In an interview with various college students in NYC after the attacks, there was a range of feelings and reactions but mostly, fear. A student at Hunter College said \u201cWe were victims of what happened. We had loved ones stuck in the World Trade Center. We couldn\u2019t get in contact with our loved ones. And on top of that, we were accused. So we were double traumatized. When they say, \u2018America Unites\u2019, they did not mean us. They did not mean Muslims.\u201d (Peek 2003, 282). In fact, there was a 1600 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2001, (Mir 2014, 7) as well as the omnipresence of surveillance on Muslim neighborhoods and college students. Some students did not go to school for many weeks or even open the blinds to their homes for fear of being targeted. The event of 9\/11 set the stage for continuous racialization and violence<\/a> towards Muslim individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So how are these folks dealing with their identities? Well, Generation M and the Mipsterz are examples of folks who loudly present their identities. Whereas some of the women interviewed in the book Muslim American Women on Campus <\/em>by Shabana Mir, <\/em>are more quiet with their identities, let\u2019s begin there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the women Mir interviewed for her novel expressed that the stereotype\u2019s attached with being a Muslim felt unavoidable and because of this it was hard to \u201cblend in\u201d. They felt the American pluralism was not flexible, and that the only way to be \u201cnormal\u201d was to conceal their religiosity, as a way to avoid discrimination.\u00a0 Being an outsider in the periphery of their universities was a common feeling among the women. Yasmin for example, does not include Muslim referees on her internship applications as a way to soften her religious affiliation as a Muslim. She said \u201cCan you really change things from outside the system? So I think it\u2019s much more likely you can change the system from the inside.\u201d (Mir 2014, 174). Presenting the idea of a \u2018system\u2019 where one may either be inside or outside of, based on who you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The women that Mir worked with felt as though their identities were multiple and flexible, and were experiencing finding a comfortable balance between being a college student, an American, and Muslim, among other identities. An example of the navigation process can be seen through the social party scene and drinking. Some women choose not to engage in it, while others may go and drink, while some go to the party, but do not drink. This example presents the ways in which the different women engaged with their values. Amina, one of the interviewee\u2019s expressed that she feels that there needs to be some level of assimilation or else there is the potential to become \u201ccushioned\u201d to being around people who are just like you, something she believes is bad (Mir 2014, 176). It can be observed that there are decisions Muslim folks\u00a0 make based on social pressures and their values, which are ways they may be forming their identities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, we can see another way that youth are interacting with their identities by looking at the Mipsterz<\/a>. The Mipsterz began when Layla Shaikley, a young woman living in London decided she was sufficiently exhausted with meeting the reactions of Islamaphobes and people who she described as terrorists who \u201chad equally hijacked the popular narrative about Muslims\u201d (Janmohamed 2016, 28). Her and her friends decided to make a video of themselves hanging out, riding motorcycles, and skateboarding. The video and the Mipsterz movement is a way for Layla, her friends, and other Muslims alike to take control of their identities themselves and mix both their personal values and passions with their faith. Layla got all types of reactions to the video of people saying they related so much, and others who criticized her saying that they didn\u2019t relate at all. To this, Layla responded saying, \u201cTell your own story and don\u2019t rely on others to do it for you.\u201d (Janmohamed 2016, 29). A message that is presented in Shelina Janmohamed\u2019s work Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World, <\/em>the movement where Muslim youth are deciding to combat the negative stereotypes through education to teach people about who they are and what they believe. Thus, these Muslim youth are loudly projecting how they want to be understood, as a way to combat the negative stereotypes and define their identities themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, the answer to my question is not one that has a definitive answer, rather, an open ended one offering endless examples of the different ways in which Muslims are understanding their identities–as most people are (I know I sure am). Perhaps a good message to us all is what my Mormon friend once told me, \u201cDon\u2019t judge me because of my religion, just see me, for me\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Aydin, Cemil. The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History. <\/em>Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCartoons about City Life, Country Life and Society, from Punch | PUNCH Magazine Cartoon Archive.\u201d Accessed October 18, 2019. https:\/\/punch.photoshelter.com\/image\/I0000s7fYdJJhUUs <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Janmohamed, Shelina. Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World<\/em>. London. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co.Ltd, 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mir, Shabana. Muslim American Women on Campus: Undergraduate Social Life and Identity. <\/em>The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peek, Lori A. \u201cReactions and Response: Muslim Students\u2019 Experiences on New York City Campuses Post 9\/11\u201d. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol 23, No. 2 (October, 2003). Accessed October 6th, 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson, Jason F. “Modernity,” Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 6108-6112. Gale Virtual Reference Library. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello Readers! When given the opportunity to research any topic for #IslamModUVM, I wanted to pick a current topic centered around living, breathing, everyday Muslim folks. I wanted to get a better understanding of what it may be like to embody … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel195a\/files\/2019\/12\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-07-at-6.11.21-PM-859x1024.png\")
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