The motif of cultural division
Tamim's mistreatment began before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. His mistreatment was subtle before then, and afterward it was more open and explicit, but even beforehand, he had the sense that there were still many, many Americans among the public who felt that he mattered less because he wasn't a white Christian American. This cultural division occurs as a motif whenever a person has the opportunity to celebrate his heritage, but doesn't because of their prejudice.
The archetype of terror
The Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on New York City are an archetypal moment in history, because everything since then refers back to those moments, at least for those who were alive to remember those events. Many people are still carrying anti-Muslim paranoias and fears, and there is still much xenophobia in America, but Tamim is right—by letting our cultural ideas be shaped by terrorism, we end up mistreating each other, and our lives are filled with fear and prejudice.
The symbolism of the email's success
The email's success represents the fact that Tamim is successful in his hero's mission. The mission was always simple: He felt misunderstood and mistreated, and without a way to take care of those emotions, he crafted a plan to help his culture adjust for his mistreatment. By plainly explaining his point of view in an email, he was able to quickly persuade his readers, and the readers passed it along to make it viral. This represents the fact that his voice was persuasive and his opinion was infectious. He was successful simply by expressing his point of view.
The motif of blended support
When Tamim's email goes viral, it hits mainstream attention. That means that it isn't just Muslims who support Tamim, but also the cultural majority of Christian Americans. In other words, his criticism of the culture was heeded, because people agreed enough with his opinion to pass his email along. In those days, a viral email was as close to social media virality as possible—his decision to express his experience yielded support from every part of his society, Christians and Muslims alike.
The motif of corrected perception
Many of the aspects of Tamim's opinion boil down to this simple idea: Our first response is often incorrect, so people should be suspicious of their beliefs and decisions, especially if they feel scared. When humans are scared, their judgment is not as clear and focused as normal, so Tamim's story is a reminder on multiple fronts to constantly be re-examining our beliefs. When Tamim is treated poorly by racists, his opinion is that their perceptions about race should be cleansed or corrected. How? He feels that people should empathize with Muslims as valuable members of society.
