Against Racism
I am doing my own small part to try to make Canada a more tolerant and accepting place.
I am a Canadian citizen and also a Muslim. And I believe that fighting racism will make our country a much better place.
It is not a popular thing to be a Muslim today.
I have experienced first hand racism in the most hurtful and distressing manner. What is almost more frightening however is to see people around me saying or doing nothing while I was victimized. Acts of racism make me feel degraded, humiliated and dishonoured.
I work at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Shortly after the September eleventh tragedy I was having a dinner at work and was stunned to hear a colleague uttering dreadful remarks about Muslims.
Astonishingly, the woman making these comments was a customer service representative for one of the world’s major airlines.
The airline employee said she can not stand to see Muslim women covering their heads. She feels the urge to forcibly remove what she called a “piece of rag“ in order to “liberate the ignorant woman“ from darkness.
“Why don’t they share their beauty with everyone else,“ she asked.
Another ticketing agent suggested that we should give Muslim women an ultimatum upon entering the country. “Either remove the veil or go back to where you came from,“ she said.
Not long ago when I my work took me to the departure gate for a New York bound flight a passenger looked me in the eye and told me that he hoped I was not the pilot. It seems that you can say anything you want about Muslims under the guise of free speech.
I will never forget what a co-worker said while discussing a shooting death of a Sikh businessman in the United States who was thought to be a Muslim in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy.
She said that the shooter should have done his homework first before going into the shooting rampage. He should have checked things out to make sure that the person he was aiming the gun at was a real Muslim before taking the life of an innocent human being!
It was alarming not to see anyone in the lunchroom condemning such heinous and hateful remarks. In fact, people who were listening to the conversation were laughing in approval of what was being said.
It frightens me to see the level of hatred that exists against my community and the reaction some of my fellow countrymen who had forsaken me at the most critical time.
I despise racism and all its ugly forms. I cannot stand to be looked at with suspicion and contempt by many fellow Canadians as if I were behind all evil acts that have befallen mankind.
Every community has the bad and the ugly in its midst. To blame a community by the action of a few is sickening, despicable and defies common sense. I will continue to fight racism by speaking out to anyone who will listen. In doing so, I believe I am doing my own small part to try to make Canada a more tolerant and accepting place.
For This I Believe, I’m Abubkar Kasim in Toronto.
