What it's like for Syrian refugees facing the backlash
Amjad drove a stick shift his entire life; it’s been hard getting the feel for an automatic transmission. He feels more hopeful when he looks ahead to when his young kids get behind the wheel. He wants to see them flourish, graduate from college, and one day be known as more than just refugees, but rather as Syrian-Americans.
But for now, Amjad worries about another label that’s been imposed on him and the hundreds of others like him—sometimes tentatively—by Americans he’s never met: terrorist.
Lately, an atmosphere of fear and panic over refugees from Syria’s brutal civil war has swept much of the country. At least 31 governors have said they’ll bar refugees from settling in their states, and a few public officials have even called for internment camps. They’re responding to Friday’s horrific terror attacks in Paris, in which a Syrian passport was found by the body of one perpetrator—never mind reports that it was likely stolen or fake.
But polls have shown Islamophobia was on the rise in the U.S. even before last week’s massacre.
In many ways, Amjad and his family have been living in a bubble since they first moved to Toledo six months ago. That’s in part because, acutely aware of the damaging power of prejudice, the Arab-American community here that rushed to welcome Amjad’s family has acted as their protectors. The family has been through enough, Islamic groups say. They don’t need to know the full scope of the fear and resentment behind their move to the U.S.
Source: www.msnbc.com