What would people typically think of when they hear someone say, “Pakistan”? One might think of the Taliban, mud huts, riding camels, or even terrorists. This is the problem because it can lead to other types of discrimination in the future and it deeply affects the person it is being done to. People who live in Pakistan are being stereotyped and discriminated against by Americans, and it needs to stop.

A common reason people from Pakistan are stereotyped is because of an event that happened twelve years ago, nine-eleven. On September 11, 2001, the twin towers in Manhattan, New York, were hit by two planes and eventually collapsed. That same day the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was targeted as well. In all 2,996 people were killed and 6,291 were injured in what was the worst terror attack in the history of the United States. This is an emotional topic and many people do not speak about it. They will just jump to conclusions very quickly by saying that everyone from Pakistan must be a terrorist. That, of course, is not true. Out of all 190 million people currently living in Pakistan only 27 were involved in the nine-eleven terrorist attack. We should not collectively judge everyone from their country because of the actions of a few.

Religion in Pakistan is another thing people falsely judge as well. They say that anyone who practices the Islamic or Muslim religion want to harm Americans and are generally bad people. The Islamic religion believes that there is one god, Allah, who rules the universe and knows all things. They go to Mosques to worship him. There is nothing in their religion that tells them to harm others like some may think. Terrorism comes from taking the religion to an extreme level which most people do not do but still have to pay the price for. There have been other events in history in which people have taken their religion to the extreme; for example during the Crusades, or when “witches” were burned at the stake.

Most people know the feeling of being judged of stereotyped, and most have done it to someone else. Whether it was about body type, race, religion, or even hair color, it is wrong to think something about someone that is untrue. Among the people stereotyped in Pakistan, a man named Meiryum Mohhamed Ali shares his story on tribune.com. He came to America when he was 20 years old to visit his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. His cousin introduced him to one of his friends from school and immediately the friend thought he was illiterate and stupid. Meiryum also received many odd looks from people in public and questions from store clerks about where he came from. After his experience he says, “I do not live in a mud hut, I do not ride a camel to school, I have seen an x-box before, there is no ban on jeans, women do drive, and I have never met a terrorist but I will let you know if I do.”
He is only one of many who has been stereotyped by Americans.

The best way to convince people to stop stereotyping and discriminating against people from Pakistan is to help them learn about these people and get to know them deeper than by what they look like on the outside. A great way to start understanding them and their culture is to organize a cultural festival for the whole community to participate in, or even just inviting a few family members or friends over to share a cultural meal. The event would be decorated with colors commonly found in Pakistan, toys that children from Pakistan play with, cultural food and drink, and an art gallery to show some of the amazing things made by Pakistani's. This can work for any culture as well. People will then realize that stereotyping people from Pakistan is wrong and needs to stop. Just a small comment about the color of someone’s skin can affect them deeply. Everyone is different but that doesn’t mean unequal. Even a small community act like this can make a huge difference.