A message for Hagerstown’s mayor

Dear Hagerstown mayor Robert Bruchey II: Recently, you wrote on your Facebook page that you didn’t blame President Donald Trump for canceling a January trip to London, and you posted a picture of London’s mayor, the first Muslim elected to the post, followed by this comment: “Who would want to visit with this terrorist leading London."

So, you inherently associate Muslims with terrorists. Not knowing who we are you lump us into the category of murderers.

Mr. Mayor, what do you know about being Muslim in your city of Hagerstown? I grew up there. Let my experiences help you understand.

Being Muslim in Hagerstown is being kicked out of your seventh-grade basketball game because of a scarf on your head.

Being Muslim in Hagerstown is having your middle school geography teacher tell everyone that Islam is a bad religion.

Being Muslim in Hagerstown is having a slur of curse words hurled at you; the word terrorist yelled at you; looking at your vice principal in the eye knowing he heard what was said, realizing he won’t do anything and going into the corner and crying. It is fear in your heart. It is words of resistance dancing on your tongue that you just can’t manage to get out.

It is trying to apologize for crimes you didn’t commit.

People asked me where I learned to speak out. I learned in hallways that seemed to crush me when I walked through them. I learned it through years of silence when I was bullied just for existing. I learned I had to scream when it felt like society was putting tape over my mouth, I learned after years and years of ridicule.

I learned how to stand up and fight for justice because I believe in the words of our forefathers. I believe all men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator with certain unaliable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Mayor, I ask you: Am I not human? Am I not guaranteed this right to equality because of a cloth that sits upon my head? I know America is a melting pot, but why does it feel like my people are being burned alive?

Mr. Mayor, little girls come up to me at the mosque and they ask me what to say when someone yells at them for their religion, when someone calls them a murderer. Mr. Mayor, why am I teaching the daughters of my community how to fight bigotry when they should be learning how to read?

Mr. Mayor, my parents and my religion have taught me:

You fight anger with love, hate with kindness, and violence with peace.

But I was also taught that righteousness is not to swallow oppression; righteousness is to fight for justice and equality.

And Mr. Mayor, please don’t get it twisted, the Muslim narrative is not just one of victimization.

We are doctors, we are lawyers, we are philanthropists, we are politicians, we are humanitarians, we are healers, we are beacons of light for our community. The Muslim community of Hagerstown donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in May and June to support the building of wells in Africa, the teaching of orphans all around the world and the feeding of the homeless in downtown Hagerstown.

Mercy runs in us like the blood in our veins, we pour light on to everything we touch. We are strong, powerful, and our legacy of justice and kindness will be unforgettable.

The first thing our mosque leaders said when they heard of your comments was that we should invite you to our mosque — because that is who we are and compassion is our way of life.

You visited us this past Friday, and I hope that now you see us for who we truly are. We are simply artists using love as our paint, trying to make a masterpiece in a world that seems to hate us.