For Muslim students in NC, safety concerns heighten

Duke University senior Safa al-Saeedi remembers the morning after three Muslim students lost their lives Feb. 10 in Chapel Hill. 

As she got ready for class, she was tying her hijab, the traditional headscarf worn by many women who practice Islam. The act is familiar to her — but on that day, it felt different.

“The headscarf became heavier,” she said. “My identity was always, for me, a source of pride, but now it has become a question.”

It remains unclear whether the shooting of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha was motivated by animosity toward Islam. But the event has sparked concern among many Muslim students in North Carolina about their safety on and off campus — particularly students like al-Saeedi who wear their faith visibly.

Shamira Lukomwa, president of UNC’s Muslim Students Association, said she has felt targeted at UNC due to her religion. As a freshman, she was waiting for the P2P when several men drove past in a car, rolled down their windows and shouted derogatory language about the Prophet Muhammad.

In light of the shooting, she said she feels less safe on and off campus. She’s advised her friends, especially students who wear the hijab, not to walk alone at any time of day.

“I just don’t feel necessarily safe, or I feel like people are kind of staring at me,” she said. “I definitely just can’t do the same things I did before.”

Jasmin Balcazar-Romero, president of the MSA at East Carolina University, also wears the hijab. She said she usually walks in public with her friends, which makes her feel relatively safe on and off campus.

Still, sometimes her hijab brings unwanted attention from other students, making her tentative about raising her hand in class and walking around at night. She’s been more conscious of the attention over the last two weeks.

“You feel like you stand out when you have the scarf,” she said.

The increased fear stretches beyond students who choose to wear the hijab or another icon of Islam, such as a long beard or a kufi.

“I did sense a lack of security in the larger Muslim community here,” said Rasheed Alhadi, vice president of Duke’s MSA. “You don’t ever really know what’s coming, or who’s out there.”

Safa Kaleem, publicity chairwoman for Duke’s MSA, said she has fresh worries about living off campus this summer.

“It’s been a real roller coaster, being Muslim in America,” she said. “It’s been, ‘I feel very comfortable’ to ‘I feel very unsafe.’”

Since the shooting, parents of some female Muslim students have told them to take off the hijab, Balcazar-Romero added.

“I’ve heard of some parents telling their kids, ‘Don’t wear it, just wear a hoodie or something that doesn’t really show that you’re Muslim,’” Balcazar-Romero said.

“(Parents) have concerns — they’re scared, and rightfully so,” said Ali Sajjad, president of N.C. State University’s MSA.

Jeff McCracken, chief of the UNC Department of Public Safety, said he’s been in contact with UNC’s MSA and assured the group that the department will offer any support that Muslim students feel they need.

He said DPS officers have taken the heightened concerns into account, though the Chapel Hill Police Department is handling the investigation of the shooting. It doesn’t look like the crime was hate-motivated at this point, he said.

“I understand because these three individuals were Muslims, there is a sense that there is something going on targeting that group,” he said. “At this point, there’s nothing in the investigation to say that.”

At Duke, there has been increased security around the Center for Muslim Life when students are meeting there, al-Saeedi said.

Naqash Choudhery, president of UNC-Charlotte’s MSA, said though he thinks UNC-C is generally a safe campus for Muslims, he thinks ramped-up security is a good idea.

“Whenever something tragic like this happens, you always have to take precautions just to be safe,” he said. “Everyone’s just a little on their toes.”

Despite an atmosphere of uncertainty in the shooting’s aftermath, Sajjad said he knows of young Muslim women who have been asked by parents to remove their scarves — and have refused.

“Religion is key in their way of living, and so they want to keep it next to their heart and keep it on their sleeves and wear it proudly,” he said.

Balcazar-Romero said she has friends at ECU who have put on the hijab for the first time since the shooting.

Raising awareness about Islam and combating its stereotypes, she said, are two of her key goals for the rest of the semester.

Sajjad said he wants to advocate against portrayals in the media that often associate all Muslims with terrorist groups.

“Those people might represent themselves as Muslims, but they don’t represent Islam,” he said.

For Sajjad, part of the process of moving forward involves steps to educate the N.C. State community and law enforcement about Islam. He said area police plan to sponsor a workshop for officers in May centered on perceptions of the religion.

Sajjad said he hopes Muslim students who feel they’ve been targeted will report it to the police.

Asked what she’d say to people who might be uncomfortable with Islam, al-Saeedi said: “Remember me for not just a religion or skin color, but as a human being.”

Lukomwa said she encourages people in the UNC community to step outside of their cultural boxes — to be “prepared to be uncomfortable.”

“In my perfect world, people don’t all have to be the same,” she said. “I think that we’re too focused on these differences, but really there’s so many similarities that bring us together.”

state@dailytarheel.com