One of the classes I am in this semester is about terrorism. We have discussed topics like 9/11 and many other international terrorist events. What is not normally talked about is the fallout for muslisms or anyone thought to be muslism or middle eastern during the years following. I also watched an SVU episode this week that is related to this. In this episode a man ended up dying at an age of about 50 because of the abuse he endured in previous years. US intelligence tortured him and destroyed his central nervous system just because he had a distant relative in his home country that was one time flagged and thought to maybe be related to a terrorist organization, but it was never confirmed. This man in the United States who had no relation to this distant relative and never knew him was tortured for information he didn’t have just profiled because he “fit the mold” of a terrorist according to the United States. They ruined this man’s life and his families, along with thousands of people just because they had a certain appearance. They profiled so many people and put so many people through abuse. Americans all over the country harassed muslims verbally and physically along with the government. They faced injustice just because of the way they looked and being profiled. It reminds me a little bit of the topic from this week and The Leavers, in the sense that constantly I feel like people are coming to the United States to live a good life, and do no harm and they are constantly being ridiculed and given a million obstacles where it is hard to do that. This example relates to our topic of The Leavers because in The Leavers self and other is very prominent and we see with Deming he struggles to find himself because immersed in a white-washed culture and has never been able to explore his own self and identity. In this SVU episode and also in the climate of America post 9/11 many musilms were targeted just because they were muslim. They were treated as others and it reminds me of Deming because it shows how in both these situations Americans treated these people as others because they looked different, or may have grown up differently than them. It is something very interesting and I don’t believe it is discussed enough.
Here is an article from the Huffpost where it discusses a twitter thread where Paul Krugman insensitively tweeted about there being a lack of anti-muslims hate and violence post 9/11, and many Muslims and and other groups targeted after 9/11 tweeted out against him sharing their stories and proving him wrong.
Here is a video where people share their experiences and discuss post 9/11 from PBS.
Nice systemic injustice showcase, I believe this was a very important topic you described here. The idea of “fitting the mold” was a significant point that you brought up and really is a tragedy how somebody can be profiled and treated differently due to how somebody looks although they have no affiliation to a crime. I agree with your relation of the Leavers and the concept of the One and Other to the situation at hand because of the horrible Muslim treatment after 9/11. Finally, I enjoyed your addition of the video where various people demonstrated their viewpoint on the event and how it impacted them.
I thought this Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase was very well done and detailed. Obviously terrorist events and attacks are terrible, but so are the people that are unfairly profiled and tortured due to their appearance as a result. What makes this even more of an injustice is how not a lot is said about this unfair and cruel treatment. Furthermore, I thought you did a good job a comparing this unfair treatment of innocent people to the Leavers. I agree that the concept of self and other is very prominent in this example of injustice. Furthermore, I think it’s a shame to see people being outcasted and treated in a cruel and unjust manner just due to their appearance and I think not enough is being done to correct this issue.