My Reflection on Rinkeby , Segregation and I Post

After I wrote a blog post about my trip to Rinkeby titled with Rinkeby, Segregation and I, tens of comments; mainly of hate, poured on me like I have never experienced before. I was called lots of bad names but mainly I was called racist! My post had small readership till it was published on www.Avpixlat.info (who published it without my permission) and then it had thousands of people reading it. I think it became a controversial topic but I honestly think I was misunderstood/misinterpreted.

When I initially wrote the post I just wrote it based on my own fresh eyes to Stockholm but I later found out lots of information about Rinkeby and segregation in Stockholm from friends. One of my friends, journalist Shora Esmailian wrote to me, "It is very good and important to illustrate the segregation in Sweden and I do think that you did it with a good heart. But you did it with no historical view- Why did Rinkeby get so segregated would be the first question to ask!" She pointed out so many important points that I had no idea about.

When I blogged about Rinkeby, my mere intention was just to share my thoughts and experience in the short visit i did to the area. I never ever meant to be racist or Islam-phobic. I'm myself Muslim and have an African origin in my blood; how on earth I could pick on my own religion and racial roots!!! If the social segregation topic in Sweden is a very sensitive one, it's totally not my fault. I think Sweden and Swedes have to deal with it gracefully and stop picking on who writes about it.