The Root of all Prejudice

     While aftermath of the 9/11 attacks undeniably left Americans feeling stunned and resentful, it also left them with a powerful anti-Muslim sentiment. Amy Waldman skillfully writes about this sentiment in her novel, The Submission, along with how it affects the construction of a monument honoring those who died in the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Shortly after the tragedy, millions of people sent anonymous submissions to a committee in New York City who would eventually choose one design as the new monument. After choosing the winner, however, they soon learned that the monument had been designed by a Muslim, Mohammad Khan. When reporters revealed the name to the public, pandemonium broke loose. How could anyone in their right mind choose a Muslim's design for the monument? According to one member on the committee's jury, if they would decide to confirm Khan as the victor,"they [the Muslims] will feel like they've won" (19). This juror acts as a synecdoche for the majority of the New York City population--she believes that all Muslims strive to harm Americans, and therefore to construct a monument designed by a Muslim, no matter how beautiful or meaningful, would not only give the Muslims a sense of satisfaction but also add a sense of irony to the process in that a Muslim had created a monument in memorial of a tragedy caused by Muslims. Claire Burwell, a member of the committee who lost her husband in the attacks, so far appears as the only supporter of Khan's memorial. When she first heard the disapproval of everyone on the committee, she announced that her "husband would be appalled" (23). In bringing her dead husband into the argument, Claire implied that the prejudice against the Islam religion that these attacks brought about seemed unfair and unjust. She argued that, if the attacks had not happened, to choose a Muslim as a winner of an architectural contest would not even begin to raise questions regarding ethics and ethnicity. As I got further and further into the book, I found myself siding more and more with Claire. The majority of Americans took what a small group of radical Muslims had done on 9/11 and applied their opinions of them to the entire Muslim population. Because of this ignorance and fallacious reasoning, following 9/11, some Americans treated all Muslims unfairly. I believe that such prejudice existed merely because "people are afraid"--afraid of the differences in religion, ethnic background, and values (75). Ignorance of other cultures creates fear, which inevitably sparks prejudice. In order to avoid this ignorance, which, as Waldman exemplifies in her novel, appears at the root of prejudice, we need to educate ourselves as much as possible on different cultures and their values, actions, rituals, and beliefs--anything that may differ from ours. While we can never totally eliminate all prejudice from our society, by educating ourselves and others we can drastically and effectively reduce it.