On a wet and windy day, during her junior year at high school as Najma Khan was holed up in the library, a photo flashed on her phone.
It showed a beheading by Islamic State militants along with a caption in red letters: “Go back to your own country.” Najma reported the incident but the school never tracked down the person who sent it.
It was not the first time she had been the focus of hatred, the 19-year-old who is my niece’s best friend said, with unshed tears at the corners of her eyes as she narrated similar incidents, sitting next to her parents in their Santa Monica home. I noticed that a copy of the Quran was prominently displayed on a bookstand on the mantelpiece.
