Inside, I Really Feel Hurt: Boys and Islamophobia

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January 29, 2017 saw the worst mass murder in a house of worship in Canadian history: the Québec City mosque shooting in which six Muslim worshippers were killed and 19 injured.Rehan was ten. “I remember when it happened,” he said on the podcast. “That night, I actually started crying because I was like, ‘What if that ever happened to me?’”Islamophobia is on the rise in Canada. It’s perhaps most visible in the forms of explicit violence such as the massacre in Québec City, but it also manifests in schoolyard jokes and whitewashed media. Girls having their hjiabs torn off; refugees being told to leave. A kid like Rehan who can describe racism as easily as his evening prayers.Violence doesn’t end just because you cross a border. And just because we can point to a historical event and say that it was an example of Islamophobia doesn’t mean that it’s not still happening now. It is still happening. We need to talk about it.Further ReadingFatmeh mentioned the Centre for Race and Culture and recommended their publication Race and Respect as a resource for teachers seeking to teach students about active citizenship and inclusive communities.SourcesJasmin Zine, Islamophobia and hate crimes continue to rise in Canada →Joanna Schroeder, Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons. →LinksIf you thought this episode was worthwhile, support it on Patreon.Email breakingtheboycode@gmail.com to get in touch. Connect with @boypodcast on all mainstream social media. Follow the publication on Medium for more writing and the blog on Tumblr for more masculinity research and occasional podcast-related updates.Supported by Next Gen Men.