Beyond Skin

By Khadega Mohammed, guest writer

Racism. The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Or for a less technical term, the belief that one race is superior to other races. When asked about racism, I think about my experiences, as well as the many other cases involving such injustice. Being a black, Arab, Muslim, and hijabi woman, I have faced a lot of discrimination throughout my life. I grew up in Saudi Arabia, where many of my memories consisted of hatred and pain because of racism. From a young age, I was taught to hate my skin color and myself. I always felt like I didn’t belong because I was different than everyone, weeping through the many nights spent trying to scrub the color off of my skin, tears rolling down my face. It all started from the first day of first grade, when I asked a young Saudi Arabian girl if I could sit next to her. She gave me a disgusted look and hissed, “You cannot sit next to me.”

Confused, I asked, “Why?”,

“Because you are black.”

My parents always taught me to be kind to others, and before that day, I thought the world was filled with smiles and love. I was taught to play with all the kids, no matter who they were. I really supposed everyone was meant to get along with each other, because we all had beating hearts willing to receive and give love. But after that day, my whole life turned upside down. One of the biggest problems dividing the ummah is the racism and discrimination within our mosques and communities. It may be subtle, but its effects cause so much tension and segregation between Muslim brothers and sisters. Islam is a loving religion — but its followers sometimes bring the baggage of racial bias deep within their cultures. Hatred will continue to exist in people’s hearts, because, most of the time, ignorance overpowers logic and humanity. After experiencing so much racism in my young life,
I decided to make a change. I made it my responsibility to spread as much love as I can. I would never want anyone to experience the emptiness I once felt. To solve this problem, people first need to realize as a problem, so I made it my mission to educate people on racism. Racial profiling does nothing but separate us as a human race. We are much more that what our skin color says about us. It is time that we stop separating ourselves into pieces, and start agreeing to one peace.

-Khadega Mohammed