Guest Column: “We need loud, active allyship” — Supporting Muslim Students in the Wake of Islamophobic Attacks

Muslims comprise just 1% of the U.S. population. Yet,  according to the FBI’s most recently available data, religious hate crimes disproportionately target Muslims at 13%. These numbers do not even begin to depict the distressing reality for Muslims in the U.S.; hate crimes in minoritized communities go largely unreported and also do not include microaggressions or other forms of discrimination that are not criminalized.

While Muslims worldwide observe Ramadan, an important month of spiritual reflection and fasting that ends May 12, the hate continues. On Sunday, members of the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Center in Minnesota arrived at their mosque for morning prayer to find it vandalized with a broken window and racist, Islamophobic slurs spray-painted on the property. Several Muslims in the community even received death threats.

Unfortunately, hate crimes targeting Muslims like the one in Minnesota are frequent tragedies in the U.S., especially during Ramadan. Acts of hate like this are too often overlooked in leading news coverage and mainstream public discourse. These tragedies, coupled with the nation’s silence, amplify the trauma and distress felt by these communities that are already disadvantaged and minoritized, including those here at Utah State University.

Further, we cannot have a full conversation without also addressing the overall increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander people in the U.S. Hate crimes against AAPI people increased 150% in the past year. Muslim and Asian communities are among many communities that are terrified, angry, heartbroken and tired. Recent events borne out of systemic oppression in the past year have left Muslim, Asian, Black, Brown, queer, disabled and other minoritized communities traumatized and isolated. USU students who represent these communities are watching these distressing events, and many are experiencing them. We cannot ignore their grief. We need loud, active allyship.

Today, I leave an important message for my fellow Aggies.

To Muslim, Asian, international, and other minoritized students: You are entitled to the same rights, liberty and dignity as any other student at USU. You deserve for your campus to be a safe and inclusive space. You are not alone as we stand in solidarity with you. I invite you to share your voice as we work toward a more equitable and just community.

To White and other majority students: The intersecting identities of most Muslim and other minoritized students make them vulnerable to daily experiences with xenophobia, racism, religious persecution and language discrimination. I invite you to be an ally and an upstander in situations of intolerance. Listen to voices in these communities on matters concerning them. Every small action you take to intervene and stand in solidarity with these communities will help foster an environment we can all call home.

Finally, to all of the USU community: It takes just one part of the human body to be compromised in order for the whole body to experience the pain, requiring rest and care. Similarly, when one part of our Aggie Family is in pain, our entire community’s health is compromised. We must all work together to heal.

I encourage you all to take care of yourself and to look out for others while processing these distressing events. I encourage you to seek support and get involved in building a safer, more inclusive community by utilizing on-campus and local resources, including:

• USU Student Wellness and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
• USU Muslim Student Club
• Logan Islamic Center
• Cache Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
• USU Office of Global Engagement
• Aggies Think, Care, Act
• USU Interfaith Initiative
• USU Inclusion Center
• USU Office of Equity

Ramadan Mubarak, everyone. Be kind to one another and look out for your fellow Aggies. I wish you peace and comfort at the end of this semester and during these distressing times.

Niyonta N. Chowdhury-Magaña is a queer, Muslim-Pantheist artist, activist, and the 2021-2022 Graduates Studies Senator for the Utah State University Student Association. She is a doctoral student with a focus in Psychology, Political Science, and Sociology at USU. She is from Dhaka, and has lived in New York, California, Bristol, Tokyo, and several other places that have all proved to be formative experiences for her. She has a cat called Kit Cat which is short for Kitten Cat.

Instagram: @entercenterpage, @lettermilk

Twitter: @niyonta