Muslims in the United States have experienced such substantial amounts of hostility in recent years that it has even seeped into the sports world.
According to Newschoolers, a Vice Sports article reports that two Muslim professional skier brothers from Rochester, NY, Ahmet and Giray Dadali, are now speaking out about their religion after such widespread animosity towards their religion in America.
During their split childhood, they often felt out of place.
“I had this Turkish community in Rochester, but I couldn’t speak the language so I was kind of an outcast. I went to school and lived in the Bristol area — it was the typical northern tip of Appalachia, a little rundown, career-wise, and total white Christian. There was one Jewish family. I didn’t fit in in either,” said Giray.
However, they finally found their solace when their mother picked up a job at a local ski hill so her children could ski for free. Fortunately for the brothers, many resorts allow children ages five or six and under to ski at no charge.
The brothers’ crew, I Hate NY, caught the attention of industry leaders during highly competitive ski events in the late ’90s and early 2000s due to both their impressive skills and their great sense of humor.
The brothers were successful enough to appear in numerous magazines, web features, and even ski films. In 2011, Ahmet was awarded the Breakthrough Performer and Best Jib by Powder magazine.
However, the brothers never spoke publicly about their religion previously because they never saw it as worth commenting on.
But after noticing a rise in Islamohphobia in the U.S following the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, the brothers have chosen to speak out.
One specific driving force behind their initiative has been the anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Trump has even taken to social media to push his agenda, igniting much scorn from the sports world.
A tweet he posted read, “Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?”
But they have even seen this resentment from close acquaintances.
“People, and these are people I’ve known for 18 years of my life, will say things like ‘F–k these Muslims. They’ve brought no good to the earth’ And I’ll comment on their post, ‘Yeah, man. F–k Muslims!’ and it’s right there that I’ll see no more comments from them, or they might delete the thread,” said Giray.
Fortunately, the Dadalis have yet to see this climate of hostility on the slopes and are hopeful it will remain that way.
However, as Nanonews reports, more incidents involving Islamic extremists may be fanning the fire even further.
Recently in the brothers’ hometown of Rochester, NY, Emanuel Lutchman was accused of being an ISIS sympathizer after planning to kill patrons at a local restaurant on New Year’s Eve.
After FBI informants helped Lutchman purchase black ski masks, zip-ties, knives, duct tape, ammonia, latex gloves, and even a machete, he was arrested by a Rochester Joint Terrorism Task force.
When Lutchman appeared in U.S. District Court, he explained that he needed to prove himself to the Islamic State because he had no actual connection to the radical group.
As a result, security was substantially increased across the city during Rochester’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Just the way we’ve adjusted to weather… this is part of the new world order”, the governor said. She added that if citizens see something, they should “say something.”
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