by Amanda Azad
(SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD) Picture a college kid 10 years ago. In addition to the acid-washed skinny jeans and an obsession with Angry Birds, imagine this person is a sophomore pursuing a political science major. They are politically active on campus, participating in protests against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and they love camping. Usually, this student would be seen by law enforcement as just a normal college kid doing normal college kid stuff. Except for one thing: This kid is Muslim. Because of this, they are instead seen as a potential terrorist.
This is the legacy of the War on Terror: an America where everything about the Muslim identity has been criminalized and that criminalization is embedded in our criminal justice system.