I don't think it was any better decades ago tbf. I'm just saying that it's a tricky thing, because it's not like what you were told was a flat lie against common knowledge, it was only part of the truth about something you(I assume) didn't know much about. Even what I said should come with the understanding that it's not the full truth, but simply a part of what I know on the subject. There were plenty of Muslim rulers that never followed those tax rules and even would put the Jews and Christians in a place where it was convert or die/leave.
Everyone doesn't want the same tax as that would mean the Jew and Christians paying more yet weren't in control. They could continue to practice their faith, but were taxed less than the Muslims. Unless you are arguing from a Muslim's perspective of it being unfair to Muslims it's pretty fair(as long as the ruler followed it).
I guess if you look at the history places like Spain were controlled by Christians and they didn't suddenly leave the place once Muslims took over so laws were there to deal with that. Beyond that they do carry a special place with Muslims since they have books and the Quran mentions the original ones.
