OPINION
The words Donald Trump and racist have once again reared its ugly presidential wig.
I’m sure some of you have heard of ‘The Squad’ by now. No, I’m not referring to Taylor Swift’s girl power group which lasted a little longer than most of her relationships. I’m referring to the new squad comprising of four US congresswoman, all hailing from the progressive wing of the Democratic party, who have seemingly given the president of the United States a hernia. Just for existing.
The freshman lawmakers are all of minority backgrounds and were recently told by Trump to go back “and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
When Muslim people in the public eye - especially visible Muslim women - are asked to speak on behalf of the community, there is always a sense of dread.
So who are the squad? There’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (affectionately known as AOC), Ayanna Pressley, Rasheeda Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. They are all women of colour. However, it seems Ilhan Omar, a black, Muslim, refugee who wears a hijab (headscarf) has borne the brunt of Trump’s ire. At a recent rally, Trump attacked Omar and inspired thousands of his supporters to chant “send her back”.
The squad fought back, assertively declaring the US belongs to everyone. Trump, unbowed by the criticism was clear in his response, he sent a tweet declaring the squad “racist”.
Despite there being two Muslim women in the squad, Omar has been the target of most of the attacks. She is the only one born overseas, but as the Twittersphere has duly noted, she’s been a US citizen longer than First Lady Melania Trump. It begs the question though, why has Omar been singled out?
I think the answer is obvious. She is visibly Muslim. She is black. And she is outspoken.
Congresswoman Omar has been vocal about being asked dumb questions. In her time in office, she’s been asked numerous times to condemn al-Qaeda, female genital mutilation and terrorism. She has said she was disgusted at some of the questions Muslim law makers receive and has openly admitted to being exasperated by the constant requests to condemn matters that have nothing to do with her or the people she represents.
Needless to say, it’s not easy being a Muslim woman in the public eye. I’ve experienced it firsthand. I was an occasional spokesperson for the Islamophobia Register Australia and have written articles, appeared on TV, print and radio to relay my experiences with Islamophobia. The experience was always the same. I would give an interview, people in the comments section would call me a terrorist and then I would go home, watch some trashy reality show and gorge on carbs while declaring my daily mantra: diet starts tomorrow!
It’s amazing how quickly you adapt to hatred and how ignoring vitriolic messages becomes the new normal. But it wasn’t always like this.
I distinctly remember it was February 2016 when my sister called me and uttered the four words most feared in the digital realm:
“Don’t read the comments”.
Argh, here we go.
I had just appeared on Weekend Sunrise on the Channel Seven as a representative of the Islamophobia Register Australia. I was there to talk about my numerous experiences of being verbally and physically assaulted as a visible Muslim woman - including the time a bunch of British backpackers threw hard boiled eggs at me and my family.
It’s amazing how quickly you adapt to hatred and how ignoring vitriolic messages becomes the new normal. But it wasn’t always like this.
The comments were unabashedly glorious. They ranged from suggesting I was a “terrorist sympathiser”, to my attempts to covertly bring in shariah law to Australia. I guess nothing screams shariah law louder than being egged in a car park. Yes I set the whole thing up to overthrow the government. And then I made an omelette. A halal Omelette! Gasp! You got me, you sly internet sleuths you!
There are also the usual comments about Muslim women being oppressed *snoooore* and my all-time favourite: “Why do I have to wear a burka (sic) in Saudi Arabia and follow “their rules” but these women don’t follow 'our' rules and dress like us here?" I’m just astonished so many people are holidaying in Saudi Arabia, I guess it’s the new tourism hot spot after Bali of course.
One guy even suggested the global Islamic conspiracy sent a pretty face to represent Islam on TV so that our mission of world domination would be more palatable for breakfast TV audiences. I’m not going to lie, for a brief second I thought ‘wow, you actually think I’m pretty? Aww thank you!’
If reading Islamophobic comments under Islam-related content was a drinking game, you would most probably end up getting your stomach pumped by the end of it.
When Muslim people in the public eye - especially visible Muslim women - are asked to speak on behalf of the community, there is always a sense of dread. We know we’re going to get skewered by some obnoxiously patriotic bogans whose only tolerance for Muslims comes in a halal snack pack and their love for bite-sized Rumi quotes.
It’s ironic, there are people out there who claim Muslim women are “oppressed” and feel the only way to “save us” is to attack us for the way we appear.
The conversation inevitably becomes less about what we say and more about how we look and what we’re wearing. It’s ironic, there are people out there who claim Muslim women are “oppressed” and feel the only way to “save us” is to attack us for the way we appear. I don’t mean to get all Brene Brown on y’all but I think this white saviour complex is rooted more in hatred and fear of the unknown than genuine concern. All in all, if you feel the need to “save me” from my oppression - a word of advice, don’t call me a terrorist.
It’s not like I’m going to renounce my Muslim identity because some keyboard warrior thinks I have a Bin Laden vibe. I’m behind on Netflix shows and I would very much rather wonder what happened to Barb from Stranger Things than read your furiously misspelled hieroglyphic-like rants.
It’s not easy being a Muslim woman in the public eye, and that’s why it’s more important than ever to have women like Congresswoman Omar pave the way and inspire young girls to understand they are more than the labels placed on them or the attire they choose to wear.
They can make the world a better place and if they’re lucky, they can even piss off people like Trump. And a word of advice, never read the comments section - without a box of popcorn.
