Hello Mr. President My name is H. and I'm 14 years old. I'm a young Muslim that goes to a Islamic Muslim school. At my school their teaching us to love everyone and love the religion of Islam. I love all races and all religions. No one is right and no one is wrong.

What I wanted to ask you is that if you could help me and all the other Muslim citizens in us that are scared and hiding in their homes to be protected. If you could, may you please make a video that will maybe star on CNN or any famous news channel to tel Americans that their are bad people like Isis that are not Muslims at all. They call them selves Muslims that's spreads a message around the world that were all terrorist.

Islam is a religion of peace and freedom and we don't have anything in our religion to tell us to kill. We love Everyone and we just want to live in peace. Isis is trying to tell people on media that all Muslims are bad to spread trouble. I'm sorry to bother you mr. President but all my Muslim friends are scared to tell people their Muslims outside their homes. They are scared to walk with their moms because they wear a scarf and don't want to be noticed. Please if you could show people that were not all bad. I know theirs some that know that and I'm greatful for having such kind hearted people in our world. But theirs some who haven't heard the message yet. Thank you for your time and I pray this message will reach you. And if not to who ever reads this, please please try to help me and everyone around the United States with racial problems.

I. from Texas asked, "When will the world realize that terrorism has no religion, race, or color?"

Dear Mr. Obama,

I know you are aware of all the events that have been happening for the last few days. I know you must also be aware of the discrimination happening against Muslims. I have read many articles and many stories, some against us, some with us. Most of them involve society repeatedly saying, and I quote, "Islam is the religion of ignorance and hate and a fake God." Along with all these stories, the trending tag remains #stopislam, and I'm not okay with this.

When will the world realize that terrorism has no religion, race, or color? I know that there is not much to do about this situation, because no matter what society tells people, they are still going to make accusations, but I really want to spread awareness. This is the 21st century, I don't understand why people can't just get along.

Another thing people are saying is that the government should stop letting in Muslim immigrants into America. I want people to know that they are wrong, because like our holy Quran says, "Whoever kills a person [unjustly]...it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32). Religions dont kill people, people kill people. I would really like if we can talk about this, it would be a great opportunity for me, and for the rest of America, because if ones thing is for sure, it's that everyone needs to know the truth, and everyone needs to know it now, before something worse happens. Thank you, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, and I really hope this message reaches out to you.
 Fatima Noor
I was born in Somalia, but mostly what I remember are flashes of a carefree child, happily unaware of the world beyond the Utanga Refugee Camp in Kenya. About half a mile from our UNHCR-issued blue tent was the fence that surrounded the camp. Beyond the fence was an endless blue horizon of ocean. If you stood close enough, on the slight precipice before the fence, you could see where the beach welcomed the waves. I never saw any people down there, but sometimes I would catch the sight of boats with colorful sails drifting out to sea.
Soon, due to a combination of wildfires and overpopulation, our camp was ordered to shut down. My family, like many others, faced tough decisions. One was whether to return to Somalia in the height of civil war. Another was whether to send their small child — me — to live with a relative in a far-off land in hopes of better opportunities.

On our last day at the camp, I watched my parents and brother sail off in one of the colorful boats shuttling the many faces — men, women, and children — who once inhabited this camp, back to Somalia. I was sent to live in Denmark. In the early 2000s, my father made his way out of Somalia, alone. He came to the United States as a refugee. He lived in Texas, but driving trucks gave him the opportunity to explore America’s frontiers: from the snowy Northwest to the humid Southeast. He decided to settle in the latter, and started the paperwork to bring my mother and brothers from Somalia and me from Denmark.
In 2005, my whole family reunited in our new home: Memphis, Tennessee. We soon adapted to Southern living (and yummy Memphis barbecue). We bought a house down by the Mississippi River. My brother even attended the same middle school as Elvis Presley. I graduated from the University of Memphis.

On the morning of April 29, 2013, we returned to the same auditorium where I had received my high school diploma a few years earlier. We all stood, raised our right hands and recited the Oath of Allegiance: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…”

That’s why it has been so disheartening to have my intentions and allegiance questioned when I have twice taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” — first as new U.S. citizen, then as a public servant. I have been experiencing hateful attacks on social media not only directed at my Muslim heritage and refugee background but also aimed to undermine my service to this country. These attacks have, at times, made me reflect more deeply on who I am as an American but have also made me appreciate that in spite of the existence of this hateful rhetoric, I can proudly serve at the highest level of our government.

In my current role I am deeply involved in our Administration’s efforts to welcome and integrate refugees and immigrants from around the world. A few years ago, the President said this at the naturalization ceremony: “The basic idea of welcoming immigrants to our shores is central to our way of life — it is in our DNA. We believe our diversity, our differences, when joined together by a common set of ideals, makes us stronger, makes us more creative, makes us different. From all these different strands, we make something new here in America.”
This is why, every day, I am humbled to serve in an Administration that honors our American values of respecting different faiths and backgrounds, in an Administration that strives to be as diverse as the country it serves.

 

Alefiyah Mesiwala

As a doctor in public service, I have had the privilege of taking care of people from all walks of life — and I have appreciated that regardless of background, socioeconomic status, religion, etc., we all are connected by our fundamental desire to be human, to be happy and healthy, and to have a fulfilling and productive life. I take great pride in this work.

I also take great pride in the fact that I am a Muslim American. But as Muslim American, I have experienced discrimination both in obvious and subtle ways. I have had the experience of getting threatening hate calls and individuals saying offensive things in response to my religious affiliation. And while these incidents have been emotionally upsetting, I have been able to rationalize those incidents as a reaction by those on the fringes who are being manipulated by what they see and hear on television. What I find most difficult is the subtle discrimination I face as a Muslim American, as a women, and as a person-of-color every day. I have to work extra hard to make sure others around me recognize me first and foremost as a proud American serving her country along with other facets of myself.

That’s why the current rhetoric against Muslim Americans makes me so mad, especially the discourse that somehow claims that we are “un-American” in our values. As immigrants, my parents made much effort to make sure that we had an appreciation of our past heritage and an understanding of our faith; however, they instilled in my siblings and me a great sense of pride and gratitude in being American. America gave my parents opportunity to give my siblings and I a better life. I was taught to value its freedoms and pay-it-forward. To have my patriotism and my dedication to this country questioned because of my faith disrupts my sense of belonging.
 

To have my patriotism and my dedication to this country questioned because of my faith disrupts my sense of belonging.
However, during my last few years working in government and at the White House, I have seen the power the President’s leadership has in bringing people from all different disciplines together to work in government and solve challenging problems. It has been such a satisfying experience to work with a diverse group of smart, dedicated colleagues who everyday are trying to make this country and the world a better place.