To those asking the questions:

The questions we ask presuppose our assumptions about the world. To assume the entitlement of
a response -where someone must defend themselves and their life based on the assumptions you
have about them, often assumptions based on ignorance or hearsay- is highly inappropriate.

University is a time to learn and grow so it will be natural to not know and to ask questions.
There is nothing wrong with not knowing. The same way you do not know, oftentimes the people
you are asking don’t either. This is not meant to make you ashamed of asking questions. Only to
remind you to mind, if not your high level of education, your manners.

What is wrong is the inherent orientalism, sometimes even racism, of the questions asked.
“Why” questions assume the statement following to be true, e.g “Why do Egyptians X” assumes
that all Egyptians X. While an argument can be made that generalisations are necessary in
thinking about abstract concepts, or even just reaching a final point, there is a very strong counter
argument that your lunch table debates are not the appropriate place to be reductive of the
identity of someone who considers themselves your friend.

The assumption that one individual can speak out for a whole group of people in itself assumes
that the person is not an individual who can think for themselves, but part of a herd mentality.

To those who are made to answer these questions:

This is not okay. You do not have to dignify these questions with a response.

Often these questions are not questions but rephrasing statements. “If you are muslim why are
you not wearing a Hijab” actually means “I thought all Muslims wore a Hijab.” The answer to
both the question and statement format of this is “You are ignorant and it is not my responsibility
to justify my existence to you.”

If you want to answer these questions, be wary of creating a false hegemony, as most of these
questions assume their subject groups to be a hive mind rather than individuals who think and act
for themselves. When we are put in the position of defining and defending ourselves to stupid
questions we reach bad results. For example the urgent need for an answer of “What do Emiratis
look like '' resulted in stereotyping Emiratis for the ease of identification of others.

We do not need to set ourselves back in order to answer questions posed by those who already
have the answers they want.

This is not an official paper and therefore the argumentative techniques in it are not perfect. I am angry and therefore
probably biased in what I am writing. I was promised a place of acceptance and have never felt more like a zoo in a
cage than I do on this campus. The benefits do not outweigh the negatives especially when this can be so easily
avoided. You are better than this.