Aziz Ansari has been on an epic food tour of Spain with his good friend and Master of None co-star, Eric Wareheim. The two Instagrammed all the delicious food they’ve been eating, just like they did when they were in Italy earlier this year. You just know that some of this is going to make it into the next season of Master of None, which has me all excited for its return. It’s not out until next year though unfortunately. Ansari is busy and it looks like he’s having fun, which is good because like most of us he has a lot of serious things on his mind. His family are Muslims and he’s very concerned for their safety in the light of the rhetoric that Donald Trump and so many pundits have been spouting following the tragedy in Orlando. Ansari penned an op-ed for the NY Times explaining his position and how it’s difficult to be a Muslim (or a person who looks like they might be Muslim) in this political climate. He’s told his mom and dad to stay away from their mosque for the time being.
“DON’T go anywhere near a mosque,” I told my mother. “Do all your prayer at home. O.K.?”
“We’re not going,” she replied.
I am the son of Muslim immigrants. As I sent that text, in the aftermath of the horrible attack in Orlando, Fla., I realized how awful it was to tell an American citizen to be careful about how she worshiped.
Being Muslim American already carries a decent amount of baggage. In our culture, when people think “Muslim,” the picture in their heads is not usually of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the kid who left the boy band One Direction. It’s of a scary terrorist character from “Homeland” or some monster from the news.
Today, with the presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and others like him spewing hate speech, prejudice is reaching new levels. It’s visceral, and scary, and it affects how people live, work and pray. It makes me afraid for my family. It also makes no sense.
There are approximately 3.3 million Muslim Americans. After the attack in Orlando, The Times reported that the F.B.I. is investigating 1,000 potential “homegrown violent extremists,” a majority of whom are most likely connected in some way to the Islamic State. If everyone on that list is Muslim American, that is 0.03 percent of the Muslim American population. If you round that number, it is 0 percent. The overwhelming number of Muslim Americans have as much in common with that monster in Orlando as any white person has with any of the white terrorists who shoot up movie theaters or schools or abortion clinics.
I asked a young friend of mine, a woman in her 20s of Muslim heritage, how she had been feeling after the attack. “I just feel really bad, like people think I have more in common with that idiot psychopath than I do the innocent people being killed,” she said. “I’m really sick of having to explain that I’m not a terrorist every time the shooter is brown.”
I myself am not a religious person, but after these attacks, anyone that even looks like they might be Muslim understands the feelings my friend described. There is a strange feeling that you must almost prove yourself worthy of feeling sad and scared like everyone else.
I understand that as far as these problems go, I have it better than most because of my recognizability as an actor. When someone on the street gives me a strange look, it’s usually because they want to take a selfie with me, not that they think I’m a terrorist.
But I remember how those encounters can feel. A few months after the attacks of Sept. 11, I remember walking home from class near N.Y.U., where I was a student. I was crossing the street and a man swore at me from his car window and yelled: “Terrorist!” To be fair, I may have been too quick to cross the street as the light changed, but I’m not sure that warranted being compared to the perpetrators of one of the most awful incidents in human history.
The vitriolic and hate-filled rhetoric coming from Mr. Trump isn’t so far off from cursing at strangers from a car window. He has said that people in the American Muslim community “know who the bad ones are,” implying that millions of innocent people are somehow complicit in awful attacks. Not only is this wrongheaded; but it also does nothing to address the real problems posed by terrorist attacks. By Mr. Trump’s logic, after the huge financial crisis of 2007-08, the best way to protect the American economy would have been to ban white males.
According to reporting by Mother Jones, since 9/11, there have been 49 mass shootings in this country, and more than half of those were perpetrated by white males. I doubt we’ll hear Mr. Trump make a speech asking his fellow white males to tell authorities “who the bad ones are,” or call for restricting white males’ freedoms.
He’s such a good writer and he’s still funny even when he’s talking about such a serious subject. It’s like he can’t help it. I’m not going to quote Ansari’s entire essay, but he talks about the need for gun control, which is the most logical solution to this. Of course it’s not happening because so many Republican congresspeople are in the NRA’s pocket. He ends with this powerful line. “Mr. Trump, in response to the attack in Orlando, began a tweet with these words: ‘Appreciate the congrats.’ It appears that day he was the one who was celebrating after an attack.”
The homicidal maniac who killed all those innocent people in Orlando cited ISIL, but he had no understanding of the different factions of terrorist groups and he had about as much connection to Islam as the Westboro Baptist Church does to Christianity. Blaming religion for that attack is about as logical as blaming video games or heavy metal music. It makes for an easy scapegoat and it puts millions of people at risk, especially when the presumptive Republican nominee continues to make hateful, obnoxious comments which stir up the most ignorant of the populace while making others vulnerable and afraid for their lives.
This is Ansari’s dad. His mom and dad were so cute on Master of None, they played themselves.
Love him. Amazing essay
I saved this post for last, mostly because Aziz is hilarious, but kind of drama free and Trump makes me sad.
Except, I forgot about how much I absolutely love Aziz.
Him and his dad? Him and a pizza? Him and big bud? My heart absolutely melts. I can’t explain it. He’s adorable. I want to write a giant screed on how wonderful he is and the great balance he strikes in his writing, but that Jez article about giving up stanning at 22 is giving me shame feels.
Donald Trump is a disaster on so many levels, but I honestly think he may eventually be responsible for the death of innocent people. I can’t believe what is happening in my country.
Believe it, and let’s not be afraid, let’s make DAMN sure that cretin does not get the Presidency. I feel like Brexit was a warning for underestimating the power of fear and hatred of the Other. People feel validated, emboldened about their bigotry now — it’s more than just speaking out against it. Life has to change: I have found that I needed to look at my own personal circle of friends and extend it to include people that I always talk about defending, yet do not practice in my everyday. I am honest about this failing, but I refuse to be that person anymore. This is definitely a culture war, and we can fight it better beyond a comments section of any article when we practice the tolerance and inclusion that we preach. May we be beat this bigotry back!
This was a fantastic essay. However, the comments section was a depressing disaster. We’re on a collision course toward a truly scary outcome.
(ETA: Sorry for duplicate post.)
–TheRealPinky
Agreed. I don’t read comment sections in news stories because it’s a cesspool of hate.
Fantastic essay I’ve been waiting for the ban on white Christian makes for ages now. Not sure why no one calls for that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One of our Canadian news sites (I can’t remember if it’s CBC or CTV or which, honestly) has changed their comment section so you ‘have’ to use your real name. I’m not sure if it’s linked with fb accounts or what – and obviously people can find work around – but there’s DEFINITELY been a drop in some of the more nasty comments. It’s not a perfect fix, but it’s discouraged some of the nastiness.
This was a fantastic essay. However, the comments section (on almost every site) was a depressing disaster. Breitbart and O’Reilly and Faux News always get their minions out to pollute the seas of discourse and make it seem like this is a country where 50% of the people are racist nationalists, when that’s not true. Also, the country is not 50/50 split Rep and Dem, and anyone trying to tell you different is either a Rep or someone in the news media trying to invent a story, We’re on a collision course toward a truly scary outcome.
–TheRealPinky
It’s so true that Trump was the one person who celebrated after the nightmare Orlando attacks, patting his own pathetic ass on the back and instantly spinning things in his own favor.
Aziz is so spot on with all of this. I can’t believe the way Muslims are being treated in this country. I find myself trying to make up for it, as if I could: holding the door and smiling kindly at a woman in hijab, wanting to say “it’s not all of us! It’s not even most of us! I have no prejudice against you!”
I just hate that a group of people in my country doesn’t feel safe to worship, and feels threatened and singled out. Trump is a monster, and those sheeple who follow him are monsters.
Muslims and Sikhs (because the bigots don’t know the difference and don’t bother to learn) are the victims of hundreds of hate crimes a month in this country, according to the Justice Department.
True. There are morons who belive the taliban invented the head turban. I read an article about how Sikh parents have taken to cutting their sons hair not because they lack religious devotion but because they have to prioritise their sons safety over Sikh tenets.
Being an American who now lives in Toronto, I honestly feel some of this fear against Muslims has to do with lack of exposure. You can live your entire lives in America and only see white or black people (sometimes Hispanics but only depending on where you live). Most Americans do not travel often and a lot of Americans have never been to one of their multi-cultural cities. Thus, Trump instills fear in these people. We must somehow get Americans to be exposed to different cultures, to be more open minded, and we must get Hillary in office in order to save the US.
As a fellow Canadian and “brown person” I can tell you that Canada has plenty of racism. I lived in Toronto and there is racism there as well. There is no place you can go on this earth where racist people don’t exist.
I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe I live in a bubble up here, but I haven’t found racist people like I did quite often in the US.
He’s the best, hilarious and smart and insightful. And he speaks the truth, it’s distressing and heartbreaking and enraging. We can only hope that the wheels start coming off the Trump wagon soon.
He is awesome and I feel for anyone left feeling the way he does. It is incredibly sad that his parents had to avoid their place of worship. That should not happen here, especially given he is Muslim and not oh say a scientologist. Ha scientologists are less targeted as a whole.
They didn’t have to avoid their place of worship, though.
Aziz should get a autobiography book deal. I wanna hear what it was like growing up in North Carolina as dark skinned Asian muslim man with a liberal world view and a disdain for hyper masculinity. It cant have been fun.
so easy for christian extremists to forget jesus and the teachings of love and tolerance.
how is it so difficult for so many people to realize or remember that every group has its awful freaks that do horrendous things and the rest, which is most of the people, just want to live and let live?
so depressing. all of it.
*plays jesus loves the little children on continuous mental loop*
I completely understand how he feels. As an American Muslim, I now feel a lump in my stomach when we go to the mosque. Lately, there have been three police cars at the mosque when we’ve gone to evening prayers and although it comforts me to see them parked outside, it also raises some alarms in my mind. I have also noticed an interesting phenomenon. We seem to be getting more dirty looks and stares from people now than ever before. I feel as though Trump has validated people’s prejudice and has made it ok to mistreat others, Muslims in this case, under the premise of being “politically incorrect” and “telling it like it is.” It’s truly sad because his rhetoric is alienating and divisive.
About six months ago, my husband had told me that I should start packing all of our stuff because Trump would probably be sending us to concentration camps. When he told me that, I scoffed and told him he was crazy. Now? I shudder in fear for myself, my husband, and our poor baby who is less than a year old but already being judged before he can even utter his first word or take his first step.
I am so sorry. It makes me sick to my stomach to read this.
I pray for your family’s safety. I pray for all of us to be relieved of fear that either leads us to pack bags and avoid places of worship, or to lash out in ignorance against people we don’t even know.
I’m sorry, Sparkles. 🙁 I want to say that could never happen in the US, but we had the Japanese-American internment camps. Hopefully people who are not hate-filled racist nutjobs will get their butts to the polls and prevail, but keep your passports current.
My dearest Sparkles:
Please do not be afraid of being sent to a concentration camp or deported from the U.S. for being Muslim. While there are a lot of idiots like Trump in this world, there are far more people like me who willingly put our lives on on the line so you can worship freely (or not worship as you choose), raise your child in a safe, loving environment, and enjoy a productive life. Since I practice immigration law and have represented hundreds of Muslims from dozens of countries, I am CONSTANTLY asked questions about Islam and terrorism. I do not hesitate to call people out for their mistaken assumptions and bigotry and will also confront people online and IRL who spew unfounded vitriol and ignorance. When I am asked why I, as an Episcopalian, would dare/bother/care to defend Islam and Muslims, I always respond the same way: “I treat people the way I would like to be treated, and my religion teaches that Jesus said we must love one another – full stop. Jesus never added any qualifiers to that commandment.”
Take care of yourself. But never, ever, ever let the b@#$%*(s like Trump get you down!
Sparkles, I’m so sorry. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I can understand your fears. I am so uncomprehending how someone like Trump can rise in this day and age (I honestly can see a comparison to how Hitler rose in Germany). I honestly detest Hillary, but there’s no way I can vote for Trump. People need to remember the following quote:
“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing.”
-Edmund Burke
VOTE EVERYONE! Don’t sit this one out!
Sending hugs to you!
Hi,
Your comment touched me. Fear is a duality, there is a reason why predation is often represented as a cycle, a circle that never ends.
I don’t want to detract from what you’re saying, but I digress. This is why we all need to stick together. Trump is counting on Muslims being separated from other targeted groups. He’s counting on gays staying in their wheelhouse. He’s counting on black Americans focusing on how black lives matter. We are all the same, we are all people and we all bleed. We all deserve to be treated equally. If we can’t connect on this fundamental truth, then we will never evolve socially as a species.
I really appreciate Aziz’s thoughts here. He echoes conversations that I have with my friends, but it is nice to see the perspective get such a wide audience.
Regarding Spain, I wonder if him and Eric were also getting some content for a new episode of Food Club. I hope so!
I always liked Aziz from Parks & Recreation, but between thoughtful essays like this and his really wonderful Netflix show, I pretty much love him now.
“It appears that day he was the one who was celebrating after an attack.” Mic drop.
I agree that Trump has created an atmosphere of bigoted hate and aggression. I’m glad that Aziz wrote this article to demonstrate the personal impact.
I read the comments section in the Times and one theme that kept popping up is a demand that Aziz and his family need to do something to condemn terrorism. I don’t get what his Indian Tamil born parents, who look like your generic uncle and aunty, have to do with ISIS and Al Qaeda.
As Americans, I’d rather that Aziz and his family hold the American government accountable for destabilizing the middle east and allying with the most regressive interpretation of Islam as practiced in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism. From Ronald Regan and Donald Rumsfeld nurturing and funding the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden in the 1970’s, to the illegal Bush war on Iraq, Obama’s drone strikes and HillaryClinton’s disastarous involvement in Libya and Syria, seriously, when people are bombed, they get angry and retaliate. Add to this decades old American foregin policies that empowered many regressive forces in the middle east and we have terrorism. Why should average American Muslim citizens have to answer to something that they had no hand in?
Love reading your comments ladies. Gives me hope that hate will not win. I feel better knowing you are all out there, embracing all of us of different colors.
I’m so glad Aziz exists. I grew up wishing to see more “brown” people on TV. He is very talented and bright. He is spot on with his comments. Donald Trump is a piece of sh*t.
Sorry to hear your family has been facing such ugliness. I think you and Sparkles are right, Trump’s public bigotry has given others the feeling they can be horrible like him too.
This is well written essay! I agree with everything he said.
I feel, though, that to blame Trump for the anti-Muslim sentiment in the USA is kind of an exaggeration. Yes, he has said some really questionable things in regards to Muslims. However, I feel the majority of the blame goes to the mainstream media, as they only report on Muslims when one of them has committed an act of terrorism. I’ve never heard of a newstory involving a Muslim that was positive – always n egative. So, for people who rely solely on the news for their information, it would appear that Muslims are terrorists, out to kill us all. (Clearly, not true, but that’s the mentality of both mainstream media and uneducated people.)
What Trump did was encourage all those closeted racists to come out and be proud of their disgusting beliefs. These racist pieces of sh*t have a leader now…a very outspoken leader…a lot like Hitler. How has all this not affected Trump’s businesses?