This is just a mini-post (full post on evacuation Isaac to follow shortly inshallah) inspired by a run-in I had at Walmart with a “superhero” and as I talked to him I realized, yeah he kind of is. As I was elbowing my way through Walmart post-Isaac trying to remember the essentials and finally arriving at the bakery to select a cake for my daughter’s 3rd birthday I heard a little voice from behind me say “hi”. I turned to see a little boy sitting in his carriage dressed in a red cape with matching mask casually pulled back on his head. Curious, I responded and this is the conversation that followed:
*LB= Little Boy
LB: Do you have a son?
Me: Yes I do.
LB: Then he wants the polka dotted cake right there (pointing).
Me: Oh yeah? Okay, I’ll be sure to get that when his birthday comes. So are you a superhero?
LB: Yeah. Are you a superhero too?
Me: Not really. (Although now that I think about it, all moms are superheroish in their own way!)
LB: (Looking Perplexed) Oh well I just thought since you were wearing that on your head (pointing to my hijab) you were a superhero too.
Me: Oh this? This is my hijab. I wear it for my religion.
LB: Cool. Do you like chocolate?
Me: Um it’s only my favorite food!
LB: Me too. (His mom comes back and smiles awkwardly at me.) Hey mom, she’s not a superhero, but she gets to wear that cool thing on her head for her religion.
Without smiling his mom said “oh” and started to move the carriage away without acknowledging me. So I said bye to my little superhero friend and thought subhanAllah, what a difference a clean mind makes. This child had no pre-exisitng malice just because he hadn’t been aware of the Fox News hype his mom prescribed to. In her eyes my hijab made me the enemy, in his eyes my hijab made me a superhero. Beyond the amusement of it all, I found myself deeply philosophizing catalyzed by this conversation with a boy who couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old. This reinforces my belief that some of the most profound things you’ll ever hear in life come from a child.
I wish we could all press that reset button and forget all of the lies and half-truths the media have told us not only about Muslims, but about all races that have left an evil imprint in our mind that we must fight everytime we encounter someone from that background. I wish the first thought to come to our minds would be something like, “wow, she must be a superhero”. At the very least, I wish that everyone we encounter would first be seen as a human being and treated as such. It is my greatest hope that I operate this way and instill this in my children. From those seeds perhaps the next generation can learn to understand that underneath our clothing , no matter what it covers or doesn’t, we are all amazing beings who bleed the same color and feel the same emotions. We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
JAK & Peace,
Christen Amer
