We need to tackle Islamophobia at UVA

Those who think of Muslims as a threat are becoming more confident about expressing their views. Unfortunately our own University of Virginia has not been exempt from these tensions.

Fitting in is an important part of the university experience for many people. This is not always so easy, however, when you are part of any sort of minority group or even a transfer student in a mainly homogenous environment.

As The Tab UVA reported yesterday, a group of white males recently verbally abused a third year Muslim student while she was at Little John’s with her Hindu and Sikh friends.

“Goddamn these terrorists are infiltrating everywhere,” they said, a little before they asked one of her friends not to “bomb our asses”.

This is not to suggest that UVA is currently a hotbed of racism, but incidents like this happen. More and more people, especially veiled Muslim women and bearded Muslim men, are starting to feel unsafe.

The question, though, is what the administration should do to ensure the safety of the learning environment on Grounds.

It is a tough question. Every minority group wants closure for the pain they go through, and yet it is hard to find. And at this specific moment, when many more people even in Albermarle County are registering for concealed carry licenses, nerves are running high among minority groups.

Can the administration really do anything to solve the issue and to address growing concerns about harm against Muslim students?

A little after the Paris attacks, President Sullivan sent out an email to the community, saying that everyone was “deeply disturbed and saddened by the violent acts of terrorism that occurred in France.” This email was sent mainly because it directly affected the university community – there were students on a study abroad program living around the area of the attacks.

If the president of a university sent out an email after every politically tragic/violent event, we’d be getting an email every day. The job of the school is ultimately to provide a safe learning space for students, but not to address every single issue that happens at a given time and space. Students are here to learn to develop their own perspectives on matters of the world, and it is not the President’s job to become a political activist for the sake of the entire student body.

We especially do not want President Sullivan to act like the President of Liberty University, who recently came out with a statement encouraging students to start carrying concealed weaponry, and pitted Muslim students against everyone else. Perhaps not every educational institution’s president would go as far as Falwell did, but the possibility exists.

Washington Posts’ article on Falwell’s statement

President Sully has not yet sent an email that explicitly acknowledges Islamophobia. To many living on Grounds, this is a source of frustration, concern, anxiety, and even fear. We want the people who govern the school to at least recognize that some students are having trouble fitting in.

Yet it seems that the administration responds only to pressure caused by serious events. All the university can do is occasionally remind students that there are resources available to them in case they are in need of assistance.

And yes, even to me as a veiled Muslim American woman, it is quite difficult to imagine that the administration cannot really make a difference. I don’t feel safe because of what I hear on the news, and I’m still expected to live within my bubble. But the point is that I’m not alone. There is a whole group of people who are not happy with the way events are unraveling.

Me and President Sullivan

Students like Thalia Banowsky have said that “by not addressing the increased level of intolerance, we risk letting an entire demographic fear frightened and unwanted. If I were a Muslim in the United States right now, if I wore a hijab, I would be scared.”

We have many organizations on grounds that deal with minority rights issues. These groups, without a doubt, have done much to raise awareness and provide a space for the voices of the few. The problem is lack of intersection between the groups. Each CIO is focused on its own goals, and thus becomes almost exclusive in nature. For instance, it would be rare to see any events co-hosted by organizations for black students (NAACP, BSA, etc) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA).

There are countless other examples of this sort of exclusivity. And it definitely makes sense – in the face of a mostly white community, people of the minority find their niches and stick to them. It is easier to focus on the issues that directly affect your community. But in the grand scheme of things, this approach is not enough to make systemic changes.

So far, we’ve seen extraordinary individual students like Logan Dandridge, Attiya Latif, and a few others attempt to change the way we look at cultural diversity in our university community. But they cannot possibly do everything alone. Organizations need to come together in a concerted effort to change the status quo. According to Cunningham, “educating our peers will help alleviate any stress or feelings of being unwanted at the University”.

As suggested by students, including fourth year Katie Abbott, organizations that promote a certain minority groups’ rights need to understand that no positive outcome is possible without collaboration. Each minority group should lift the other, so that we can keep each other safe and see each other grow.

Muslim students should not have to stand alone, and neither should any other marginalized peoples. With what’s going on in America, we need to take care of each other so that we build a community of strength against hatred.

Until that happens, each of us will be fighting impossible battles on our own.