A few hours after the terrorist attack that happened at Al-Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, I found myself scrolling through social media looking for more information regarding the situation. We all know that nowadays, social media seems to have more information than any other news outlet. While I was scrolling on numerous pages, I realized that many of the people who were posting about the attack were Muslims. I didn’t think much of it at the time until the next day when I looked through my stories feed and was appalled that no one posted about the shooting, the same shooting that killed 50 people. Many of the people I follow are my friends, acquaintances, and some random strangers who frequently post about any kind of social justice related issue. I observed that there was absolutely no mention of solidarity or thoughts or anything of that nature for this situation. I reflected on what that meant for me, a Muslim.
I know that the shock of the attack didn’t hit me for a while because I had become so desensitized to any sort of shootings. However, as the death toll was rising, I felt the need to acknowledge the situation. Therefore, I posted about it on my story and following that, no one reached out to me. I expected a couple of friends to react to the news either by reaching out to me or by posting about it on their own media, but no one did. Not even influencers I admire.
Why is it that only Muslims posted about this tragedy? Where were the other voices? I’m not saying that this is true for only Muslims. I am aware that there are many other situations in which only certain voices speak, and there is a lack of solidarity in those movements too. But, for me, this was more than just a race, class, gender-related issue. This was a result of Islamophobia and the lack of allyship for fellow Muslims. It’s lovely that you support women who feel empowered by the hijab or that you acknowledge shootings in Churches and Synagogues, but what about showing up for Muslim peers who are still facing discrimination from 9/11 and dealing with Islamophobia?
How can you pick and choose your battles yet claim to be a person who fights for social justice? If your definition of social justice does not include the rights and visibility of minorities, then what are you really fighting for? Trust me, I’m not perfect and we’re all learning, but how can we question our biases when it comes to showing up in certain social justice issues?
If social media is not your thing then reach out to one of your Muslim peers and check in on them to see if they need anything.