Loading ...Morocco trip helps students dispel Arab stereotypes
By Zac Fox
Go Upstate.com
A group of Converse College students hopes to use a recent experience in Morocco to help dispel negative images of Arabs and Muslims.
Natalie Southgate, Sidney Jones and Grace Frazor, all seniors at the college, recently returned from the North African nation after participating in a Model Arab League program with students from three other American colleges and Moroccan students.
The program brings together groups of students who act as Arab League countries to solve region-wide problems through legislation and compromise.
“It’s really, really cool that you get to put yourself in a real person’s shoes that’s somewhere on the other side of the world,” Southgate said.
The trip was Jones’ first visit outside the country, and she said the experience was eye-opening.
“To go and meet the people in a region that there’s such a stigma on and against, especially living in the South, the Middle East doesn’t have a great reputation in this region,” she said. “To immerse ourselves in a culture we studied for the past three and a half years, it helped to see they aren’t different than us. They’re college students playing basketball and singing music.”
Hearing the Muslim call to prayer, which happened several times a day, Southgate said, was an unexpected opportunity to reflect on the Muslim faith in a way that wasn’t related to terrorist attacks or politically charged rhetoric.
“You might live in North Africa, but we’re not different,” Jones said.
The group was in Morocco on Election Day. After the results came in, several Moroccan students contacted them to ask about the status of family members in the U.S. once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump made several controversial comments about Muslim-Americans, including saying they should have to register with the government.
“They were asking like, ‘what do you think will happen to my Muslim cousin that lives in whatever state they lived in,’” Jones said. “We hear the racial slurs Muslims and Arabs face sometimes, but to hear it from someone who actually voiced their concerns was heartbreaking.”
Dunn said the trip was made possible by a large gift from the 50th anniversary graduates of Converse.
The trio spent a good portion of the trip working with Moroccan college students at a French-speaking university in Rabat. French is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the North African nation.
The students said they hope to dispel the reputation that the Arab world is a lesser culture full of violence and poverty.
“Everyone was super hospitable while we were there,” Frazor said. “Everyone we met gave us tea and some kind of food. I was also astounded by how intelligent everyone was. Sometimes, there’s a stigma that people who aren’t in the western world aren’t as smart, but these people speak like, three or four languages.”
