Be outraged about global mistreatment of Muslims
by Bareerah Zafar
The phrase “never forget” is a response to tragedies. However, it serves no purpose, because when tragic events happen in real time, much of the nation ignores them.
Mainstream American media has a habit of dismissing the struggles of brown people abroad, particularly the struggle of Muslims. Addressing the suffering of Muslims would humanize them, and would defer the media from the idea that it has loyally promoted for years: that Muslims are terrorists.
An example of this disregard is the failure by much of American media to report on internment camps in China. The Chinese military takes Uighur and Kazakh Muslims in China’s Xiajiang region from their homes and places them into camps, without trial, for practicing their religion.
The Chinese government claims that these camps are to re-educate Muslims and bring them into the “modern world.” To China, Islam is a mental illness that needs to be cured.
The re-education aspect sounds an awful lot like the time the U.S. government forced Native Americans into boarding schools and tortured them into forgetting their cultures. This is the exact reason Americans should be outraged about these camps.
Americans say “never forget” when reflecting on genocide, but it holds no meaning, because many of them do nothing when there is a genocide against Muslims.
The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s government has been occurring for years, but it only recently gained global attention. Myanmar’s military burned villages, raped women and killed thousands of innocent people in an attempt to rid the country of its Muslim minority.
American media failed to report on this until it realized this genocide would affect the U.S. when survivors began to seek asylum. Our government is now drastically limiting refugees from Myanmar, along with complete bans on refugees from some Muslim-majority countries. It is the moral duty of the American public to speak out and demand that these survivors are given homes.
Recently, the United States government imposed sanctions on the Myanmar military, but it’s not enough. Repeatedly reminding our government of Myanmar’s atrocities can force it to further help Rohingya Muslims.
Some argue that the U.S. does not have an obligation to asylum seekers. This is false, because the U.S. is directly contributing to what the United Nations declared “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”
Airstrikes led by the Saudi Arabian military with U.S.-made bombs kill many innocent Yemeni citizens every day. Those who are not dying from airstrikes in this Muslim-majority country are dying from starvation. Millions of civilians have been internally displaced.
This atrocity is big enough to make it into mainstream American media, but there is not enough outrage.
Americans have a duty as human beings to stand up to injustices against anyone, especially when their government is partially responsible. When enough people are angry, leaders notice and are inspired to make a change.
It is imperative for Americans not to give in to the mainstream media’s portrayal of Muslims as terrorists, and to seek out the truth themselves.
Be educated. Be outraged. Be the cause for change.
Bareerah Zafar ([email protected]) is a journalism student at the University of Oregon and writes a monthly column for The Register-Guard.
Mainstream American media has a habit of dismissing the struggles of brown people abroad, particularly the struggle of Muslims. Addressing the suffering of Muslims would humanize them, and would defer the media from the idea that it has loyally promoted for years: that Muslims are terrorists.
An example of this disregard is the failure by much of American media to report on internment camps in China. The Chinese military takes Uighur and Kazakh Muslims in China’s Xiajiang region from their homes and places them into camps, without trial, for practicing their religion.
The Chinese government claims that these camps are to re-educate Muslims and bring them into the “modern world.” To China, Islam is a mental illness that needs to be cured.
The re-education aspect sounds an awful lot like the time the U.S. government forced Native Americans into boarding schools and tortured them into forgetting their cultures. This is the exact reason Americans should be outraged about these camps.
Americans say “never forget” when reflecting on genocide, but it holds no meaning, because many of them do nothing when there is a genocide against Muslims.
The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s government has been occurring for years, but it only recently gained global attention. Myanmar’s military burned villages, raped women and killed thousands of innocent people in an attempt to rid the country of its Muslim minority.
American media failed to report on this until it realized this genocide would affect the U.S. when survivors began to seek asylum. Our government is now drastically limiting refugees from Myanmar, along with complete bans on refugees from some Muslim-majority countries. It is the moral duty of the American public to speak out and demand that these survivors are given homes.
Recently, the United States government imposed sanctions on the Myanmar military, but it’s not enough. Repeatedly reminding our government of Myanmar’s atrocities can force it to further help Rohingya Muslims.
Some argue that the U.S. does not have an obligation to asylum seekers. This is false, because the U.S. is directly contributing to what the United Nations declared “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”
Airstrikes led by the Saudi Arabian military with U.S.-made bombs kill many innocent Yemeni citizens every day. Those who are not dying from airstrikes in this Muslim-majority country are dying from starvation. Millions of civilians have been internally displaced.
This atrocity is big enough to make it into mainstream American media, but there is not enough outrage.
Americans have a duty as human beings to stand up to injustices against anyone, especially when their government is partially responsible. When enough people are angry, leaders notice and are inspired to make a change.
It is imperative for Americans not to give in to the mainstream media’s portrayal of Muslims as terrorists, and to seek out the truth themselves.
Be educated. Be outraged. Be the cause for change.
Bareerah Zafar ([email protected]) is a journalism student at the University of Oregon and writes a monthly column for The Register-Guard.