"You were called Bin Laden?": Being Mistaken as Muslim
BY: Julia Jahanpour/Contributing Writer
Bassem Youssef, Egyptian satirist and talk show host, explains that in America, Islamophobia reaches beyond actual Muslims, and into the rest of the Arab American community. Guests share their stories of being the victims of racial slurs, as well as being treated like terrorists and extremists.
One woman was forced to remove herself from an airplane, and when asked for a reason why, the airline attendant responded with: “We don’t have to tell you why, you just need to get off the plane.” This kind of behavior shows the terrifying reality of the kind of ignorance many Americans have regarding Arab American citizens.
There is a large amount of incorrectly placed fear and hatred towards American Muslims as of late. Many people associate the religion – and anyone who looks like they might belong to it – with terrorism and violence. And while that is an entirely incorrect generalization, many non-Muslim Arab Americans are also being targeted with the hatred.
