Ever since the attacks in San Bernardino, Calif. in December, Islamophobia has spread like wildfire. According to the The New York Times, a mosque in Tuscon, Arizona has recently become the target of racist slurs, insults and vandalism—perpetrated by none other than college students.
The mosque serves community members as well as Muslim students at the University of Arizona. The Muslim Student Association has an office in the building, and many professors visit regularly. But students that live in the high-rise apartments next to the mosque are less than tolerant.
There have been reports of these students throwing beer cans, bottles and even crushed peanuts on the building on Friday and Saturday nights. Fortunately, nobody has been injured. The taunts began three years ago, but have escalated recently, potentially due to the refugee crisis and the San Bernardino shooting. In December, CNN reported that crimes such as vandalism and harrassment at mosques were at a record high.
The Times reports that multiple meetings with faculty and students have occurred since the beginning of the school year, especially after the racially-charged episodes at the University of Missouri. Efforts to stop the harassment of the mosque-goers have ultimately failed and it remains an issue.
The landlord of the apartments next to the mosque considered closing off the balconies so that the problem wouldn’t persist. Multiple neighborhood residents, including a student named Madalyn Lorber, told the Times that the mosque members “keep to themselves” and don’t do anything that would prompt hateful remarks and actions.
Hatred and intolerance are never okay, so let’s hope that these students quit their gross, drunken escapades and start acting like citizens of the world.