B. Du Bois's Essay 'Of Our Spiritual Strivings'
Being an Arab-Muslim child of immigrants and brother to a sister who dons a hijab (headscarf); having a mother that runs an non-profit organization that works with Syrian refugee resettlement; and being fairly active in Muslim civil rights campaigns and initiatives, I know that minorities are stigmatized by how we are presented in society through various avenues of popular culture, political leaders, and the media. Muslims are always depicted as the terrorists and never the superheroes. Arabic culture is romanticized with belly-dancers, sand dunes, and camels. Syrian refugees/Immigrants (and refugees in general) are depicted by the media and political leaders as ISIS sympathizing, dangerous individuals. Race, religion, and ethnicity are very significant in today’s world and when individuals such as myself (writing from my own thoughts and experiences) are stigmatized, a struggle between self and society metabolizes, giving rise to social
