A Walk in Their Shoes

" Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (far right) and his friends pose for a photo in Times Square."

After a complete shutdown of the city followed by a metropolitan manhunt, Boston finally has their man. On April 19th Boston Police captured 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was hiding out on a boat in Watertown, Massachusetts. He and his now deceased older brother Tamerlan, 26, originally planned to set up a bombing on the 4th of july but, due to the construction of explosive devices at a pace quicker than expected they chose the marathon on Patriot's Day. Speculation of the motive of these two young men automatically points to terrorist organizations overseas, yet there has been no concrete evidence supporting such theories. Investigation thus far seems to point to self-radicalism. Living in a Post 9/11 America can be a difficult thing for practicing Muslims. The religion of Islam is often portrayed by the media to be one of vengeance and hate. Ironically in a nation made up of so many different cultures, races, and religions we still discriminate against one another. From tragedies such as the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings we've learned that the individuals behind them often felt alienated or bullied. While the threat of terrorism is very real, we have to understand that by feeding into stereotypes we can create the very terrorist we're trying to protect our country from. The Tsarnaev brothers seem to have disapproved of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan but being Muslim their personal opinions most likely would have them labeled as terrorists without them committing a single crime. Most of us Americans have no idea what it's like to have someone come to our country with an army and blow things up. We've been attacked but no war since the American Civil War has taken place on U.S. soil, so how can we really understand? How many of us have thought about if we were overseas and are hated us because we're American or Christian or Jewish? 

For CNN Article Click Here