“Xenophobia” is the fear of strangers. Broadly applied, it means one who fears others simply because they are different, oftentimes triggering hostility in one’s words or actions toward them. Unfortunately, in today’s world of wokeism, which seeks to implement changes in our everyday dealings with each other to eradicate or sufficiently minimize our vocabulary and actions so as not to be the slightest bit offensive toward anyone, Western societies have created a class of overly sensitive “snowflakes.” Such people take offense either at the most innocent statements or, as we are outrageously now seeing, when nothing offensive is even uttered. We need to recognize that, in giving voice to a snowflake’s unwarranted fear of feeling unsafe, we probably are only encouraging snowflakism.
Take the case of Zeahaa Rehman – a Canadian transgender playwright of Pakistani descent who stars in a Canadian prime-time television series.
A Muslim, Rehman wrote an article describing how she met an elderly white woman, moving along in a walker to a voting site, and enjoyed a delightful conversation with her before she cast her vote. Rehman noted, “I was buoyed both at her dedication to her civic duty as well as her kind words.” But what Rehman wrote next is suggestive of a phobia from which she suffers. She stated the following about the elderly woman: “… after she left, I couldn’t help but wonder whether – despite our pleasant interaction – she was one of the people who hate people like me.”
To be clear, Rehman took offense at the woman – not because of anything she said or did – but only because she was white. Despite the woman’s openness and kindness, Rehman feared deep down inside the woman might just hide a hatred for all Muslims. Rehman went on to condemn other whites she encountered at the voting site, claiming, “Many of the people who had seemingly been nice to me might have voted for candidates who have supported” laws that negatively target Muslim women. Rehman never expressed any concerns over the negative impact her own religion imposes on women as a way of Muslim life.
Continuing to express her self-imposed phobia, Rehman wrote, “I know that many people around the world hate me because of my religion, my ethnicity, my immigrant status, or a combination of all three. When I come across this hate online, I can block and report the sender, scroll past it or switch to another tab if I don’t want to engage” and then went on to attack conservative candidates running on a motto of “Take Canada Back” – stating that it, per se, is xenophobic.
While acknowledging her perception is “unhealthy,” Rehman suggested her concerns emanate from the killing of a Muslim family earlier in the year in Ontario.
There are four significant points Rehman ignores while portraying the sensitivity of a snowflake.
First, she ignores the obvious. Not recognizing her own symptoms, she suffers from xenophobia herself. Why else would she fear a handicapped, elderly and kind white woman due to the outlandish perception the woman – as well as other whites – might want to kill her. This xenophobia is not triggered by anything the woman said or did but, rather, simply by Rehman’s sight of the color of her skin. Living in Canada where most natives are white, Rehman may as well suffer from agoraphobia – the fear of being out in the open or in public – as her fear will be triggered any time a white person is encountered. No better example of perverting wokeism exists than for one who is clearly xenophobic to perceive others who are different as being the ones who are xenophobic.
Second, she ignores the fact that the killing of a Muslim family in Ontario pales in comparison to the 9/11 attacks on America that, comparably speaking, provide ample justification for Americans to embrace their own version of anti-Muslim xenophobia, some fearing, on a daily basis, encountering Rehman or any other Muslim.
Third, she ignores the fact that, based on 2019 FBI statistics, Jews are the top target of hate crimes. As such, here in the U.S. they are 2.2 times more likely to be victimized than are Muslims. However, the Muslim community is much more vocal about their victimization, playing it up to a media that run with that storyline. Those, like Rehman, who suffer from such an idiosyncratic xenophobic sensitivity will continue to give wings to claims of disproportionate racism for hate crimes.
Fourth, she ignores that, contrary to holy books like the Bible and Torah, the Quran repeatedly promotes hatred against non-believers. A Quran that encourages violence against non-Muslims provides far more justification to fear violence at Muslim hands than Muslims should fear at the hands of non-believers.
Another incident of xenophobic perception by overly sensitive snowflakes occurred recently at Yale Law School.
After Trent Colbert sent out a party invitation for fellow Native American students to attend a “Trap House,” he was accused of racism and told to make an apology. While the term was once used to mean “crack house,” it has been taken over by young people today to mean “party house.” However, some black students chose to interpret it to mean “blackface party.” Colbert explained that was never intended and, therefore, refused to “indulge this culture of performative denunciation” as any apology would be insincere.
Interestingly, Colbert was able to show how ridiculous demanding apologies for unwarranted personal perceptions of racism are after another student called his excuse “corny.” Colbert said – as a Native American – he could have taken umbrage at the critic’s use of the word corny – one connecting Colbert’s actions to a crop with immense cultural significance to indigenous communities. Socratically posing the question whether that student should then apologize, Colbert clearly responded “no.”
Kudos to Colbert for taking his stand.
There must be a term descriptive of such over-the-top sensitivities from which these people suffer. The best this writer can proffer is “snowflake xenophobia.”
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This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
