by Ernie McCray
Turning on my TV
and hearing news
that there had been a shooting
at the Islamic Center of San Diego
caused my heart to grieve immensely
and my breathing
didn’t come easily
as the first thoughts
that came to my mind
were of my many visits there
and how I would be met
with a “Hello, my good brother”
kind of greeting at the door
by a friendly guard
who I heard had been killed
along with two other members of the center’s staff
and I nearly crumbled
from that information
wondering about the children
on the premises,
and then feeling so relieved
upon hearing that they and their teachers
were safe,
due to some form
of a saving grace.
It wasn’t until the press conference
that I was able
to gather my thoughts
in any way,
as updates were given
centering on the suspects, two teenagers,
who shot
at a landscaper nearby
and then ended their lives,
found in a car not too faraway
finding out
that one of them had left his home on this day
spouting rhetoric of hate
and then words were spoken
about how hateand Islamophobia
have no home in San Diego –
and it was at that point
that I thought about how in many ways
that wasn’t quite the case
in my beloved town
because the reason
I’ve been going to the Islamic Center
for a while
has been to discuss serious problems in the community
regarding Islamophobia,
the racializing of Arab and Muslim identity,
in a way,
even in our schools
where many Arab and Muslim students
are treated
utterly disrespectfully
as though they are our nation’s enemy,
teased and bullied
in their classrooms,
sometimes by educators
acting ignorantly
towards these students’ social and political needs,
reflecting our society’s tendency
to associate Arab and Muslim Americans
stereotypically with terrorism
and Anti-Americanism
and the like.
I hope that this tragedy
will inspire my city
and other cities
to take the plight
of our Arab/Muslim citizens
seriously
and make them feel more
comfortable in our country.
Something has to be done.
Immediately.
