Riz Ahmed on Islamophobia: ‘Its super scary to be Muslim in America'

British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed, one of the few Muslim faces in Hollywood, has used his pedestal to bring to light to the discrimination and hostility the marginalized group faces on an international scale.

The 36-year-old 'Venom' actor during Creative Artists Agency Amplify leadership summit spoke about the surge of Islamophobia and the Muslim representation in Hollywood.

“(Hasan Minhaj) can win a Peabody, I can win an Emmy, Ibtihaj Muhammad can go to the Olympics, but some of these obstacles are systemic and we can’t really face them alone, we need your help,” he said.

“I’m basically here to ask for your help, because it’s really scary to be a Muslim right now. Super scary. I’ve often wondered, is this going to be the year when they round us up, if this is going to be the year they put Trump’s registry into action. If this is going to be the year they ship us all off,” he added.

“How I do what I do is because like all of you here, I’m a code-switcher. We all know how to change the way we talk, the way we dress, the way we walk as we enter one room or another. We all know how to navigate terrain that isn’t of our own making. That’s how I can do it, but that’s not why I do what I do. The why is because I don’t want to have to code-switch anymore,” he continued.

‘The Night Of’ actor had last month narrated an incident of racism experienced by his brother Kamran Ahmed on his trip to Australia.