Daily Times

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and it targets expressions of Muslimness. One of the biggest examples is the recent incident where a racist white man beat and stomped on a defenseless Muslim woman who was 38 weeks pregnant in a cafe in Sydney, Australia while shouting anti-Muslim and Islamophobic slurs at her.

Hatred against Muslims does not begin with the sound of gunfire breaking through the peaceful calm place for prayer like mosque nor it begins with beating a pregnant Muslim woman. It begins with simple prejudice in schools, workplaces, and communities. How somebody feels like they have the right to abuse another human being baffles me.

It is not about religion. It shows that you do not possess basic human empathy and kindness. We cannot allow such kind of behavior to become the norm and do absolutely nothing about it. If this kind of attack was done by a Muslim, he’d be called a terrorist by the whole world but if a “white person” is responsible for any attack, he is called “mentally ill”.

Every person has a right to feel secure and safe in any community. I fear for the world our men, women, and children will grow up in if this issue is not addressed properly.