By Jenn Piatt
Jennifer is one of AIDemocracy’s 2010-2011 Issue Analysts. Find out more about Jennifer below or take a look at the Student Issue Analysts.
The question has been asked, what role does one envision young people possessing in the context of US-Muslim relations. Before one can define a particular role for the nation’s youth, one must understand what is meant by “US-Muslim relations”.
The “Muslim World” does not fit into a box. “US-Muslim relations” should be understood as the relationship between the US and Muslim countries and the separate, but important perspective of the US and its own American Muslims.
As of 2009, Muslims made up nearly 23% of the world’s population and inhabited at least five continents. For many, the typical Muslim image is that of a Middle Easterner with Bedouin robes. Yet, nearly 60% of the world’s Muslims are Asian. While the faith remains consistent, the practices and daily life of the world’s Muslims are drastically different. American youth must learn to understand the difference. Indeed, the danger to the long-term relationship between the US and Muslims is the notion that the “Muslim World” somehow speaks, acts, and looks the same. Americans would hardly entertain the notion that all of its youth supported President Obama and in the alternative, President Bush.
In the context of pluralism, American youth are appropriately positioned to address this issue. The specific role can materialize in many ways, but perhaps the easiest is doing what youth naturally know to do; remain open to new ideas, engage the world, its people and its food at every opportunity, strive to see the similarities and explore the differences, travel and perhaps most importantly, talk to their fellow students about what they discover. These natural actions have a great and lasting impact and will undoubtedly produce a generation of youth more capable of approaching the world’s problems.
Jennifer is currently a JD/MS candidate at Creighton University’s School of Law in Omaha, Nebraska. Jennifer earned a BA in Political Science, minoring in Chicano/Latino Studies and is interested in working on U.S. Policy to the Middle East. Jennifer is married to a Muslim from Saudi Arabia and has two children. She believes in the capacity of students to bring about a more peaceful and sustainable world through travel, mobilization and engagement.
The World InSight 
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October 7, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Darwin Piatt
Great comments Jennifer. These comments are not only limited to ‘Muslim’ cultures but to any culture, any where in the world. During my 23 years of active duty with the US Air Force, as I traveled all over the world, I discovered that the more I tried to learn about the culture of the country I was stationed in, the better my visit was and that I came away from each visit a much wiser person. You are correct that lumping folks into one stereotype is counter productive to the learning process. Every county I visited in South East Asia was unique and as intriguing as the other and each of them became ‘special’, not just Asian.
You and your fellow students are indeed the leaders of tomorrow and leading with the knowledge that dealing with any issue is much easier if you come fully equipped with a sound understanding of those involved.
Keep up the good work – Proud Dad
October 8, 2010 at 8:40 am
Allison
Jennifer, I agree that the pathway to more enlightened relationships between the United States and the Muslim world begins with a better understanding of the complexity of the Muslim world; however, I would like to challenge you to answer the following: how do we engage American youth in studies of the Muslim world in a media environment which does not look favorably upon Muslims as a whole? We are bombarded everyday by coverage of another bombing in Iraq, which we all read as “extremist Muslim insurgents.” How are the youth to react or engage themselves in a study of the Muslim world when it is so easily handed to us via negative news coverage? Furthermore, how are we to overcome the cycle of media providing negative coverage of Muslims while the market (i.e., the public) lashes out at the media when they _do_ try to provide positive coverage of Muslims? Case in point: the Maine paper that issued multiple apologies after a flood of outrage over a front page story looking at Ramadan. I look forward to your thoughts!
October 11, 2010 at 8:15 am
Sarah Helvey
Great post, Jenn! You are a good example of how young people can make a difference in the world.