Religious and Ethnic Groups

The U.S. a melting pot of people from various backgrounds. One would think given our country’s rich variety of people that our culture would be rather tolerant and appreciative of different schools of thought and races. While there are many individuals out there that have this attitude, there are also many that do not. Granted, our country is still much more accepting when compared to many others. However, discrimination against and persecution of those that don’t fit in or follow the rest of general society is quite a problem. When I think about this problem in our country, there are two groups of people that immediately come to my mind: Muslims and African Americans. Though these two groups are in completely different categories, they face many of the same problems in terms of discrimination in America. Within the scope of this essay, we will learn about some differences between Muslims, African Americans, and various other groups. We will also take a look at their overall experiences, as well as some specific examples of discrimination.
Islam and Its Followers in America
A Muslim is someone who follows the teachings of Islam, a religion believed to have originated in Saudi Arabia in the 7th century (Pecorino, 2001). What is interesting about Islam is that its roots are in the Middle East and it has stayed very influential there (Pecorino, 2001). Christianity, the predominant religion in America, also has its roots in the Middle East. However, Christianity isn’t nearly as present now in the Middle East as Islam. As a matter of fact, Christianity is now the predominant religion of America, with roughly 78 percent of Americans identifying with the group (Pew Research Center, 2007). Islam, on the other hand, only represents about one percent of the country (Pew Research Center, 2007).
Comparison of Christianity and Islam
Christianity and Islam have one thing in common: They both think they are the ONLY right way (Religionfacts.com, 2014). All it takes is reading the Koran and the Bible to learn that fact. There are other similarities, such as believing in only one God, praying, and going to a designated place of worship, but their approaches aren’t the same (Religionfacts.com, 2014). For example, both religions have a main prophet, but the status of that prophet is completely different between the religions. Islam has the prophet Muhammad, who was merely a mortal that was a vessel of God (Koller, 2012, p. 143). Christianity has Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the actual Son of God, sent to the Earth to save humanity from its wickedness (Religionfacts.com, 2014).
Islam in America
It seems to me that Muslims in America have a rather difficult time for two big reasons: Christianity is the main religion in the U.S. and 9/11. In terms of dealing with Christians, the difficulty seems to stem from the fact that both of these religions think they are the only right way to worship. Quite frankly, everyone in America that doesn’t identify as “Christian” probably faces some difficulty with someone at some point in life. But with two headstrong schools of thought, the conversation tends to leave polite tones behind.
The biggest problem adherents to Islam have to face is living in a post 9/11 America. Anyone that was old enough to remember that day has the image of the twin towers seared into their memory. Unfortunately, that event causes many people in America and, indeed, around the world to brand all Muslims as evil. It had such a negative impact on the image of Islam that hate crimes against Muslims went up 1,700 between 2000 and 2001 (Anderson, 2002)
My Understanding of Islam and Muslims
I have really only scratched the surface of the religion of Islam and the culture surrounding it, so I certainly don’t hold the same level of understanding about it as I do Christianity. However, given what I have learned I do have more understanding for why Muslims may act or live the way they do. Here is one small example: I have noticed that Muslims are very giving people. They like to share things they may have, such as food or even personal belongings. While doing research, I learned that this must stem from one of their five pillars: Sharing. In Islam, one is actually required to help those in need and to share their wealth with others (Koller, 2012, p.143). All in all I would say that the little bit I have learned about Islam has helped me understand where they are coming from, even the people one might say are a bit extreme.
The Heritage and Discrimination of African Americans
Let us now draw our attention to an ethnic group of America: African Americans. Americans have done some pretty horrible things to people in the past, such as killing off Native Americans and sending Japanese Americans to camps during WW2. Those things are terrible indeed, but the most prolonged wrongdoing was committed against the African American community of the U.S. In terms of heritage, African Americans differ greatly from many groups in our land. In 1619, the first African Americans arrived in Virginia, as slaves to white settlers (pbs.org, 2004). Slavery was legal in America until 1865, leaving African Americans labeled purely as property. Even after it was over, segregation was a very real part of life. The history of African Americans is the biggest way in which they differ from other groups in America and this history still fuels controversy between Caucasians and African Americans to this day. African Americans have had to fight to get to where they are today, thus one can sense a good deal of pride within their communities.
My Understanding of African American History and Culture
What I will go into here is based entirely upon personal experience. Every time I have discussed history with African Americans, there is truly a great sense of pride present. I understand this completely. I can also understand any hard feelings the African American community may hold against Caucasians. In my experience, however, though these feelings may exist, African Americans embrace the attitudes of those before them and move past it. I appreciate the hard work they have put into making us all more aware of how we treat our fellow human beings.

Prejudice and Discrimination against Muslims and African Americans

Both of the groups I have discussed face prejudice and discrimination very regularly. One similar reason is skin color. Somehow, people link skin color with how valuable someone is as a human being. Its sad fact, but many people attack African Americans and anyone of Middle Eastern decent simply based on skin color. These attackers all have various “reasons”, none of which hold any validity, in my opinion. Skin color also turns out to be a big difference concerning prejudice and discrimination. Muslims are attacked because of their ideology or because of the people that have committed atrocities, while skin color and racial tension is the biggest reason for prejudice against African Americans.
Conclusion
Given what I have learned about discrimination, my ultimate conclusion concerning it is this: People come up with the craziest “reasons” for treating others like garbage. Everyone is composed of the same building blocks, only arranged a bit differently. We all have families, friends, hopes, dreams, and feelings. We all have a life to live and deserve the right live that life. Personally, I believe there is absolutely no reason to persecute anyone. And as far as ideology is concerned, I think as long as no one is harming anyone else, we should be minding our own business. I long for the day when we live in a world without all of this discriminatory nonsense. That time may very well never come into existence, but one can always hope.

References

Anderson, C. (2002). FBI Reports Jump in Violence Against Muslims. Associated Press.

Retrieved from http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2002

/FBI-Hate-Crimes-Vs-Muslims-Rise/id-5e249fb6e4dc184720e3428c9d0bd046

Koller, J. (2012). Asian Philosophies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

PBS. (2004). Slavery and the Making of America. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1739.html

Pecorino, P. (2001). Islam. Retrieved from

http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino /phil_of_religion_text/CHAPTER_2_RELIGIONS/Islam.htm

Pew Research Center. (2007). Religious Landscape Study. Retrieved from

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

Religionfacts.com. (2014) Christianity and Islam. Retrieved from

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/christianity_islam.htm