Originally published in The Syracuse Post-Standard
An innocent Hindu man was pushed in front of a subway because he was mistaken to be a Muslim (the alleged assailant presumably did this because she blamed all ”brown” people for 9/11). It is unfortunate that people still believe a Hindu, a Muslim or a Middle Easterner are all held responsible for the 9/11 attack just because they have ”brown” skin.
The fact that someone has ”brown” skin does not make them a Muslim or a Hindu, the same way ”white” skin does not make someone a Christian or a Jew. The media worsens this widely held belief because the image they portray can be easily attributed to more than 2 billion people. These generalizations are partly to blame when such hate crimes are perpetuated. Hate crimes can largely be avoided by providing more information. People must educate themselves, but the media should step up and educate viewers on differences in the beliefs, culture and lifestyles of ”brown” people.
