By VICTORIA HONE
On the night of Nov. 8, hundreds of Ramapo College students gathered in Friends Hall to anxiously await the presidential results that would determine the future of the United States of America. Just a few feet away across the hall, senior Amira Rachouh, 21, sat at her work desk in the CSI office alone and anticipated the unexpected announcement that would soon shake not only the nation, but her own life on a personal level.
Coming from a Muslim background, Rachouh is concerned about president-elect Donald Trump’s course of action that he plans to take once he claims the oval office. Rachouh’s father was born and raised in Morocco, North Africa while her mother is American with a Belgian, English and Scottish background.
“My father is Muslim. My mom was raised Christian but she converted to be Muslim about 12 years ago. I was raised more Muslim than Christian. My dad has a darker complexion and most of the time people mistake him for being Spanish. Whenever we go into restaurants sometimes they’ll just start talking to him in Spanish and he’ll just be sitting there like ‘I don’t understand what you’re saying’,” Rachouh joked.
Along with a good portion of women in the United States, Rachouh fears that women’s rights will be in great danger with Trump as president. Access to health care, birth control, and registering Muslim are among some of her main concerns for not only the country’s future, but her own.
Throughout the election, one of Trump’s most controversial proposals is the potential ban of Muslim people in America. However, since his use of the word “Muslim” has created so much anger amongst the country, his plans for immigration have grown on a much larger scale. As reported by CNN, his proposal to stop immigration that has been compromised by terrorism is an “expansion” of his ban on Muslims, and he now refers to it as looking at “territory” instead of Muslim.
According to Pew Research Center reports, there are about 3.3 million Muslims of all ages living in the United States, equaling to about 1% of the total U.S. population.
“I know he’s moving forward with the idea of registering Muslim, and that could definitely effect my life. I’m not sure what it will entail and how far it will go – whether it would just be like signing up with the government or having some sort of special ID with you wherever you go. But I do know some people who aren’t even Muslim who are gonna do it out of solidarity,” said Rachouh.
If Rachouh is not in class, studying at the library or at work, she is spending her time doing normal college student activities such as binge-watching netflix or skipping breakfast to make it to her 8:00 a.m. class. Working at Ramapo College’s Civic and Community Engagement Center for 3 years, she has earned the position as office manager where she makes sure everything gets done, checks emails and sends out daily notifications to her fellow peers on campus. Rachouh also dedicates her time as a peer facilitator, where she connects with students on a higher level to make sure they are acquainted with their new surroundings. Although she blends in with the crowd at school, there is always the thought in the back of Rachouh’s mind that she is different from everyone else.
“It’s always been noticeable to me that I am different, especially during the holidays where everyone is celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah,” said Rachouh. “I look very European, so it isn’t very noticeable to other people that I’m Muslim. I’ll notice things that other people are saying about Muslims and confront them about it, but for the most part it won’t effect me directly because a scarf won’t get pulled off my head.”
Rachouh dreams of traveling the world, which has always been a passion of hers. Her main goal is to feel like she’s helped someone at the end of the day, which is why she’s been thinking about joining the Peace Core after she graduates in 2017. Her interests specifically lie in the agriculture or community development areas of Peace Core, because that’s where she believes she’ll be strongest. However, working for a non-profit organization is also a goal that Rachouh aspires to achieve in life and believes that working at Ramapo’s CSI Office has given her the experience of being a leader not only inside the classroom, but outside as well. But with Trump winning the presidency, Rachouh fears she may not be able to achieve these dreams if he has his way.
Rachouh’s mother, Sue, works for higher education at a private four-year institution and fears her career will be affected by the outcome of this election.
“Absolutely his presidency effects us,” said Sue Rachouh, (age). “The minute it happened there were a lot of incidents of women in hijab getting attacked. Luckily where I work, there haven’t been any incidents. The muslim registry is a big worry. But I don’t like to go into fear because I feel like that makes everything worse, but its in the back of your mind now. It’s like walking in an unsafe area. This is my country, where do I go? It’s a frightening time.”
Rachouh has never been personally scrutinized by Trump supporters, however, knowing that Muslims have been publicly accused of being terrorists and being told to go back to their country, Rachouh believes her step-mother could be more at risk for scrutiny because of the fact that she wears a scarf.
“She lives in a predominantly middle-eastern populated area of New Jersey so I think she’ll be okay there, but I fear when she isn’t with my dad and she’s not in a place that is familiar to her that her ability to move around and feel safe will be effected, ” she added.
Rachouh is an international studies major – focusing her studies on history, economics, political science and anthropology. Politics is something Rachouh is passionate about and makes sure she stays involved whether it be in the classroom or out.
“Personally, I’m just really motivated to stay involved. I like knowing what’s going on in the world, I feel like there’s a lot of disconnect about politics and how it’ll effect our lives and how our individual votes matter. You being aware and you being knowledgable is important and it just motivates me more to help people become more aware,” said Rachouh.
On Nov. 9, Ramapo students took the initiative to form a Trump protest that included a campus-wide march that included anti-Trump signs and chanting. Rachouh was invited to a secret Facebook group called “Ramapo Students Against Trump” and was contacted to inform her about the idea of the speak-out.
“These speak-outs or these protests aren’t saying that we won’t support Trump and his presidency,: explained Rachouh. “It’s saying that his presidency, his and the people that he’s putting in his cabinet and empowering is something that Ramapo students won’t stand for. And it’s something we’re hoping that the college won’t stand for either.”
[Check out this interactive Storymap of the 8 Most Muslim Populated Cities in America Here]
This is a very well put together story starting with the anecdotal lead of the night of the election. You used really strong quotes to get a true understanding of Rachouh’s feelings. It is interesting to read about how a female millennial Muslim feels about Trump’s presidency. It sounds like she is comforted that she lives in an area that is predominately middle-eastern populated and not been scrutinized by Trump supporters.