A group of Muslim men and boys knelt in prayer in the Berlin Mosque as an imam recited from the Qur’an. A few hours earlier, they were downstairs, hosting their first "Youth Hangout" -- an afternoon of Jeopardy for high schoolers of all faiths designed to show solidarity in the face of anti-Muslim hate rhetoric.
I was assigned to a Jeopardy team, and immediately saw differences between team members: some wore skull caps, some wore hijabs. Some heads, like mine, were unadorned and Christian. But this is why we were here.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has continued to stand by his proposal for a ban on Muslim immigrants to the United States. Some Muslim youth in Connecticut are worried this kind of message could lead to further religious-based discrimination.
To address that concern, the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford held an event earlier this year for young people of all faiths.
"I don’t want the youth to feel alienated, because that’s our future.”
Reza Mansoor
Dr. Reza Mansoor, President of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford, helped to organize the event.
"As a result of fear, sometimes Muslims feel alienated," Mansoor said. "And one of the worst things, at least as a leader of the Muslim community here, is that I don’t want the youth to feel alienated, because that’s our future.”
We were a table of Jews, Muslims, Congregationalists, and me, the lone Episcopalian. Within a few seconds of starting our game of Jeopardy, everyone was shouting across their tables, debating answers and laughing with each other. Afterwards, I talked to some of the people I met during the game.
Huzaifa Khan is a high school sophomore at East Hartford’s Connecticut IB Academy, and an aspiring politician. He said Islamophobic rhetoric and actions aren’t just for politicians -- this stuff really happens in high school. He recounted an incident in which Muslim freshmen at his school had letters put into their lockers that said "Go home, Muslim."
Khan said security cameras were installed, and the perpetrator was dealt with justly. But he told me there’s still a bigger problem.
“It just goes to show how deep the level of hate rhetoric in the media goes, even to people in the youth,” Khan said.
Huzaifa Khan says the best response to hateful rhetoric should be showing that it’s possible to be welcoming and tolerant.
Asked about how he felt about his safety in school, Khan said, “There are times, or there were times, when I felt that I wasn’t really welcome.” But Khan said he also remembers that he’s as much an American as anyone else at school, and he thinks that the best response from the Muslim community should be to lead by example and show that it’s possible to be welcoming and tolerant.
That’s what Sahar Amjad wanted to do at the Youth Hangout. She’s a high school senior at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering in Windsor, and was the event’s youth coordinator. “I would become a journalist. I would be that Muslim voice that stands for honesty and stands for getting the right message out there and just making sure everyone knows what the truth is.”
She’s ready to face some hurdles, and not just because she’d represent the Muslim voice. “Every voice of truth is pushed down. Everyone who tries to erase the idea of a scapegoat when politicians so desperately need one in order to garner whatever points they can scrape together.”
Khan said he wants to build on his experiences and change how politics sound. "I certainly think that I’ll follow the ways of my religion when I become a politician, because I don’t enjoy slandering opponents or vilifying people, because that’s not Islam," Khan said.
Dr. Mansoor said this skewed message from high-profile voices seems to dominate the mass media. He said the moderate voice is there, waiting to be heard.
“People are so fearful of Islam -- well, you know, please, reach out to us, get to know us, the Mosques are open, we’re welcoming you," Mansoor said.
My experience was a vivid, up-close-and-personal example of how much we divide ourselves. It only took a minute of sitting at the same table with kids of many faiths for me to see past the skull caps and the hijabs, to see that the categorization of humans is a purely manufactured concept, one manufactured from an apprehensive distance.
We were, at that moment more than ever, one team. We won, by the way.
Gabe Simerson is a senior at Hamden Hall Country Day School. Diane Orson contributed to this report.
