by Ava K.

How do you identify a Muslim? Many may say that they classify a woman wearing a hijab, or headscarf, as Muslim. Others may automatically think that people who speak Arabic, or a language similar, are Muslim.

As of 2016, there were roughly 3 million Muslims living in the United States, making up about 1% of the total U.S. population. 58% of Muslims in America were born abroad, immigrating from places like Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 18% were born here, but have at least one immigrant parent.

Muslims are obviously not invisible. Despite showing no signs of harm towards people while living in the United States, many Americans are suspicious of Muslims’ beliefs and motives because of the actions some Muslims have taken elsewhere.

Islam is the religious group that receive the most discrimination in the United States, and the discrimination towards them has not lessened since Donald Trump became president. Trump’s attitude and policies towards Muslims have caused American Muslims to be unsupportive of the president.  

In our country, everyone is supposed to feel safe and protected. Some Muslims do not feel that way right now. Muslims are being viewed as terrorists, when no Muslim in our country has taken actions to suggest that he or she is a terrorist.

How are people supposed to feel safe when being treated this way? The word “Muslim” has a bad reputation in the U.S., but for what reason exactly? People who classify as Muslim have done terrible things in the past, but those people were not American.

In our country, the fear of Muslims continues, and has escalated since Donald Trump was elected president. Trump has not contributed to helping the American people realize that Muslims are not what they think they are. In fact, he has done the exact opposite.

American families watch the news and see what Muslims are doing around the world. They hear the things President Trump says, and it gives them the wrong picture. Muslims as a whole are not represented by actions that some radical, international groups have commited.

Muslims, whether they were born here or not, are still people who live and work here. The people of their religious group should not be treated any differently than the people of other religious groups living in the United States.