I'm just brown, not dangerous

[shumyle_shahid]

Al-Saji’s perspective is that the hijab is usually seen as a marker of oppression, with Western view framing veiled women as invisible subjects, deprived of their freedom. This racializing view, Al-Saji argues, is rooted in colonial histories where veiling is symbolized as cultural alienation and imperialist narratives​. There is a clear gap in understanding that veiling is also free will with genuine intentions of showing devotion to god.
Mahrouse believes that the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, which was created to address the "reasonable accommodation debates" about how the cultural and religious practices of immigrants and minorities could be incorporated into Québec society, reinforced racialized hierarchies. It was framed in a way where its defence was that this applies to all religions and minorities, in reality, it affected certain racialized groups more than others. For example, Hindus and Muslims, placing them in defensive positions. This was perceived as an attack on basic rights and made them feel as though they must justify their presence in Quebec.
Both critiques talk about how cultural practices like veiling are taken into Western views and become a negative dominant narrative that then paints Western identities as free and progressive, against an imagined oppressive other.
Humble the poet's song is the cherry on top of this topic. Immigrants, especially those with visible signs representing their religion or culture still have to fight to be seen with equal respect, fight to be understood as having the same right to be here as any other white person. This clear gap of equality in Western countries gets swept away or unnoticed because these microaggressions rapped about in the song have become a norm, or are often joked about in society. The so-called capitals of “freedom” and “equality” only favour certain people.

Ps. Humble the Poet was my childhood, what a throwback