As a Black Muslim girl, I know all about how it feels to be discriminated against based on gender, race and religion.
As humans, we have a tendency to judge people based on what we see rather than judging a person’s personality or actions. And it isn’t necessarily about being a judgemental person. Everyone has made assumptions about others solely based on what they see.
We often group people into categories based on their appearances. Simply by looking at someone, we might assume their financial situation, how they behave or whether they “fit our standards.” Even if we do not want to admit it, it is true.
The real difference lies in how we act on those judgments. There is an assumption that only people of color or different religions get discriminated against or judged. And yes, they are the larger majority of people who get discriminated against, but that is not always the case.
In order to make sure that I wasn’t alone on this, I asked a number of people the same question: What is something about your identity that you have been discriminated against or labelized about that made you feel less than or uncomfortable?
History teacher Matthew Poth: “I’m a U.S military veteran, and I have lots of tattoos, and people make snap decisions about me or judgements about me. I know that does not make me feel great.”
Junior Mila Garcia:“People make the assumption that I’m uneducated or rebellious. It’s simply because I’m black.”
Sophomore Anny Tluangi: “I always get looked at as the star student or that I am super smart. But it’s funny. They never saw my performance or grades, just that I was Chinese.”
Sophomore Shrinika Porandla: “As an Indian, people have always made fun of me for my culture, whether it was the food I ate or just the fact I was Indian.”
Sophomore Hilda Crespin: “People always get shocked when they find out that I have over a 4.0 GPA and have straight A’s. I guess they are just shocked that all the ‘Hispanics don’t care about school and get bad grades’ stereotype isn’t true.”
Sophomore Edem Kuadey: “I’m 5 ’10, and for a girl that’s pretty tall. But people always make comments about my height, and that sometimes makes me feel insecure.”
Sophomore Isabella Stubbs: “My mom is white, and my dad is Black. People always have to say things like ‘you’re not a real Black person’ or ‘you don’t belong in the Black community.’ And that’s always super annoying.”
Junior Zahra Zandinejad: “As a hijabi, I feel like I’m constantly judged. I sometimes feel like I’m unsafe simply because some people are Islamophobic.”
Junior Shravya Kachibhotla: “You can’t be a woman in the engineering field. Everyone tells me that. It even got me rejected from some opportunities just because I am a woman. It does make me feel less than and also a bit sad that misogyny is still bad.”
Junior Alia McElroy: “Because I am adopted, people think I’m weird. That’s not even something I control, and it sucks because no one else is adopted. So I’m always singled out.”
Senior Elham Rahimi: “People always look at my shoes or clothes, and know I don’t have much. My family doesn’t have much, and I’m fine with that. But people make it so hard to be okay with it.”
Sophomore Arthur White: “I’m always called a try-hard or ‘too much’ for having good grades. It sometimes makes me want to dumb myself down just to please them.”
Sophomore Maddie Waters: “I always knew I was heavier than most girls. Even though I don’t really care, and I love my body as it is, people’s comments and stares still hurt.”
Junior Anuja Mallampalli: “I struggle with school a lot, and it’s even worse when everyone assumes I have perfect grades because I’m South Asian.”
The truth is, you can never fit into everyone’s standards. You will never be good enough to please everyone. So instead, please yourself. Become a better version of yourself every day. Learn to love yourself because your identity is who you are, so don’t change it.
There was a time when I struggled a lot and worried what people would think of me. But my mom told me something I would never forget:
“If people want to act this way, then they are either insecure or uneducated. No matter what people say or do, you have to keep your confidence and smile,” she said. “That is a woman’s most powerful weapon, confidence and self respect, so never lose it.”
So you have to keep moving forward without letting people bring you down. Because they are not any better than me or you. You are the most important thing in your life. You are the only thing you can control in your life, so don’t lose yourself.
