"Terrorist chatter indicates that Al-Nur sabatoged [sic] the Phi Delt chimney." "Clearly, Al-Nur was angered by the recent negativity it received from the Bored@Baker community and consequently declared jihad on campus alcohol in collaboration with H-Po. This is a fearful example of our domestic institutions collaborating with terrorists on a local level."
These, along with at least a dozen others, are comments posted on Bored@Baker recently that target Al-Nur Muslim Student Association specifically. I, as an individual member of Al-Nur, feel a need to respond.
I am a white, male American who grew up as an only child in the Midwest. I attended private school and devoted much time to classical piano. At Dartmouth, I've been involved as an Undergraduate Advisor and in various musical groups. I am also a Muslim. All of these are parts of my identity, but the last one is the only one I often feel I have to explain.
This is not the first time I've felt singled out as a Muslim. Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week was observed here two years ago, and because of my comments in The Dartmouth that I "respect [the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week speaker's] right to free speech [though] it seemed tragic he was emphasizing the link between Islam and violence," ("Islamo-Fashion' to Promote Al-Nur," Nov. 6, 2007) I was personally targeted on JihadWatch.org. It's one of the top hits if you Google my name.
Then last year, as I led a group that supported a series of perspectives on Israel and Gaza, the speaker of the final event chose to ignore what he had agreed to talk about and instead spent his lecture blaming the world's major problems on the basics of my religion. And now, after I spent the first half of this term preparing for Al-Nur's Islam in America week, one of the results of our programming was a series of insults coming from people within my Dartmouth community.
To say that I feel powerless and silenced is an understatement. Yes, I admit I sometimes laugh at the jokes that cast Muslims as turban-clad terrorists, because I know our community and realize how absurd these jokes are. But deep down, it has a profound effect. Deep down, it shows Muslims that no matter how beneficial our religion has become in our lives, the dominant discourse in America will continue to blame all of us for events that happen halfway across the globe.
And we're not just some isolated group on campus. We don't hang out in "our Afghani cave," as one post said. Muslims are brothers and sisters in the Greek system, student leaders at Tucker, biomedical researchers, UGAs, athletes and EMTs. The posts may have come from drunk or attention-seeking students, but that just means it took a bit of alcohol or extra comfort for them to say what they held to be at least partly true. And because of them, I'm forced to ask myself if letting others know about a major part of my identity will raise too many suspicions.
This isn't just about Muslims. One of the posts made that clear when it referred to "black people" being behind Al-Nur's recent activity. Minorities in the US have been trying for years to move beyond a compromised position in which they have to explain themselves before they can express themselves. In the process, some of us learn that covering up parts of our identity is often much easier than legitimizing them. And so we all lose out. Individuals with the richest perspectives can feel the most uncomfortable about sharing them. Shall we continue to let this happen? Or are we going to speak out against all the words and actions that make others feel unsafe? Because it happens here, too. And the first step in taking on the world's problems is dealing with our own.
Stereotypes can seem funny, but the close-minded views they perpetuate far outweigh the momentary laughs they elicit. So the next time you hear someone cracking jokes about "the Muslims," "black people" or any other community, ask if it's necessary. And the next time you feel a need to say something similar, take responsibility for it, and be sincere. Even if I strongly disagree with your perspective, I'd rather hear it and discuss it with you than let it simmer in the back of your mind. Free speech is a value we must appreciate, but disrespectful speech often costs us more than we can fathom.
