Susan Hester: Students should gain empathy with Muslims

Regarding the March 9 news article “Conservative students face backlash in Trump era”: I read the story about four white male conservative students who “feel out of place,” “verbally abused,” experience threats, feel “stuck in the closet” and like a “scared minority.” And my favorite – sad because they are unable to comfortably wear their Trump hats.

Welcome to the world of students on their campus who are people of color, Muslims and women who experience the discomfort, violence and disregard by authorities – every day.

When the conservative student leaves his hat at home I hope he will think about the ever-present fear of Muslim women who wear a hijab and are regularly called names and threatened with violence.

As white people we must walk in the shoes of others to start to learn. I hope conservative students will think hard about the white privilege they have enjoyed, think even harder about how their values create fear and violence for others and realize how they are able to so easily “hide” who they are – a privilege others do not have.

May they grow through this experience, not just be resentful.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 9:07 PM with the headline "Susan Hester: Students should gain empathy with Muslims."