Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari wrote an essay for the New York Times – titled “Why Trump Makes Me Scared For My Family.” He illustrated his disdain towards the presidential candidate, and the “hate speech” that he spews towards immigrants, particularly Muslim Americans.
“Today, with the presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and others like him spewing hate speech, prejudice is reaching new levels,” Ansari, the son of Muslim immigrants, wrote. “It’s visceral, and scary, and it affects how people live, work and pray. It makes me afraid for my family. It also makes no sense.”
In his piece, the Master of None actor referenced the most recent terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida and how for many Muslim Americans, it has become a battle to distance oneself from being compared to a terrorist due to sharing a few similarities; i.e. the color of their skin and the religion that they practice.
“Anyone that even looks like they might be Muslim understands the feelings my friend described,” he wrote. “There is a strange feeling that you must almost prove yourself worthy of feeling sad and scared like everyone else. “
Ansari criticized Trump’s “hate-filled” remarks, where he linked Muslims to terrorism, as if implying that “millions of innocent people are somehow complicit in awful attacks.”
He wrote, “The overwhelming number of Muslim Americans have as much in common with that monster in Orlando as any white person has with any of the white terrorists who shoot up movie theaters or schools or abortion clinics.”
Ansari also mentioned the need for gun control in order to “decrease the risk” of these attacks.
“Suspected terrorists can buy assault rifles, but we’re still carrying tiny bottles of shampoo to the airport.”
While posting the article on Twitter, Ansari wrote, “Trump wants to ban Muslim immigrants like my parents. I wrote a piece for @NYTimes telling him to go f— himself.”
Read the full piece in The New York Times.
