Letter: Unjust discrimination

By Carina Evans-Davies

Editor, the Gauntlet,

I am sick of how the Muslim and East Indian communities are being treated. People are letting their fears of the unknown get the best of them. Everyone who wears a turban is not a terrorist. Terrorism has many faces, colours and religions.

What if the attacks were carried out by Irish terrorists? Would people vandalize churches and boycott Irish pubs? Would they beat up and kill people who looked Irish? There would be backlash against the Irish community but not to this extent. The anger would be focused on the Irish terrorists themselves.

People must open their minds and educate themselves about the Muslim religion. If they did, they would know that true Muslims would not have gone to the violent and horrific extremes that we all witnessed on September 11. Muslims are against violence. The so-called terrorists are radicals and represent a small minority of the Muslim community.

By letting fear control our actions, we are letting terrorism win. The number of people acting out in fear is small but it is enough that we cannot turn a blind eye. Now is the time to stand together as Canadians instead of letting fear divide us. If we terrorize and kill each other because of a stereotype, what separates us from the terrorists?