://newsela.com/articles/american-muslims/id/13338/

After attacks, headscarves mark Muslim women as targets. (2015, December 21). Retrieved from https://newsela.com/articles/headscarves-harassment/id/13624/