As terrible as situations may become and as cautious as society may be, there is still no excuse for prejudice.
Recently, Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens in the ’70s, was deported from the US when he and his daughter were trying to fly to Washington.
When airline security realized that Islam was on the plane, which was after the plane took off, the flight was diverted to Maine, where Islam was detained and then had to leave the country. It was believed that Islam was connected to terrorists because of donations he had given to Muslims.
That assumption is so wrong it’s embarrassing. For starters, there just isn’t enough hard evidence proving that Islam was ever supporting terrorists. Islam said he was not aware of ever supporting terrorist organizations and the artist’s songs are not even angry nor were they violent. His songs are about promoting peace.
Islam wrote to the LA Times in September after the incident occurred. In the article he said that a few months before he had met with officials from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives about the donations to charity he made.
Apparently, he had not been accused of terrorism during this trip when he came to the U.S. for government business; but when he and his daughter tried to travel together to Washington, he got deported.
It seems like he was singled out because he is Muslim. That just makes our country look bad, and the US ¡s image has already been shunned enough since the war in Iraq.
America is a country that belongs to all nationalities. When you think about it, this country should be one of the last places to show such discrimination against other religions or races. The US should be trying to promote peace with Muslims, not segregate the cultures even more.
The fact of the matter is, we cannot judge an entire culture because of what a portion of extremists from the culture has done.
This would not be the first time the US has done such a thing. After the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and had to live in internment camps. They were forced to relocate simply because they were Japanese and the US was at war with Japan at the time.
German Americans faced internment as well. The government actually went so far as to deport people of German decent or confiscate their property.
By showing discrimination toward Muslims, America’s government is making it seem like America still has that mindset. It’s time for our government to show more respect and tolerance. Security should be tight at times like these, but discriminating against another culture is out of the question.
