My Thoughts on the Media Portrayal of Nikolas Cruz
I woke up today with a heavy heart, hurting for all the people who died in and had to experience the Florida school shooting. But I also have some strong words for people who don't want to acknowledge that America has not only a gun problem and a politicians who take no action because they're paid by the NRA to remain silent but also a problem with how we perceive people who commit crimes based on their race.
Let me make something very clear and set it straight. This was a white nationalist TERRORIST who was RADICALIZED through a white nationalist organization in his hometown that he was a member of. But he's not Muslim, he's white so according to the media he's mentally ill and this isn't terrorism. When you read the news stories on this they paint a picture of someone who randomly decided to shoot up a school and yet when it's a Muslim (or Hispanic or black person) who commits violent crimes we hear day in and day out about their personal life and their journey to radicalization and all this other stuff. And as a result of this unfair coverage a lot of Americans think that the majority of attacks are committed by Muslims even though according to the FBI over 94% of such crimes were not committed by Muslims. And that's exactly why they only have countering violent extremism programs in Muslim communities and Muslims are disproportionately targeted by government surveillance and the public is ok with it. WAKE UP.
As a Muslim I'm tired of praying and hoping every time that something happens that the person who did it isn't Muslim. It's because I know that the media will be talking about it 24/7 and talking about how his religion had to do with it and how Muslims are collectively to blame. I'm tired of hearing Muslim leaders constantly condemning violence even though we had nothing to do with it and which they shouldn't be condemning anyway because by condemning it they're associating themselves with it (even though that's another discussion for another day). I'm tired of the way the media portrays violence committed by white people and violence committed by non-whites. Why don't we all educate ourselves so that we don't fall into the trap of believing the media narratives and how they portray certain people?
Let me make something very clear and set it straight. This was a white nationalist TERRORIST who was RADICALIZED through a white nationalist organization in his hometown that he was a member of. But he's not Muslim, he's white so according to the media he's mentally ill and this isn't terrorism. When you read the news stories on this they paint a picture of someone who randomly decided to shoot up a school and yet when it's a Muslim (or Hispanic or black person) who commits violent crimes we hear day in and day out about their personal life and their journey to radicalization and all this other stuff. And as a result of this unfair coverage a lot of Americans think that the majority of attacks are committed by Muslims even though according to the FBI over 94% of such crimes were not committed by Muslims. And that's exactly why they only have countering violent extremism programs in Muslim communities and Muslims are disproportionately targeted by government surveillance and the public is ok with it. WAKE UP.
As a Muslim I'm tired of praying and hoping every time that something happens that the person who did it isn't Muslim. It's because I know that the media will be talking about it 24/7 and talking about how his religion had to do with it and how Muslims are collectively to blame. I'm tired of hearing Muslim leaders constantly condemning violence even though we had nothing to do with it and which they shouldn't be condemning anyway because by condemning it they're associating themselves with it (even though that's another discussion for another day). I'm tired of the way the media portrays violence committed by white people and violence committed by non-whites. Why don't we all educate ourselves so that we don't fall into the trap of believing the media narratives and how they portray certain people?
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