MSU Pride and American Prejudice
On November 8, 2016, our nation changed. Our nation was divided. Our nation was either in tears or in shock, while the other half celebrated wearing red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps.
The United States’ 2016 Presidential election will change the course of American history as not only having the first female presidential candidate but also as the election that created a major uproar and racial disturbance in our nation. There have been protests, prejudice and discriminatory acts committed throughout the entire country. Hate crime rates have gone up 35 percent in the last year. And president-elect Donald Trump’s campaign and supporters are the main source of this disturbance.
Minority groups are the most concerned with the outcome of this election and what the next four years will be like for them since Trump’s future policies aim towards minority groups including people that are Muslim immigrants and refugees, people from Mexico and South America, and the LGBTQA+ community.
Due to the alleged policies, people that are in those minorities and others are in fear that they will either be deported, banned from entering the country, wrongfully convicted or incarcerated, or will have their natural human rights violated.
Several students from Montclair State University have already experienced acts of prejudice and discrimination outside of campus.
Among them is Beheshta Kiyam, 21, a young Muslim woman, and a senior majoring in Nutrition. Kiyam received unfriendly and discriminatory looks while working at Saint Claire’s Hospital in Dover, New Jersey because of her “hijab” (headscarf).
“Some of them (the people) would look at me, because I was the only hijabi-Muslim there. I would see the way they were looking at me. And I would see how they were watching CNN or FOX (news),” says Kiyam.
Kiyam believes that all these prejudice and discriminatory views come from different media outlets, “We need to not look at the TV, news, or media for education. You actually need to do your research because if you are getting your information off of Facebook, that is not a good way. You need to know what you are talking about.” “Before you judge, you really need to know the person,” Kiyam adds.
Another minority group that has been targeted is the Hispanic community. “I am a woman. I am a Latina. And a liberal,” says Stephanie Petingi, 22, half-Uruguayan and half-Colombian, and a senior majoring in Jurisprudence. Petingi is proud of her Hispanic background, but is fearful that she is considered a minority.
“I have some fears for the future because I am a minority. If I go for employment and they have certain biases, I feel like I will be discriminated against,” she says.
Like Kiyam, she has also experienced a discriminatory act, except hers was verbal. While in Walgreens, Petingi was talking to her mother on the phone in Spanish, and a woman approached her with a “grouchy face” and said, “that it is not allowed anymore” while moving her index finger side to side.
To which, Petingi replied: “I have every freedom to speak in Spanish regardless of what you think. It is none of your business who I am talking to. It’s not your concern and is not affecting you.”
Looking back, Petingi says with a big smile on her face, “I was proud of myself that day.”
Despite discriminatory remarks she and her family have already faced, Petingi believes that there is hope for the future if we stand together and support the minorities.
“I think that this is an opportunity for everyone, minorities or not to get together, and to fight against that kind of prejudice. We didn’t make all of this progress just to go back. I am afraid for the future. You have to fight more than you had to in the past,” Petingi says.
Another minority group that is facing a lot of discrimination and prejudice is the LGBTQA+ community.
“We have to be like Martin Luther King and make positive change,” says Ryan Kiel, 22, who is openly gay and is majoring in Music Education.
When asked what he thinks about Trump’s anti-LGBTQA+ views, and the possibility of limiting protection rights, and marriage equality, Kiel responded, “I don’t think that he will try to eliminate anyone of the rights. He may not believe in it, and that’s fine, that’s his belief. But I don’t think it will happen. Maybe I’m just an optimist.”
Kiel also shared what his choir director told his class a few weeks ago, “For some of us this may be an unfortunate outcome. But, you just gotta go and make better music. There’s nothing you can do, you did what you did, you voted. And you said your piece. Now, step back, sulk it in, and just try to make even more beautiful music.” “And I was like you know what, you are right. So now, I haven’t been focusing on politics, I’m just focusing on my music,” says Kiel.
Staying positive and optimistic about the future is what Kiel suggests we all do. Focus on the good, and forget about the negative.
“Just take it in. Do what you do best even better,” says Kiel.
Although Kiyam, Petingi and Kiel all come from different backgrounds, ethnicities and political views, they all feel that they are safe and open to be themselves here at, Montclair State University.
“There are so many different types of people here. You have Hispanics, Asians, Muslims, you have everyone,” says Petingi. While Kiel says, “I don’t feel like I have to pretend to be anyone else.”
Dr. Pennington, the Vice President of Montclair State University said, “I firmly believe that this is a place where people can feel comfortable. People can feel themselves, no matter who they are. They can find somebody else like them, they can find people who want to know about them, and we are the microcosm of the world. And in many ways, we are a very positive microcosm of the world.”
Just before Thanksgiving, our university’s President, Dr. Susan Cole released a statement that touched on the presidential campaign, democracy and the “very strong feelings in the aftermath of the election.”
More importantly, Dr. Cole talked about how open and accepting our university is and has been:
“For over a hundred years, the people of Montclair State have worked to create a center of education that embraces racial, ethnic, religious, economic, gender and political diversity. Inclusion is our foundation. We accept our differences, and, indeed, we welcome our differences as they provide opportunities for us to improve our understanding of the world as experienced by others. We are not perfect as individuals or as a community, but we do work diligently at the task of being respectful in actions and dialogue, of caring for each other, and of unifying in our vigilance to maintain our identity of openness and tolerance.”
Agreeing with Dr. Cole’s statement, Dr. Pennington said, “I think as a university, we have a very long history of being an open community and an open environment where people have always come here saying they know that they are going to meet someone different from themselves, they want to meet people that are different, and they want to know how to get along. And I think that as a community we can continue to be that kind of welcoming environment and supportive environment for each other.”
Montclair State University is a “microcosm of the world” as Dr. Pennington said. We are made up of people of all different races, ethnicities, and religions. We are a nation made up of immigrants and minorities. We are a nation that is one big community.
“We are like a melting pot…You can’t say that this country is more yours than mine. We were both born here. We are both citizens,” says Kiyam.
And just like our United university, we must aim to stay open, have mutual respect for one another inside and outside of campus too, in hopes of spreading it throughout the entire country and destroying prejudice, discrimination and racism from our backyards, all the way to the swivel chair in the Oval Office.
