In a late-August issue of TIME Magazine, Muslim-American writer and commentator Arsalan Iftikhar was quoted saying that fear of Muslims had become the accepted form of racism. He said, “You can always take a potshot at Muslims or Arabs and get away with it.”
My immediate reaction: Join the club.
“Asians can’t drive.” “Black people are good at basketball.” “That’s gay.” Honestly, let’s not pretend that we have mastered the ability to turn a blind eye to race and stereotypes. I mean really, you could “take a potshot” at a number of different groups and get away with it.
I’ve never been the kind of idealist who imagines a world where we don’t see color. I am, however, the kind of idealist that thinks there is something to be gained by all of our differences. Differences are good and should be noticed. Problems occur because it is impossible to know where each person draws the line between what is funny and what is offensive.
The buzzword of our generation (and of America today) is tolerance. At Northwestern it’s no different. In fact, the diversity on campus lends itself to many outlets for advocating tolerance; while we are a diverse group, we are also in many ways the same. We have our intelligence and our bright futures in common.
A degree from Northwestern puts graduates in a position where they are unlikely (or so we hope) to end up among the impoverished. There is us and them.
I am Hispanic, so in high school I heard the construction worker jokes, the border patrol jokes, etc. but when I got to Northwestern I more frequently heard things like, “Well there’s you and then there’s the kind that wanna get in the back of a truck.”
Subjectively speaking, I could take offense at this because I consider myself just as Mexican as the second kind, so the distinction made by someone else is irrelevant. This is true in the same way that tacking on “no offense” to the beginning of an insult does not make it less insulting.
More objectively, I would say the remark is offensive because it seems to equate a race with a certain worth, though it is qualified by saying that I am an exception to the rule.
Granted, I worked hard so that I could come to a school like Northwestern, but I had little to do with the decisions my parents made in order to give me the opportunity to be here. There is little separating the person I am and the “back-of-the-truck” person I could have been.
It is hard to resist laughing at a cleverly constructed racist joke (Mexican ones included). My problem with racism is not so much that it exists, but that we can trick ourselves into thinking that our social status can validate it.
We live in a country where all different flavors of people are thrown together, so – in my cynical opinion – there’s bound to be racism. We should be able to make light of our differences, and – in a place like Northwestern – we need to remember that if race is not a measure of worth for the people we interact with, then race shouldn’t be a measure of worth for the rest.
Emily Alvarado is a Medill sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].
