Donald Trump makes it hard to be an American in the Middle East.
I am Muslim, proudly.
I am Puerto Rican, proudly.
I am Arab, proudly.
But above all, I am an American.
On a sunny September evening 21 years ago, I was born to a pair of poor immigrants in an Orlando hospital. My mother, escaping from gang violence in Puerto Rico and my father, escaping from Lebanon’s devastating civil war and Israel’s bloody invasion.
Both traveled to the mainland United States with a dream to make their lives a better place and together raised three men. Not a day passed that they forgot to remind us of both their endless struggle and the wonderful opportunity America afforded them.
America welcomed them.
Despite the serious failures in foreign policy, intentional and unintentional, the United States has committed in the past, including against Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Lebanon, and the Middle East… America is still my country. It is still my parents’ country.
Being abroad has afforded me a huge appreciation for foreign cultures. Arab food, with its unique and complex flavours. The Arab language with sounds indistinguishable to the English ear. Arab culture, which so deeply espouses love, welcome, and justice.
Born in the United States, into a doubly minority ethnic family, in a minority religion, in an overwhelmingly conservative region has not been easy. I am endlessly asked to defend the actions of people I don’t know, people I am not even related to, people I’ll never meet nor would I ever desire to meet.
Through it all, the constant Islamophobia, Latinophobia, xenophobia… I love America. And that will never change.
Arabs hear about Donald Trump. They hear about the pigs heads tossed at mosques. They hear about the racist minority in the United States whom so vehemently hates them. And they’re perplexed. They ask… why would you hate me? Arabs don’t identify, sympathize, or even regard ISIS or radical fundamentalists. Those insane fundamentalists are less common than the American KKK.
Donald Trump wants to ban all Muslims including those with American citizenship studying abroad, working abroad, living abroad, contributing to the American social, financial, and political economy abroad, from coming home. All American Muslims abroad whom are trying so desperately to shout that not all Americans are the same. That we are loved overwhelmingly in our country, that the United States is friendly to Muslims, that Islamic ideals are overwhelmingly congruent with American ideals, that America is truly beautiful. The American Muslims abroad, spreading the love, tolerance, and acceptance that is simultaneously so Islamic and so American. I am proud and love the United States so much that I want to show her to the world for that which she truly stands. I spread love of my home, not give reason for it to be hated.
But Donald Trump makes my job hard.
I am a study abroad student and while away from home, I represent Rollins and I represent the United States. My representation’s importance is directly proportional to the tension existing between the United States and the Middle East. And I love my job. But Trump makes it hard.
As an American Latino, Arab, and Muslim, the United States always has and proudly will remain my home.