Vote for El Hottie - Snap Classic

Snap Judgment

In this powerful episode of Snap Judgment, comedian Yasmin El Hady recounts her experience as a Libyan-Egyptian Muslim teenager in rural Alabama during

Key takeaways

• Wearing a headscarf became a radical act of self-assertion in the face of post-9/11 Islamophobia.

Main topics

• Identity and belonging
• Post-9/11 Islamophobia

Notable quotes

"If I don't wear my headscarf proudly, who's going to talk for me?"

Conclusion

Yasmin El Hady's journey from a bullied outsider to a defiant student candidate reveals how

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:02) Snap Studios. Okay, so I'm going to break the first rule of book club, which of course is whatever happens in the book club stays in the book club. I'm going to do this to tell you that we, the members of my book club, have been members now for the majority of our adult lives. Before marriages, before children, before divorces. That's what makes it special. When reading books, it's but the tiniest portion of what this club is about. Almost an afterthought. First there's the food. The host really goes all out. The drinks, the overnight trips together, the histories, the break-off groups, the holidays. But all of it... All of it is just trappings for the big show. Because after the discussion of the book, we pick which book we're going to read next. One person, one vote. Get to advocate for your selection. Whoever garners the most votes, their book is chosen. Speaker 1 (1:23) a pure democracy. And here emerges the ever-evolving coalitions, the factions, the threats, the coercion, the favors and treachery. Speaker 1 (1:37) I will throw a thoughtful, readable selection into the voting pool only to be foiled by Amanda Brown Stevens, who will enter a lesser book into voting just to mess with me. Then, but then she advocates with such passion, such verve, such antagonistic glee. and hurtful personal invective that many times the gullible are swayed into choosing her suggestion instead of mine. Fine, Amanda. Amanda, I get that Tommy Orange's acclaimed new book is actually based in our neighborhood, Amanda, but that still doesn't mean anyone who picks a science fiction space opera is three kinds of stupid. How dare you? Surprise. Speaker 1 (2:33) The pride, honor, and distinction of having your book chosen. A life-changing event, to be sure. But what if you decide to enter an election for much higher stakes? In fact, in spite of the vitriol, the name-calling, the accusations, you determine the time is now for you to take a stand and run for president of your high school. Today on Snap Judgment, we proudly present Vote for El Hadi. My name is from Washington, and book clubs and high schools have a lot in common when you're listening to Snap Judgment. Yes, today's story takes us all the way back to cafeterias, lockers, homerooms, back to high school. Where there are the chosen ones, the cheerleaders and the jocks on whom the sun never sets. They're the ones just hanging on. And at the other end of the high school totem pole, there are the nerds. And one nerd snappers has a plan. Snap Judgment. Speaker 1 (4:15) I was born in Cairo in 1985. And my mom is Egyptian, but my dad isn't. My father is Libyan. And my father was in the Gaddafi regime. He saw how bad it was. And he morally abstained against that government. He sought asylum in Egypt. And he meets my mom. And she's super hot. They fell in love, and after a year, they got married. And they had my brother. And then they had me. Everything seemed to be fine. But the 1989 Lockerbie bombings changed everything. I was just four years old. Libyans became pariah. They became a problem that every country wanted to get rid of. Speaker 1 (5:06) So one night, my dad wakes me up in the middle of the night. He's like, we're going on a vacation. I'm like, where are we going? He's like, I'll meet you there. I'm like, what do you mean? We're not going together? He's like, yeah, yeah, we're going to go separate, but together, but separate. It's going to be fun. I'm like, what? He's like, yes, it's going to be a journey of a lifetime. My dad went to Germany. We ended up going to Jordan. We split up, and then we started country hopping. Morocco, Saudi Arabia, London, just trying to find a place to seek asylum, and everyone's like, no, no, can't have you here. So we ended up in JFK. We got asylum on the spot. And then my dad took us to a place where it made sense if you're Libyan and Egyptian. Alabama. Speaker 1 (5:52) Not realizing anything about Alabama. My dad is like the biggest hippie. He was like, there's lots of green mountain and lots of farm animal. Okay, let's go. Speaker 1 (6:07) Huntsville is a beautiful town. It sits between what they call the Green Mountains, which are the Appalachians, but they call them the Green Mountains in Alabama. It's got a valley. It's got lakes. It's got the Mississippi River running through it. It's a very calming, peaceful place. So I show up to school, and I am one of two Muslims in the entire school. This is a school of about... 500 kids at that time. It would feed into a very large high school of over 3,000 students. And I remember a young girl that was there who was the only other Muslim and her name was Asma, but they called her Asma. So then I immediately became Yasma. That's not my name. My name is Yasmin. You know, the Anglicized version of my name is Yasmin. But I just became her like, oh my God, there's Asma. And then there's her like ugly little sister Yasma. Look at them. They're so weird. Speaker 1 (7:04) So one of the reasons that I didn't exactly fit in in Alabama and people looked at me funny was because I wear a headscarf. Much to the chagrin of my mother and father, they did not want me to wear a headscarf. They were like, what are you doing? You're losing your entire childhood. I was eight years old. I viewed the headscarf and covering and modesty as beautiful. The people that I looked up to and wanted to be like and role model myself after all wore headscarves. Speaker 1 (7:34) And I was committed. Like, I never took it off. So there was a kid in school, and he was very popular. So much taller than everybody else. And he had a beautiful girlfriend. She was the captain of the cheerleading squad. This is in eighth grade. And this kid, I think, he thought it would be really funny if he, like, pinched my butt in front of people because I was kind of untouchable. But this was like, this was like red line. And so the minute he pinched me, I like flipped around very quickly and I slapped him full force with my entire hand. I had never even talked to him. And he was shocked. He immediately just like you could tell like jaw drop. It was not funny. No one laughed. And I just turned around and left him standing there in disbelief. Speaker 1 (8:28) So as I moved into high school, I think I was tough and people knew that I was tough. I had stood up to bullies. I'm totally content with being one of the geeks. I had been in Alabama at that point for almost six years. I was 15. So one day in high school, I'm sitting in our AP English class, and the principal came on the intercom. Please, teachers, stop your lessons. America's under attack. Please turn on your televisions. And so we go, what? Everyone turned it on to CNN. It was like billowing smoke that were coming from the buildings, the Twin Towers. I remember our teacher just like immediately bursting out into tears. Speaker 1 (9:11) And then, yeah, then I had that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I said, if this is not the end of the world, then, man, I hope that Muslims didn't do this. Please, God, don't make it Muslim. Don't make these people Muslim. So I get home that day, and my parents are both sitting at the kitchen table. They both have, like, a sad, sad look on their face. They're like, oh, today is a sad day, not just for the entire country, but for you in particular. Could you please just take off your headscarf? I'm like, what are you doing? Why are you saying this? He really asked me to take off my headscarf. He's like, yes, please. We're very serious. It's very dangerous. It was such a shattering for me because I'm 15 and I'm seeing the hero of my life. My father is the hero, the man who risked his life for what he believed in. And so he's very big about. Speaker 1 (10:08) coming to your own conclusions and being true to yourself. And for Muslims, we call that the fitrah, which is like the natural state that you were born in. The way I saw him was this person who did not compromise doing what was right. And it's why he stood up against Gaddafi. It's why he lost everything. And now he was telling me to go against my faith. And he's so vulnerable in this moment. He's saying things that I know he doesn't even believe in. It felt like such a deeply compromised moment for him. It broke my heart. I was like, I got to fix this. I don't like seeing my dad like this. This is unnatural. This is weird. So I was like, what are you talking about, dad? There's no way I'm going to take it off. Who's speaking up for Muslim women? If I don't wear my headscarf proudly, who's going to talk for me? Who's going to speak for me? Who's going to defend me? Speaker 1 (11:03) I was very adamant. It was like a light went on in his eyes. It was like a strange light went on for him. He was nodding his head. It was like I was saying something profound or remarkable and heavy. And he just looked off into the distance. You could see he went from feeling like I couldn't wear a headscarf or hold my own to being like, no, she is actually going to the top. And he was like, perfect. I knew you were my daughter. And that's when my mom cut in. And she's like, no, I raised her too. Not just you. You're not the only one. You weren't even here. He's like, yes, I was. How dare you? She's my daughter too. And they instantly go into this beast competition mode. And you see my dad, his head is just turning. And he's concocting something. He's like, no, no, she's my daughter. And she will run for president. Speaker 1 (12:00) And I go, Dad, there's a constitution. You know, I was born in Cairo. It won't work. He's like, of your class, you will run for president of your class. Yes. He's now signing me up for my class election. My mom was like, what are you doing? What are you saying? She's going to run for president. And I'm like, if I do this, then it's going to be social suicide. But I can't let my