Personal Narrative: Being An African American And A Muslim

I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To

Growing up as an african american male it was hard to identify my character throughout my educational career. At a very young age my dad alway wanted me to succeed in life, but in the back of my mind I always thought “ Am I really cut out to becoming successful”. I grew up in a culturally diverse suburban area. Growing up in the suburban area I made unbreakable bonds that will forever exist.

This is one of the most painful subjects for me as a part Hispanic and part African-American. When I relocated to the United States in 1988, I was not prepared for what I experienced concerning racism in America. The racist and ignorant comments made by Hispanics towards and about African American and the racist and ignorant comments made by African Americans towards and about Hispanics were disturbing and offensive to say the least. And each and every time I stood up for my Hispanic roots and my African-American roots. Added to that, the issue of “dark skin and light skin within the African-American community. First time, I heard the term “high yellow ______” was when an African-American woman used that term about me. I didn’t even know what

I am classified as a junior but really only in my second year of college so I have at least two more years to become more assured and refined in my study of Chinese. In my level 3 Chinese course, I feel that my upcoming semester in Beijing will vastly improve my speaking and listening. I hope my plan to follow a pledge of only speaking and using Mandarin unless I’m contacting family and close friends will assist me in this challenge. I expect that my full-time language courses will also help since I will be taking twenty class hours per week focusing on comprehension, speaking, listening, and reading. I predict that being fully immersed in class and going to as many tutoring and group events will help me grow in my understanding and use of Chinese.

Being a Muslim American in post 911 America, I was a pariah for most of my life. The stress of being bully caused me to lose my hair. I was diagnosed with alopecia areata, which an autoimmune disease. I truly wasn't accept by my peers till I started wrestling. In high school, I only cared about wrestling. I didn't realized how lost I was. After my dream of wining states were crushed, I'm trying to find who I want to be. After my father almost died, I learned I want to be a

It all began in the year 1955. This was the year that so many great things shook the foundation of America that will never be forgotten for years and years to come. My name is Joyce Norman I was a military brat that was born and raised in the small town of Fayetteville, North Carolina along with one brother and four sisters. To show a little humor, this is another place like Texas that has bipolar weather from sunny skies with a hint of rain to a giant blizzard that’ll give you a death of pneumonia. Throughout, the years of my life as an African American we heard songs of change, we were insured and inspired in church that change would come some way or another either in the community or in our nation. As the world continued to change I

As a non-white Muslim, I am a part of the group of people including women and African Americans that you have chosen to ridicule and undermine throughout your presidential campaign. Coming from Mississippi, I understand what it means to be a part of the minority. Attending a predominantly white high school, I was surrounded by many of your supporters who valued your oppression towards Muslims, women, and African Americans. Consequently, I disliked your opinion towards minorities because I am one of the many recipients of your hurtful and unpleasant comments especially towards Muslims. However, the people around me did not appreciate my opinion, and they looked down upon it. I did not expect them to be accepting. Why would I? These were the same people that called me a terrorist. The same people that mocked “colored” people. The same people that neglected any religious beliefs not involving Christianity. Hence, they were not going to suddenly change this unaccepting behavior, especially if they see a prominent figure such as yourself discriminating others too. Similarly, if they see a person with high authority such as a presidential candidate act harsh towards minorities, what is going to stop them from doing the same? Consequently, by focusing on themselves, the white majority who have chosen to support you and your actions have simultaneously chosen to neglect the needs of the minorities. As a result, this failure to recognize the disadvantages of the minorities has

As a non-white Muslim, I am a part of a wide group of people including women and African Americans that you have chosen to misrepresent and ridicule throughout your presidential campaign by using negative and false information. Coming from Mississippi, I understand what it means to be a part of a minority. Attending a predominantly white high school, I was surrounded by many of your supporters who valued your oppression towards Muslims, women, and African Americans. Consequently, I disliked your pessimistic opinion towards minorities because I am one of the many recipients of your hurtful and unpleasant comments. However, I could not freely express my opinion because the majority of people surrounding me did not understand my beliefs. I did not expect these people around me in high school to be accepting. Why would I? These were the same people that called me a terrorist. The same people that mocked people of color. The same people that neglected any religious beliefs not involving Christianity. Hence, they were not going to suddenly change this unaccepting bias towards minorities, especially if these unaccepting people see a prominent figure such as yourself enforcing the same negative ideals towards African Americans, women, and Muslims. If the white majority see a person with high authority such as a presidential candidate act harsh towards minorities, what is going to stop them from doing the same? By focusing on themselves, the white majority who have chosen to support

I am an African American. You must be wondering what’s my name since im “black”, you might be thinking that its ghetto, right? No need to know where I came from, you must think that I come from the projects right? It’s not like it’s important to you. You probably think that my future plans are that I won’t finished high school and that I will become pregnant. One look at the color of my skin is all it takes. Right? Look again.

Growing up in an African American Muslim home, education was taken very seriously. My mother was the only one in her family that graduated from college, so she had high expectations for her children and wanted us to achieve in education. My parents not only believed in acquiring a good education, but they also believed in the Nation of Islam concept of “one should be self-sufficient.” Elijah Muhammad, the leader of Nation of Islam said “Life means you have activity in accord with your nature. If you are poor in spirit, then you are not doing for yourself what the energy of life would call you to do. When you are a living person, you don’t ask others to feed you, clothe you, shelter you, educate you, and give you a job.”

Currently, I am in the process of not only becoming comfortable in my identity, a black queer woman, but, also attempting to find solace in my identity as well. Something that all women, especially black queer women, should achieve in their lifetime. It is that dream that inspires me to travel to experience other cultures and to unite with women from various cultures across the black diaspora. Throughout many cultures, women’s identities are defined by their male counterparts and the labor they provide to them. Therefore, a major goal of mine is to create a space where women are able to exist outside the scope of their relationships with men and live uninhibitedly to become their best selves. That is why I find it pertinent to travel not only

Mogahed, a Muslim woman living in America at the time of the terrorist attack on 9/11, speaks about her experience with white America after the attack. She talked about what made her attracted to the Islam religion and how her friends reacted when she started wearing the Hijab. Her young friends asked her why she would willingly subject herself to the oppression that Americans see in Islam, she told them that wearing the Hijab is actually a feminist act. After 9/11 she faced strange looks, profanity shouted at her on the street, and the fear of what might happen if she didn't listen to the news. Muslims were told to stay indoors and not

“I'm stuck between who I am, who I want to be, and who I should be.” - Unknown

The agonizing terrorist attacks of September 9th, 2001 left the country in emotional distress. The United States of America decided to prepare for tragic attacks like this and reevaluated its immigration and foreign policies, the citizens of the US also became united and stronger from these attacks. This ideology that the US has become more united after an attack that killed nearly 3,000 people has become mainstream and may be true in some cases, but many people overlook the impact it had on the millions of Muslim Americans. The Muslim generation before us had its own problems dealing with racial discrimination and hate crimes, many people believed it stop their but this contempt was passed on to my generation. The discrimination I have received has caused me to change my aspirations in order to ensure that no one else receives the treatment I had gotten.

As a child, I didn’t think my life’s situations and experiences were too different from others being a Muslim in Canada. I only came to the realization of this as I grew older. Living as a Muslim we celebrated different holidays, wore different types of clothing, and valued things differently. I grew up in Cambridge, Ontario, and only moved to Mississauga in the ninth-grade grade where I realized how much differently I was treated. It wasn’t always ignorance; they were just unknowledgeable and unaware and I couldn’t blame them as I was apart of a religious minority. I looked at the understanding of my life’s events being apart of an Islamic subculture from a conflict theorist’s perspective where social life was looked at as “privileged groups