Being Muslim in America means…

“Having a lot of weight on your shoulders; having a lot of responsibility. Having responsibility to your own community and responsibility to one's fellow Americans to not only convey the right impression of Islam, but also to shed a critical light on what our country is doing around the world and domestically. I think just like any community that’s under attack, people have different responses. Some people begin to hate the Muslim parts of themselves. They start to ask their parents, ‘Why do I look different from Tommy and Melissa? Why isn’t my hair blonde? Why do they go skiing in the Alps?’ The most fearful part of Islamophobia is to begin to hate that part of your identity and try to blend in at any cost. You can’t change what people see when people look at you, no matter how many degrees you have and what company you work for. I can shave my beard and wear a suit and tie and do every step in the book, but what’s the point of trying to blend in when people are going to judge you based on how you look?”