My
name is Amy Guimond and I am currently a Doctoral Student in Conflict
Analysis and Resolution. I have a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, and
also have a Masters of Science in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. For
me, being a student means that I have the obligation to ask the
difficult questions, challenging my own worldviews and subsequently
causing others to also think differently about the world around them.
That is where this social experiment was born.
In early 2009, I was in a class and noticed that the room was
somewhat segregated. We had African Americans on one side of the room,
Caucasian Americans on another, other blacks in the front and the
international students sitting together, and in the far back of the
room, there was a group of Saudi Arabian Muslim men. As we were talking
about segregation in the course lecture that night, we were able to
stop and discuss what we were seeing even in the classroom. And as this
conversation progressed, I was alarmed by the way that people described
this group of Saudi Arabian men.
Not only was I alarmed by the description of this group of Saudi
Arabian Muslim Men, but my own response to this description was
confusing to me. Instead of being disgusted by the fact that another
student would describe these men in a way that would immediately make
any rational person envision men in dark rooms, sticking detonation cord
into blocks of semtex explosive, I was quick to conjure the mental
images being commanded by the description, and quickly began to feel the
signs of acute anxiety.
These young Arab-Muslims were not strangers, these young Arab-Muslims
were people I had known for almost a year and who up until this point, I
had trusted. Yet, there I was envisioning them participating in some
great act of terror against the American people. I still get a sick
feeling in my stomach when I think about how quickly my thoughts could
be influenced.
So
why would I admit this openly in my introduction on my new website?
Well, in order to understand where I am going, you should probably know
why I
am going, as well as know where I am coming from. That evening,
thoroughly disgusted with myself, I left the classroom thinking more and
more about the Arabic Muslim students in my classes and started to
think of what a great
personal experience it would be for me to experience the treatment that Muslims face in this country, first hand.
My goal was to see what it felt like to be a perceived to be a
member of a marginalized community, to experience prejudice and
descrimination first hand, so that I could better understand the
perspectives of marginalized people. Further, after challenging my own
beliefs, i wanted to challenge those who fed into prejudice and
discrimination causing them to question their own beliefs.
Ultimately, when this project was conceived, the plan was to dress in
hijab for two weeks, and observe what happened through a video diary on
YouTube. Due to unforseen circumstances, two weeks quickly led to three
weeks, and then the project was finally extended to a full four weeks.
The goal was not to pass or pretend to be something that I wasnt, but
to blend in. I was never deceptive and never lied when people asked me
about my attire. If asked, I explained my project. Ultimately, I just
wanted to experience prejudice from the side of the persecuted, in hopes
that I could better understand my own feelings. as well as bring about
some kind of change in thinking within the community around me.
All of my videos are now housed under the videos tab, so please make
sure to check out them out! Updates on my book can be found under that
tab as well.
Due to an overwhelming response to this
website, I have temporarily removed the contacts page. I am not
currently taking any outside requests for speaking engagements. This
will be changing in early 2012.
I NEVER thought that a small personal
project would grow to be quite as large as it has. My YouTube channel
is now getting hits from around the world, and every day I am being
bombarded by emails from viewers.
as well as at lulu.com by clicking on this button: