On March 11, KCBD News Channel 11 in Lubbock made a Facebook post announcing that a haboob was approaching the city. The post was responded with an uproar from enraged Texans who were offended by the use of the word “haboob,” rather than “sandstorm.”

One of the many irate comments read, “Since when do we need to apply a Muslim vocabulary to a good ole American dirt storm? I take great offense to such terminology! Go back to calling them dirt storms!”

Luckily, this clamor did not go unacknowledged, as fellow Texans responded and fought back with responses such as, “You realize your racist comments made are going viral and brought down Lubbock as a whole? You people are really just intolerant and racist.”

With that being said, the uproar on the KCBD Facebook wall reflected poorly on not only the lone star state but America.

Feeling insulted by a term used more frequently in other parts of our world makes one appear uncultured.

It’s especially inconsiderate to those of Arab ethnicity. The controversy of this issue lies in the fact that they are in a sense inciting ignorance and hatred by giving a negative connotation to an entire race of people associated with the terms origin. Publicly claiming this sort of belief does nothing to unite our world.

We are a very proud country, as we should be, but sometimes we let this pride get the best of us. We believe we are so superior to other parts of the world to the extent that we are offended by the integration of any other country’s culture.

However, what some Americans don’t realize is that many common terms used today are not of American origin as other countries have heavily influenced the English language. For instance, the word “hamburger”, the food our country is famous for, originated from the German city Hamburg. Yet no one feels insulted every time they hear the word “hamburger.”

This wrongly-justified controversy is so common that there is even a word for it itself.

Some Americans such as those in Lubbock who felt insulted by the use of the common term “haboob” experience what is called “islamophobia.” Islamophobia is defined as “prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of Muslims or of ethnic groups perceived to be Muslim.”

The root of this fear stems from previous terrorist attacks experienced in this country like 9/11. In addition to these events, political controversies regarding the United States government and the Middle East have only made matters worse.

We should realize that an act of terror provoked by one group of individuals should not speak for or define an entire region of our world — or an entire ethnic group for that matter.

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