Rihla #23

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It all started when I was attending Holy Angels catholic school, even though I did not know what was going on during this time due to the fact that I was so young Holy Angels was a school that was predominantly filled with White Catholics; however I was an African Muslim. The way that I was treated compared to white kids was incomparable all because of my skin color. I was forced to pray for a certain class, even though I was not catholic. During lunch, whites were not bothered by teachers; consequently, I was forced to eat all the food on my tray unless I would get in trouble. My parents did not realize how racist the school was until they kept picking me up from school and realizing that I was sitting on stairs. My parents thought that I was sitting their willingly, but when I told them we had to sit on the stairs while the whites sat on benches, they went nuts. My parents went to the school and transferred me out immediately.

The school I transferred to was Ariel Community Academy, which I started attending in first grade. The first day I realized this was a school filled with all the people my color. I thought this experience would be better than my experience at Holy Angels due to the fact that we were all African Americans; however, I thought wrong. The first day I was bullied for wearing glasses with the string on my ears. People called me a geek and nerd, and I finally understood why by the time I reached 3^rd grade. At this time, I knew what was going on society, and I was trying to fit in. Fitting in did not go to well for me because people found out that I was African Muslim. . I was even teased about my name being Azeez; they called me Azeez. I was even teased about my name being Azeez. Th the disease because it rhymed with my name. I was laughed and teased at for plenty of years because my race and religion because people believe anything that the media showed them. They believed that I was poor and dirty like the way Africans are portrayed on television, and they believed I was a terrorist like all Muslims. The teasing never stopped even till the day of my graduation.

I started in high school believing that UIC College Prep would be the best fit for me due to its diversity. This school has made me realize no matter how diverse a school is, it will still be racism. Mexican and African Americans make racist jokes about each other. African Americans, Mexicans, and Whites all sit in different sections of the lunchroom even though its one big room. I am a senior at UIC College Prep and I now realize that no matter if you go to a school with diversity or if you even go to a school with people of the same color, there will always be racism and prejudice.

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