I/V w/ Iqra Khan on Islamophobic hate speech: March 20, 2019

Iqra Khan is also a member of the Executive team in the South East Asian Law Students Association. Iqra reached out to Sherry specifically to talk about calling out hate speech. When Sherry asked why she specifically chose this topic, you can hear Sherry's shock when Iqra said she was one of the Muslim sisters who were racially abused at Mount Albert train station just days after the Christchurch terrorist shooting. She and her sister were very shaken after a drunk man approached them and started yelling abuse at them. Iqra told the Herald that her sister and her considered not wearing their headscarves in public, and wanted to yell back but was afraid of triggering him given the events in Christchurch. Today, Iqra spoke of the legislative changes she wants to see in protecting minorities from hate speech, and on education about diversity in schools.  Both Iqra and Haya believe Hate speech directly contributes to acts of extreme violence in Christchurch. They also messaged just before the show to add that there are parallels with the Islamophobic memes we see today to caricatures of Jewish people before the Holocaust in they way they dehumanise people and reinforce harmful ideologies. Iqra says ”Hate speech contributes to dehumanisation, and ends with our murder being only reported in a number.”