Students Discuss Religious Stereotypes They've Encountered

by Alea Marks

Even though Menlo is not a school with a religious affiliation, there is still a religious presence on campus. Along with these religious identities come stereotypes, offensive assumptions, harmful jokes and other forms of judgment for some students.

Sophomore Miraal Zaki is Muslim and is one of only 250,000 Muslims in the Bay Area, accounting for 3.5% of the total population, as noted by the Bay Area Muslim Study conducted by Santa Clara University. Due to the small Muslim population, Zaki feels that some people in her area are uneducated about her religion, leading to potentially offensive remarks being made about Muslims. “I’ve gotten terrorist jokes before,” Zaki said. However, Zaki believes that these comments often come from a place of ignorance, not hate. “It’s nothing extreme. Everyone tries to be respectful and learn about [Muslims]; sometimes they just don’t realize that their words have an impact,” she said.

Zaki and her family celebrate Muslim traditions such as Ramadan and Eid. Ramadan is a month-long period in which Muslims all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset for a month. At the end of thirty days, there is a celebration called Eid. The holiday allows those who participate to recognize their privilege and realize the importance of helping others.

Muslim families like Zaki’s donate a percentage of their earnings from the month to charity.

Zaki is currently reading a book for her Honors U.S. History class at Menlo called “Innocent Until Proven Muslim” by Maha Hilal. Reading the book has helped her realize how fortunate she is to live in an area where she is not subjected to overt discrimination. Regardless, she still finds it problematic that people at a school as progressive as Menlo make jokes about her religion and treat it so lightly. “While I’m lucky enough to have a safety blanket, most people don’t, and not acknowledging that is a huge issue,” she said. “I have that blanket where jokes are made to me fairly often, but not to an extreme level where I'm worried about my safety or well-being at all.” being tossed around in the Menlo community. “The most common one is someone talking about money or accounting because that is a really common Jewish stereotype that is propagated throughout the news,” he said. “Public figures also propagate some anti-Semitic beliefs.” Still, Deutch doesn’t feel particularly bothered by the remarks. “It’s never anything super serious. I never feel threatened as a Jewish person at Menlo.” Deutch mentions that there is a considerable Jewish population at Menlo, so he is not alone.

Junior Theo Sanders is Presbyterian. His father was raised Catholic and his mother was raised Protestant, so religion has been a part of his life since he was born. He tries to go to Church every Sunday, and he considers religion a big part of his identity. Church has been a place for Sanders to talk to other people about their experiences growing up.

Junior Jackson Deutch is Jewish and a part of the Jewish Affinity Club at Menlo. Growing up, Deutch attended a Jewish sleepaway camp and had a Bar Mitzvah. “The identity of being Jewish is an important part of my life; it’s part of who I am,” he said. Deutch has experienced some Jewish stereotypes

Sanders believes that there is stigma surrounding his religion, specifically regarding Christianity as a whole. “Religiously charged political decisions like homophobia or anti-abortion are something [Christians] do face judgment for,” he said. “People assume if you believe in this religion then it is implied you believe this negative stuff.” Sanders asserts that these beliefs are generalized and not representative of all Christians.

Because Menlo is a secular school, Sanders feels like students who are religious are not in the majority. Sanders thinks the school could benefit from more conversation around religion to dispute the stereotypes associated with them.