I am scared people may judge me because I am a muslim. After what has happened in Paris, the terrorist attack, I feel as if people will judge me because people oftenly think about muslims as a terrorist. I also heard in the news that a hairdreeser was being racial and did not allow any muslim to book an appoinment after the Paris attack. I don' t want people to judge me or refer me to this topic
Sam
Hi there,
When a very public tragedy happens it can make people angry and scared. And sometimes they can say or do things that they wouldnt normally. It would be wrong of someone to judge another person based on their religion. We should only ever be judged on our own beliefs and actions, not those of other people.
Just because terrorists like ISIS say they do things in the name of Islam, it doesnt mean this is true. They don't speak for every Muslim.
Nobody should treat you differently because of what happened in Paris. When something shocking and awful like this happens we have a natural urge to want to blame someone or to do something to make it right. Unfortunately some people will blame the wrong people. If this happens to you its okay to speak out about it.
You have a right to be yourself, to follow the religion you want and to have your own beliefs and values. Standing up to people who judge you is hard but you shouldnt feel like you have to behave any differently because of what someone else thinks.
The people who blame all Muslims because of ISIS or other terrorist groups might do so because they are not able to put a face to the terrorists themselves. In their minds it's easier to think of all Muslims as terrorists, even though that is not true.
One way of coping with this is to show someone what you are really like as a person. When someone gets to know you for who you really are and can see that youre not anything like the stereotype they built up in their head, its harder for them to treat you that way.
If someone says or does something that you think is prejudicial against your religion, gender, race, sexuality, this could be discrimination. You deserve to get support and its okay to talk about this with someone you trust.
ChildLine counsellors are always here for you if you need to talk to someone who doesnt know you.
I hope this helps, thanks for your letter.
Sam
Need help straight away?
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
Ask me a question
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.
