Students battle with being racially stereotyped

Being politically correct has become a subjective way to reduce discrimination against certain races, cultures and religions. Labels can have a powerful effect on the way people view each other and the political correctness movement has come about in recent years in order to remain tactful when regarding others. Muslims, African-Americans, Jews and others have often encountered questions about how to correctly refer to their ethnicity and religion.
According to US News, only four percent of Peninsula’s students are African-American and the school’s ethnicity/racial makeup is dominated by Caucasians and Asians. Freshman Olin Osborne, an African-American student, believes Peninsula can help him explore new cultures by exposing himself to students of various races. However, Osborne has been in many situations when he has been referenced by a derogatory term that he believed to be offensive. Although some of the labels are common in the dialect of today’s society, Osborne believes that it does not change the fact that these slurs are disrespectful and unwanted.
“Various offensive racial slurs that are associated with black people are all considered [disrespectful] and should not be directed to black people by any person of any color,” Osborne said.
Freshman Josh Zeitlin has faced stereotypical insults of being cheap and authoritatively weak for being Jewish. However, he copes with the insults by remembering the thousands of Jews that survived the brutality of the Holocaust and anti-Semitic discrimination that has been going on for centuries.
“I am extremely proud to be Jewish because of the [number of hardships] that we have survived, and I try to [surround] myself with good people,” Zeitlin said.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, “white sounding” names receive 50 percent more callbacks for job interviews than “Muslim sounding” names. One of the most common and misleading labels of a Muslim is “terrorist.” This is because of the Muslim extremist groups that are known for being major threats to global peace. This misjudged image of Muslims has created a problem that affects them daily.
“Muslims follow the religion of Islam [and] the root word in Islam is ‘Salam’ which means peace,” Muslim Student Association President and junior Yusuf Abdullah said. “But Muslims are rarely publicized as peaceful people [due to ongoing terror caused by Islamic extremists].”
Junior Hana Ayoub, a Muslim student, says that many people who label Muslims as terrorists fail to recognize the true philosophy of the Muslim faith which is treating everyone with kindness. Despite people who tend to stereotype Muslims and portray them as hateful, violent and dangerous, Ayoub tries to regain the positive image that was once was recognized by society by wearing a hijab while radiating happiness and positivity.
Many people who have been victims of inconsiderate labels have expressed similar thoughts of raising awareness to limit this sort of behavior in society. However, like students on this campus, many are proud to be the ethnicity/religion they are.
“I can wholly and confidently say that I am proud to be a Muslim,” Ayoub said. “While it saddens me to see that people are quick to jump to conclusions in labeling Muslims negatively, it pushes me harder not only to be the best person I can be and to work on my own character, but also to hopefully change people’s perceptions of Islam.”