“Am I a terrorist”
By: Citlalli Esquivel
I walked into my classroom
at Glenview Illinois Middle School
The stares were immediate
Sweat gathering on my forehead
I quickly sat on my white desk, like them
They all stared at my head
At my “towel-head “hijab,
My hijab screams my religion
It screams I’m different
When I only want to be accepted
I grew up hearing
Muslims are murderers
Muslims are most troublesome
Adults with islamophobia say it
And their innocent, ignorant children repeat it
You laugh at me, judge me
Muslims are murderers
and terrorists to boot
“like Osama Bin Laden”
The whole package
I wasn’t even born yet
When the tragedy happened
Do you still want to call me names?
My innocent, responsible bullies
Call me a terrorist
When they don’t even know
What terrorist means
I can’t help but get angry when
they don’t even know what my religion is.
Do they even know what values I follow?
They don’t, do you?
Inspired by the article, "Chicago teens confronted with new wave of Islamophobia speak up"
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