Following the July 16 attack on United States military personnel in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the sadly familiar tones of Islamic hate arose again in America. The shooter's name is Mohammad Abdulazeez, and immediately after his name was released, people began saying it must have been a terrorist attack. While it was a horrible, heart-wrenching crime, the jump to terrorism and ISIS reveals more about our society than about the attacker himself. Currently, there are not even any connections between the shooter and ISIS or any other terrorist organizations. So why did we, as a nation, automatically jump to terrorism as the immediate cause of this attack? Personally, I believe it has a lot to do with something called implicit bias.

Implicit bias refers to any and all preconceived notions or stereotypes that influence how you act on a day-to-day basis. These can be, and mainly are, subconscious behaviors that we don't even know we are letting control our lives. For example, I have had many people tell me that they are scared when they see a “Muslim person” on an airplane. The reasoning behind this, I assume, is lingering fear and anger over the 9/11 attack on the United States, as well as other terrorist actions committed by people claiming to be Muslim. However, this alone is not reason to be fearful of the 1.6 billion people practicing Islam.

Too often in our society are we harming lives with our fear and our sometimes subconscious actions. I have even had people tell me that they know they have no reason to fear Muslim and Middle Eastern people, yet they still do. Recently, more and more Muslims are voicing their concerns over constantly being “randomly selected” at the airport for baggage and personal searches. There have also been many incidences where Muslims dressed in traditional garments such as turbans, hijabs and other headscarves have been removed from their flights because their presence on the plane made other passengers and employees uncomfortable. We cannot continue to treat people in such a dehumanizing manner, it is unjust and un-American.

The only way to combat these subconscious fears and actions is to be aware of them. Now that you know many people experience implicit bias, you will be more aware of when you do it as well. When you believe you are making a decision or judgement based on an implicit bias, reassess the situation and take more time to consider your thoughts. Once you become aware of these thoughts, you will realize how often they occur and will begin to think more openly. This is necessary for everyone to do, as plenty of Muslim and Middle Eastern people are being horribly stereotyped by people who may not even be fully aware of what they're doing.

Now, what made things worse surrounding the Chattanooga attacks was that this attack happened during the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, which is one of five Pillars — or main rituals and holidays — of Islam. During this month-long holiday, Snapchat featured a geofilter for it. If you are unfamiliar with Snapchat’s geofilters, they are illustrations that you can add to your pictures on Snapchat during certain time periods and events. I was horrified when I saw people on Snapchat and other social media outlets referring to Ramadan as a “terrorist holiday” and completely disrespecting it. For those who do not know, Ramadan is a holiday celebrating Allah revealing the Quran to the prophet Muhammad. Adult Muslims who are physically able to, are supposed to fast from dawn till dusk during Ramadan and are supposed to refrain from sinful actions, such as fighting and cursing. This holiday has nothing to do with terrorism. If anything, this holiday condones peacefulness. The fact that people were attacking Ramadan, a completely peaceful and unrelated holiday after the shooting was shocking and uncalled for. As a whole, Americans need to consciously attempt to be more open minded and more accepting of beliefs and ideas different to our norm, as long as they are not harmful to us or another group.