Voice of America moderated a panel this week with millennial Muslim-Americans who offered their views on religion, Islamophobia, Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., and identity.
Here are some snippets from the panel (be sure to also watch the video clips):
— “I feel whenever a Muslim does something like that, it’s all over the media, there’s so much attention to it. But if a Westerner does the same thing, I don’t think it has the same impact,” said Morsal Mohamad, a student at George Washington University.
– Speaking about the recent attacks in Orlando and San Bernardino, Mohamed Hussein, Executive Director of the Somali American Youth Foundation in northern Virginia, said: “A lot of these people who give a bad name to Islam don’t even come to the mosque.”
– Mohamed Hussein also spoke about identity. “It definitely is a struggle, not only being a Muslim, not only being a Muslim-American, being Somali, being black, being young — there’s a lot of identities that you have to reconcile.”
– Speaking on the hot button topic of self radicalization, Oya Rose Atkas comments: “I also think that focusing on cyber radicalization kind of loses sight of the bigger picture. You have to focus more on community groups, you need to focus more on human interactions, you need to focus more on making sure that people are living fulfilling, satisfying lives outside of the internet.”
