Get over it
I wish I could say that I’m surprised. I really wish that I could. But unfortunately the fact that more than half of the state governors in the United States have said they will not take Syrian refugees isn’t surprising.
It is frustrating, maddening, sad — but not surprising. It is predictable. It shows that most Americans are still not over their prejudice of the Middle East. Well get over it.
It seems obvious to say this, but a handful of terrible people don’t represent an entire geographic region. It sounds so obvious that I didn’t think anyone needed to say it. But apparently someone needs to tell our elected officials.
At the time that I am writing this 31 state governors have said they don’t want Syrian refugees since the Paris and Beirut attacks. Apparently they don’t realize that is the exact reason that the refugees exist. They exist because they are escaping the living hell of the Syrian Civil War. It’s a war with no rules. The government kills its people, the rebels kill their people, the terrorists kill everyone. Hell.
Governors of our states are actually actively trying to deny huge groups of people an escape. They are trying to deny these people the same privileges that they happened to be born into.
It’s selfish. It is also accepted and even applauded by many Americans.
I will say that I have never been more proud of an elected official in Utah as when Gov. Gary Herbert said that Utah will take refugees. But I shouldn’t have to be proud. That should be the norm. But it’s not.
Other governors cite security concerns, but this wouldn’t be an issue if these were European or Asian refugees. This isn’t an issue of security for them, it’s an issue of prejudice. Prejudice against not just an organization, or a single ethnic group, or even a country. It is prejudice against an entire geographic region.
I am a citizen of Jordan. When I was younger I would go to Jordan for three or four weeks periodically and enjoy Arab culture and people. When I would come back I experienced the same shock every time. A lot of people view every single person in the Middle East the same: radical. It is a terrible misrepresentation of these people and far from the truth. Yet socially many Americans are okay with discriminating against Arabs.
It’s both subtle and broad, it’s both on the street and online. Now it is spilling into our government’s ability to be humane and compassionate to a displaced and traumatized group of people. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember.
Get over it.
— Jeffrey is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in religious studies. He has dual citizenship to Jordan and the U.S. He loves the Middle East. You can reach him at dahdahjm@gmail.com or on Twitter @dahdahjeff.