What Knapsack of Invisible Privileges Do Muslim ESL^* University Students Wish to Possess?

ABSTRACT

Stephanie Vandrick published a piece in the Journal of Language, Identity and Education titled “No ‘Knapsack of Invisible Privilege’ for ESL University Students,” in which she reflected her thoughts on Peggy McIntosh’s groundbreaking list of the invisibly acquired privileges of Whites. Both pieces inspired this article, which brings up an unheard voice: Muslim ESL students who undergo situations that can indicate that public space of some cities in the United States are exclusive to the dominant culture and that any deviations are not welcome.

These days, with terrorist incidents happening in different places around the world and with the presidential executive order of banning Muslims, the situation has worsened. Here, based on my experience, I develop a list of privileges that Muslim ESL university students wish to possess. This article concludes with recommendations that can raise the awareness of educators and instructors who teach or supervise Muslim ESL students to take this issue into consideration.

KEYWORDS:

• Discrimination
• ESL students
• identity
• minority
• Muslim
• privileges

Acknowledgments

I owe the editors and reviewers of this journal a debt of gratitude for their enthusiasm to publish this article and make it accessible. Their comments and feedback greatly improved the outcome of this article. A particular debt of gratitude is owed to the professors of the English department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for their ceaseless encouragement. Finally, heartfelt love and respect are due to all those who stand up for a democratic, inclusive, and non-discriminatory America.

Notes

1. In the 2012 movie, The Citizen (Kadi, Vega, & Wyatt, 2012), we see how some Muslims in the United States started changing their native names into American names so that they could avoid discrimination in the job and business market.

2. I am not talking about metropolises like Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. In these big cities, you can find signs in both the languages Arabic and English. However, in many, but not all, small towns, the case I mention applies.