The Face of Howard County

I don’t have much to offer you this morning except a glimpse of our community that I would rather not have encountered.

Here you see a social media post from the Howard County Heath department promoting mental health.

Mental Health Tip: Celebrate your successes! Even if you've accomplished something small, acknowledging the process you've made on a goal can boost your mood. For mental health support and tips, visit: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/health/behavioral-health .

The accompanying photo, probably a stock photo, is of a young Muslim woman wearing hijab.

The response to the post?

This is not the face of Howard County!

“Why?” I wonder. Because it is a young woman, or because she is asking for help to support her mental health? Is that why this is not the face of Howard County?

I doubt that.

In all likelihood this response is purely an objection to the choice of a Muslim woman in a social media post in Howard County, Maryland. A quick scan of this poster’s account suggests that they would object not only to her religion but would have made an assumption that she doesn’t belong, that she isn’t a “real American.”

It continues to floor me how many people in Howard County get uncomfortable if the people being centered on social media and in the community don’t look like them.

Oh, but this is just one person, you say. You are making a big deal over one local troll.

Friends, it is not just one person. There is far more of this out there than you might imagine. And attitudes like this make people - - the ones who are targeted as “other” - - less safe. Attitudes that paint all Muslims as terrorists, or all Black people as criminals. No wonder this hypothetical young woman needs mental health supports. She lives in a community where some feel free to label her as someone who doesn’t belong.

So, what is the face of Howard County? Who is the face of Howard County?

Who decides?

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