Knowledge is cure to racial prejudice

Our campus is known for having a diverse student body. If you look around campus or walk through the PGH Breezeway, it would be difficult not to notice the different student organizations that are holding fundraisers; of those organizations, there are several that pertain to religion.

A significant percentage of students would agree that religion is a very important part of their life; it is what gets them through the day and makes up the foundation of who they are.

However, in the United Kingdom, Baroness Warsi, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, recently gave a speech discussing how prejudice against Muslims is “seen as normal.” She warned that it is now seen as socially acceptable to openly talk about Muslims in a negative way. She mentioned that citizens and politicians alike are categorizing Muslims in the UK as extremists. Warsi intends to call this problem out and to inform them that this behavior is not acceptable.

The UK faces a difficult and sensitive problem: they have a far larger population of South Asians and Middle Easterners living in their country, but have yet to realize how their open prejudice is offensive and hurtful.

The UK’s behavior, if not dealt with properly, could influence other countries to also accept social behavior against religions.

The British could possibly be categorizing Muslims as extremists because they do not really understand Islam or the politics of Middle Eastern countries well enough. The culprit of ignorance may be fear.

In order to reduce open prejudice and to prevent it from happening anywhere else, especially here on campus, it’s important to learn more about other religions.

UH offers many courses on religious studies. It wouldn’t hurt to go up to the religious organizations and ask for information or start a conversation; they are dedicated to educating their peers.

Not everyone has to live in fear of persecution, nor should they remain uneducated. Prejudice is preventable.