'No woman in burqa ever hurt me. Men in suits led us to war:' Man calls out hypocrisy of stereotypes

Stereotypes can extremely harmful and often form the base for hatred and bigotry. Hate crimes against Muslims rose 1617 percent from 2000 to 2001 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the FBI. While hate crimes have considerably come down over the past two decades, Islamophobia is still a huge issue in America, and in many parts of the world. A letter written to The Guardian and highlighted how people have been taught to be afraid of women wearing a burka when it is always the men in suits who continue to ruin life for everyone. The letter was written in response to police officers forcing a woman to remove her burkini on Nice beach in France. Many towns in France have banned burkinis and face coverings. 

The letter was written by a person named Henry Stuart, who hailed from London. "No woman in a burqa (or a hijab or a burkini) has ever done me any harm," wrote Stuart, revealing his personal experience that went against all the stereotypes associated with Muslims. "But I was sacked (without explanation) by a man in a suit. Men in suits missold me pensions and endowments, costing me thousands of pounds," they wrote. Stuart also spoke about men in suits ruining the world as well. "A man in a suit led us on a disastrous and illegal war. Men in suits led the banks and crashed the world economy. Other men in suits then increased the misery to millions through austerity. If we are to start telling people what to wear, maybe we should ban suits," they added, questioning the hypocrisy of those attempting to villanize those wearing a burqa.

The election of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar marked an important landmark in United States history as Tlaib took the oath on the Qur’an while Ilhan Omar became the first congressperson to wear a hijab. “No one puts a scarf on my head but me. It’s my choice — one protected by the first amendment. And this is not the last ban I’m going to work to lift,” she said, reported The Guardian. "To me, the hijab means power, liberation, beauty, and resistance," she tweeted. 

Ilhan Omar recalled the community's journey in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. "As Americans, as people who are living here, we were also attacked," she said, reported ABC News. "This is our community, this is our country, and there were Muslims who lost their lives in those towers, who were Muslim firefighters, who lost their lives. There is a desire by many to use our faith and our identity as a weapon against us and to 'other' us. That has been really harmful in so many ways," she said.

Islamophobia has also become a tool to draw political lines and garner votes. The 2016 Presidential campaign saw former President Donald Trump often rile up his base with Islamophobic rhetoric. He often targeted former President Barack Obama and hinted he was a closet Muslim despite him being a Christian. Trump often spread rumors about Obama's nationality and religion. He also targeted the religion, saying, "I think Islam hates us. There's something there that—there's a tremendous hatred there. There's a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There's an unbelievable hatred of us," reported CNN.

Congresswoman Tlaib spoke about how her faith helps her understand the harm that can come from Islamophobia and xenophobia. "We can be there to talk about it and say, 'no, it didn't work 20 years ago, it's not going to work now. And you're actually making us less safe in your and you're also enabling hate and racism in our country when you target people solely based on their faith,'" said Tlaib. "I think that's why we're so strongly in opposition of the ban on people of Muslim faith into our country and so much more."