A Hispanic woman, who became a Muslim seven years ago, has said that she faced discrimination from neighbours in Harlem, New York, because she was wearing a hijab.
A Hispanic woman, who became a Muslim seven years ago, has said that she faced discrimination from neighbours in Harlem, New York, because she was wearing a hijab.
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"As soon as I started wearing the hijab I got a lot of stares," the New York Daily News quoted twenty-seven year-old Julissa Fikri, as saying.
"Even my own Latino people feel like I betrayed them," said Fikri, who was raised as a Christian in Harlem.
"They see me veiled and they think ''she's under (her husband's) grasp'' and that's not the case. This is not a bad thing. I'm not oppressed. I'm very comfortable. I just want people to know that I'm the same person," she added.
Fikri, who is now Puerto Rican and Dominican, said on a You Tube video that she wants to educate those around her, including her own mother, about the difference between 'culture and religion'.
"It's (hijab) something very foreign to the Hispanic community. They immediately associate the religion with the culture of being Arab, and that's something now that I want to educate people, especially in this community. It is two different things, culture and religion," she said.
Fikri recalled an incident when a Latino man said in Spanish that 'she changed her race. Now, she's Arab.'
In another incident, a woman looked at her and called her a terrorist, Fikri said.
Fikri said she started exploring Islam in 2004 after a personal crisis made her start looking into religion for guidance.
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