Islam Case Study: Minority in America
Black Muslims have been in the United States long before many other cultures we think to be as predominantly Muslim. As a result of the slave trade, tens of thousands of African Muslims were brought to the West. As a measure of control, white slavers stripped them of their Muslim identity. This mentality was continued and enforced until the collapse of slavery in America in the late 1800s. Many African Americans were drawn to Islam due to its teachings of equality.
The article “Islam Case Study: Minority in America,” by Harvard Divinity School discusses how Black Muslims were oppressed by slavery, but most staggering is that many Black Muslims were forced to give up their religion to be converted to Christianity. It is critical to understand these traumatizing events as the effects continue to operate in many different social spheres today. Systemic issues such as racism, racial inequality, environmental racism, marginalization, disenfranchisement, gentrification, colorism, etc. are ones that predominantly affect people of color. Black Muslims are especially vulnerable to these injustices and that is why the communities we work with experience several of these issues first hand.
MAPS recognizes that we can better our services by understanding the way Black Muslim communities are marginalized and are still discriminated against present day. It's important that we acknowledge the hostility and barriers many of our students face because it allows us, as volunteers, to empathize with them and overall form stronger bonds. For example, although some of our volunteers might not be able to relate to some of the students’ cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds, acknowledging and being aware of their identities enable us to understand why students behave a certain way and/or have different ideals. Applying this knowledge into our tutoring sessions enhances our ability to provide better support, which ultimately generates more trust between volunteers and students and also builds a stronger coalition of leaders.
In addition, after recognizing that Black Muslims still experience hostility in America, we believe that as an organization that serves these underserved communities, our best offer is to be an outreach group where these students feel safe. As a community, MAPS can enrich this theme by doing more workshops or activities that address these topics, therefore students are encouraged to be proud of their ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.
This reflection was written by Ismael Sindha and Sandra Medel, both a part of the Spring 2020 Internship class. “Islam Case Study: Minority in America,” by Harvard Divinity School linked below!
