Hasandjekaj, Matos 1

Ylli Hasandjekaj

Stephanie Matos

Wilson Clasby

English Comp II: 180

Prevalent Problem that Was and Still Is

Throughout history, there have been many events that have occurred that involve

peoples religion or ethnicity. As a society, we tend to agree that racism, and superiority complex

is a thing of the past but when we take a closer look we see that it is still very prevalent in our

world today. This has happened in history before through the Holocaust. In todays society, we

notice that people have not learned lessons from mistakes made in the past. This is a problem

that is still a prevalent issue at hand with the discrimination that the American government has

toward the Muslim religion. Before it was the German government authorities, Hitler and the

Nazis, that discriminated against the people of the Jewish religion. They did not view the jews as

a part of a religion, they categorized them as if Judaism was a race. Presently, we see the same

thing with the American government authoritative figure, Donald Trump, discriminating against

people of the Islamic religion; this behavior is now known as racial profiling. Subsequently, this

religion is also on the same path to being viewed as a race because of a great deal of racial

profiling that is ongoing in the American culture. This travel ban affects many people and it has

severe consequences for many parties involved. Throughout the writing of this essay, we will be

discussing how racial profiling existed during the time of the Holocaust, and how it was

happening towards a religion, the same way how it is happening toward the people of the

Muslim religion today.

 Hasandjekaj, Matos 2

In order to understand what was actually happening to the Jews in the Holocaust, there is a lot

of background information that needs to be stated about the ideas of Hitler along with the Nazi

racism toward the Jews. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a special section of

the museum that explains the Nazi racism towards Jews along with any other minority race

during the time of the Holocaust. From The museums online snippet of the actual exhibit, I was

able to learn that Adolf Hitler was always intrigued with the idea of race. He was so inspired that

he came up with his own belief called racial purity. In his eyes, this was the superiority he saw

in the Germanic race, or the Aryan master race. The logistical reasoning behind his madness

was that he wanted to keep the race pure so one day in the future it can become so powerful that

it will take over the world. Once Hitler and the Nazis came into power, this belief became what

the government represented. Once everyone was on the same page with Hitler's beliefs, the Nazis

put their knowledge into actions. They felt that they needed to limit the reproduction of the

inferior race, or anything other than the Aryan race, in order for them to achieve their goal of

the master race taking over. The museum makes it known that the first step the Nazis took was

being able to perform sterilizations. They performed this procedure on people to ensure that they

will not be able to have children. The museum accentuated the fact that the Nazis were smart for

only doing this procedure for people who categorize themselves as one of the minority races, like

Gypsies and Jews. They also performed these sterilizations on the handicapped, deaf, blind, and

mentally ill. During this time, the way that Hitler and the Nazis saw other races, was the same

way they saw people who were Jewish. The Nazis along with Hitler himself viewed Jewdism not

as a religion, but as a poisonous race that acts as a leech in the way that Judaism attaches itself to

the host and weakens them. From this point on this is when the idea of racial science was applied
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 3

in the classroom. After Hitler came to power, Nazi teachers use to record the physical

appearances of the student's facial structures, like their nose length, eye color, and hair color to

try to determine if they were considered to be a part of the Aryan race. The students that did

not fit in the description were humiliated during the process (A Forgotten Suitcase). This

information allows us now to understand the background of how the Nazis along with Hitler

viewed the Jews and other races besides the Aryan race. It also makes it known to the reader that

they viewed Judaism as a race, not a religion. The fact that the Nazis were trying to determine if

people were a part of the Aryan race by physical features, proves that racial profiling was an

issue that was emerging in this time of history. Now in todays world, we see the same thing

happening to a group of people of a different religion. For example, people of the Muslim

religion are being targeted for superstitions about their appearance that people believe, just as the

Nazis did with the Jews.

During the time of the Holocaust, the German government forced the Jews to wear the

yellow star of David. They forced children as young as six to wear the yellow star on their chest

in order for the Nazis to recognize them. Once they saw this marking on the people, they would

ridicule and taunt them for being a part of the Jewish religion (United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum). The German government, Hitler and the Nazis, viewed Judaism as a race,

not a religion. Therefore, this yellow star served as a mark to show that they were less than the

people of the Aryan race.

 Hasandjekaj, Matos 4

This physical label serves as a technical document now. The yellow star was usually

outlined with black stitching. In addition, the Dutch word for Jew was stitched in the middle of

the star in Hebraic writing (Skolnik). This technical document proves that racial profiling existed

way before people even were able to recognize it. This is seen to be racial profiling because it

was used to identify the people of the Jewish race. They considered most people to be Jewish

based on physical traits, that they attained. This is similar to the issue of racial profiling that goes

on in modern America. Police officers stop people at random just for looking suspicious, but in

reality they are only stopping people of the minorities that look like particular races, like Blacks,

Hispanics, and Muslims.

This is happening in today's society because of the lack of knowledge people attain today

about this issue. People often let their ignorance get the best of them since they are unaware of

the difference between a person's ethnicity and their religion. Through an excerpt of the novel

Religion, Ethnicity, and Social Change, I was able to discover the difference between religion

and ethnicity. Ethnicity is used as a classification method. It identifies common heritage traits,

culture, or language/ dialect between others. These similar aspects help people create bonds with

certain groups of people. These bonds are formed because of the similarity between culture,
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 5

history, and social experiences. The differences amongst people in these areas are the reason for

the formation of different ethnicities; thats why these different values make up their own

ethnicities. While on the other hand, religion is a totally different concept. Religion is a term that

is involved within a culture. It refers to all the concepts that fall under the categories pertaining

to beliefs of gods or goddesses. This involves all spiritual or sacred things (Fawcett). From this,

one is able to understand that religion can be slightly different from a person's ethnic

background. Subsequently, one is able to understand why people commonly mistake religion for

being an ethnicity or race. Both terms fall under one another, but they are all independently

different in their own ways. However, seeing that this was a problem in the past, it should no

longer be something that is recurring in the present. I feel that todays society needs to

understand that our world is no longer black and white. It is far more technologically advanced.

Therefore, people need to start being more open minded and become aware of issues like this.

Many people see this as an issue of the past but when analyzed closely this closely tied to

modern day events. For example, Muslims in America are receiving special treatment from the

government just like the Jews during the Holocaust. Muslims in this country are often seen as

outcasts and they are feared by many people in this country because of terrorism. Because of that

many people have developed an unfair bias towards Muslim individuals and many Muslims

suffer because of this bias and profiling. Many Muslim people get into trouble with the law

because they are being targeted and they are vilified by this country. Many people blatantly

interchange the words Muslim and terrorist and that has had huge consequences on the Muslim

community. It has affected their lifestyle, their freedom, their decisions and many other things as

well. Racial profiling against Muslims is not new, it is something that has been around for a
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 6

while and it continues to grow as tensions between the United States and Muslim countries grow

as well.

One way that Muslims are affected by this profiling is when they are targeted for security

reasons. focusing on just one group of people gives freedom to other people because they are not

seen as suspicious. It is effective because it focuses on targeting a group of people where most

terrorists originate from, but at the same time, it infringes on the rights of American citizens.

This can be seen as unconstitutional because any group of people should be allowed to have

access to all of their rights and not be targeted or vilified by the United States (Is Racial

Profiling Effective). Racial profiling is an unjust way to keep people safe because focusing too

much on just one group of people could let someone who else who is not Muslim breach security

and commit a dangerous crime. This shows that even today there are a group of people that are

treated lesser than the majority of people and they are vilified. This same thing happened to the

Jewish people during the Nazi era in Germany which eventually led to the Holocaust. If Muslims

are treated like this for time to come then another Holocaust could possibly happen in the future.

Muslims are treated poorly by not only the people of the country but the United States

government as well.

President Donald Trump has issued a Muslim Travel Ban which forbids Muslims from

certain countries in the world from entering the United States. This is another example of how

Muslims in this country are being treated and how their rights are being taken away. Many

people in the world will be affected by this decision and it will have dire consequences. It affects

a variety of people, from those Muslim students who are on student visas in the United States to

someone who is not even Muslim. This will greatly affect Muslim students on student visas here
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 7

in the United States. American universities provide education for many foreign students and

allow people from other countries to come here and gain knowledge. Students then go back to

their country and they can help contribute to the build of their own country with the knowledge

that they have gained in school here. People on student visas here become knowledgeable

individuals that help contribute to the growth of their own countries. But this travel ban that was

put in place by Trump is going to slow down the growth of many of these third world countries

(Repealing Trumps Muslim Ban).This just goes to show how many people think racism and

racial profiling are behind us in the past but it, in reality, it is still very prevalent in todays

society. Many think that an event like the Holocaust could not happen again but the way that

Muslims are being treated today was the same as when the Jews were being mistreated.

Now that people are becoming aware of this problem, they are starting to try to take

some precautions. Society is starting to feel threatened, and some minority groups are starting to

change what they ethnically identify themselves as. DVera discusses how millions of Americans

are changing their race from one census to another. From one census to the next, there was a

dramatic change in how people were identifying themselves ethnically. In addition, according to

the annual Population Association of America, it is mostly the Hispanics, the American Indians,

and the mixed Americans that are mostly contributing to this phenomenon. According to DVera,

most of these people are checking the other boxes that do not necessarily pertain to what they use

to identify themselves as. D Vera argues one of the reasons for this can be that people are now

changing the way that they are expressing their race or Hispanic identities. Another reason

DVera argues is Americans do not identify their race as being the same as their ethnicity. The

Census Bureau was able to analyze the data on more than half of the US population, and they
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 8

concluded that the amount of category changing was even higher than the total population. It was

also noticed that the Americans who originally identified themselves as non- Hispanic white,

Black, and Asian did not really change their racial identity in the following census. The race that

had the most turnover was Hispanics. Most Hispanics now identify as some other race. The

Census Bureau says it is because Hispanic is not a race, it is an ethnicity. However, Census

officially noted that Hispanic ethnicity is not a race in the instructions between the 2000 and

2010 census. This is seen as one of the major reasons why the Hispanic community has the

largest number of turnovers (Cohn). This accentuates the difficulty in recognized as a different

race than what is not dominant in society because of todays political controversies. It is difficult

for some to allow themselves to be identified as the groups that are not being accepted into

society. Stating your true identity is putting yourself out there as a target to society. For some,

this puts a lot more at risk than themselves. Some have families with little ones that need to be

protected. Therefore, for whatever the reason, it is easier to disguise yourself as part of the

majority than being one of the few in the minority.

Overall, one can see that the issue of racial profiling came long before it even had a

name. Also, that society still feels the need to discriminate others because of the simple fact that

not all of us are the same. Racial profiling is something that is very much instilled in our society

today and it continues to grow but many dont realize. This can be seen with subtle racial

profiling that is directed towards Muslims and other foreigners. These racial issues are just

reinforced through Donald Trumps Muslim travel ban which gives people only more reason to

fear and hate Muslim people. This is also an issue that is relevant because it affects many

different people and not just Muslims. This could have major consequences in the future if
 Hasandjekaj, Matos 9

something is not done about it today. There could potentially be another Holocaust-like event

that happens directed towards Muslims because the Jews were treated the same way that

Muslims are treated today right before the Holocaust occurred. Overall it is imperative that

Americans realize their wrong doings before it is too late and another tragic event occurs.

Society needs to educate themselves about the different people that live in this world. We all

should be trying to coexist and share the world we live in. I feel that this is the ultimate goal of

society, but not all have the same mindset.

 Hasandjekaj, Matos 10

Works Cited Page

A Forgotten Suitcase: The Mantello Rescue Mission. United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum. Collections Highlights.

https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007679 Accessed on 6

April 2017

Cohn, DVera. Millions of Americans Changed Their Racial or Ethnic Identity from One

Census to the Next. Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 5 May 2014,

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/05/millions-of-americans-changed-their-racial-o

r-ethnic-identity-from-one-census-to-the-next/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2017.

Fawcett, Liz. Religion, Ethnicity, and Social Change. Basingstoke : Macmillan, 2000,

docID=203765. Accessed 3 May 2017.

Harcourt, Bernard E. Muslim Profiles Post-9/11: Is Racial Profiling an Effective

Counterterrorist Measure and Does It Violate the Right to Be Free from

Discrimination? By Bernard E. Harcourt :: SSRN, SSRN, 30 Mar. 2006,

poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=147088068082017073099109085116066005121

08906001902004212400806509309907807010009200412100500701411403504901201

70841091001180980600030470331070950951010671220220930440360060971250071

12105076100068124002119071116100016030095008098025098066091094021&EXT

=pdf. Accessed 4 May 2017.

Skolnik, Fred, and Michael Berenbaum, editors. Holocaust Badges. Holocaust Memorial

Center, www.holocaustcenter.org/holocaust-badges. Accessed 5 May 2017.

 Hasandjekaj, Matos 11

Spiegel, Paul. The Academic Case for Repealing Trumps Refugee and Travel Ban. The

Academic Case for Repealing Trumps Refugee and Travel Ban, 8 Feb. 2017,

www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/S014067361730332X.pdf. Accessed 4

May 2017.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

www.ushmm.org/exhibition/hidden-children/insideX/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2017.