New York City Taxi Driver Suffers Islamophobia After The Paris Attack

After the heinous wave of violence in the French capital, Paris which left 132 people dead and many others injured, the Muslim communities in the Western World have been once again put under close scrutiny.

This is primarily because Islamic State fighters admitted responsibility of the attack. And since they are Muslims, the dominant perception across the Western World is that Muslims are bad people.

Many people have resulted to hasty generalization, not taking their time to distinguish between religion and act of terror. And it happened that just after two hours after the attacks in Paris were reported, a Muslim taxi driver in Manhattan, New York City was on duty to look for his daily bread.

Immediately the attacks were announced, people decided not to board his taxi anymore simply because he is Muslim. An eyewitness, Alex Malloy who encountered this Muslim man reported on Social Media how the man was downhearted for how people have reacted to the situation.

Malloy, a Christian moved from St Petersburg, Florida to New York City four years ago, and was very shocked to hear the sad story told by the taxi drive.

He said the driver told him he [Malloy] was his first passenger and that since the attacks were reported by the media, people have deliberately avoided his Taxi, accusing him of supporting what has happened.

Upon hearing this story from the man, Malloy said he spent the rest of the 25-minute journey reassuring the man that he was not alone and that not all people are thinking the way the others are thinking. The driver eventually broke into tears, thanking Malloy for his support and concern.

“For 25 minutes I had to tell this stranger, this human being like you and I, that he was not a part of what was happening and how sorry I was people were looking at him with fear or anger. He kept saying ‘Allah, my god, does not believe in this. People think I’m a part of this and I’m not. Nobody wants to drive with me because they feel unsafe. I can’t even do my job’ ”, the Daily Mail quoted Malloy as saying.

Malloy also tweeted about his experience and called upon his followers to “stop generalizing people.” He wrote “the most heart breaking moment ever experienced in my whole life. The fact this young man is feeling victimized because of extremists is so sad.” The post went viral.

My cab ride home, was the saddest moment I’ve experienced as apart of the human race. Please, stop generalizing ppl pic.twitter.com/O8PdtJlYCO

— Alex (@alexmalloyy) November 14, 2015

He did not end it there. He continued to his advocacy, urging people to look at the situation from a broader perspective. He continued to tweet “Please stop saying Muslims are the problem because they are not and they are feeling more victimized and scared by the day”. “These are our brothers and sisters … and they deserve nothing more than our respect and attention”.

Despite the fact that Muslims in France and other countries have condemned the attack; some people still have hatred against the religion. Some Muslims have suffered some form of reprisal attacks since the attack.

Far-right protesters in France stormed one candlelit vigil in the northern city of Lille, disrupting the memorial event and unleashing flares and firecrackers on mourners. The Anti-Islam demonstrators shouted “Out the Muslims” and “Throw out Islamists”.

The Front National leader, Marine Le Pen has also declared that French people are no longer safe and that France should militarize its borders.

According to the Daily Mail, since the 9/11 attack in the United States, the number of hate crimes against Muslims has grown significantly, from between 20 and 30 per year to 500. The Washington Post puts the number at 100-150, roughly five times higher than before 9/11.

Also, following the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris earlier this year, many Muslim-owned business and mosques reported a number of reprisal incidents.

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