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Arab stereotypes on the rise

TN (a new MMW guest contributor!)
camel desert This link is a collection of movie clips put together to demonstrate how Arabs have been depicted as mindless killers in Hollywood. Many of us don’t even realize it when it happens, but these images that we receive throughout our lives brainwash us to one extent or another in how we perceive Arabs. This brainwashing starts from the time we are children (you will see clips of Bugs Bunny and the Muppet Show in the video) and lasts throughout our lives.

Ayah Bdeir mentions in this article:

Discriminatory images of Arabs appeared around the same time as those of other groups. Cartoons such as Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936), Popeye and Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves (1937), Porky Pig in Ali Baba Bound (1940), and others all portrayed Arabs as criminals, illiterates, or both. […] but it is worth mentioning that the depictions have a correlation with Arab-American relations and with the coverage of the Arab world in other media.

I can remember as a child watching the cartoon ‘Popeye’ and its portrayal of Arabs bowing down and saying: “salamee, salamee, balonee” in mockery (I realize now) of the Muslim prayer.

I can also remember talking to an uncle just before the first Iraq war in 1991 when he told me, expressing his concern for American troops that “The Arabs love war! They get bored when there is no war”.

This from a man that could not point out Iraq on a map much less anything about Arabs or Arab culture. But of course he ‘knew’ that “Arabs love war.” More after the jump…

During that time, Bushwick Bill of the “Geto Boys”, had a song, that had a (somewhat) anti-war message and expressed an Anti-Arab sentiment called “F*ck a war”

Ya’ll lucky that I ain’t the President
Cause I’ll push the f*ckin’ button and get it over wit
F*ck all that waitin’ and procrastinatin’
And all that damn negotiatin’
Flyin’ back and fourth overseas
And havin’ lunch and brunch with the motherf*ckin’ enemy

I’ll aim one missle at Iraq
And blow that little piece off sh*t off the map

While there were many racist portrayals in the media and cartoons of many minorities (Bucktoothed Asians with bottle glasses, “Mammy”, “Speedy Gonzales”, and Daffy Duck, who was originally drawn to lampoon blacks) they moved away from all the negative imaging…except with Arabs.

Ayah Bdeir continues:

Because these images of exoticism and barbarism are so rooted in people’s minds, they were perhaps not perceived as stereotypical. If in fact, the West’s view of the East, expressed and influenced by the Occident-Orient relationship, is based on these stereotypes; it would be understandable that censors did not deem the images censorable. This would explain why the above mentioned cartoons were kept in circulation at a time where other racist cartoons were being scrutinized, edited and banned.

So, if we are all in agreement that the Arabs are all illiterate desert dwellers that live to kill, why make any corrections? Further, not only are Arabs the only ‘race’ (’Arab’ is a social construction) that it is fully allowable to be blatantly racist against, but in the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11, much of the negative reaction to Arabs was, in my opinion, rooted in these deeply engrained media images that we receive growing up and throughout our lives.

How do I know? Because in the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing, some Arabs and Muslims were assaulted before it was revealed that it was Timothy McVeigh that bombed the building. Some even now insist that Arabs/Muslims must have had something to do with the OKC Bombings.

Then to top it all off, those who write anything to point it out are often painted as “terrorist apologists”. So, in light of 9/11, who wants to defend Arabs?

Trackbacks & Pings

Friday Links, On Saturday 16/09/06 « Paragraphs of Thought on 16 Sep 2006 at 5:34 pm

[…] Mixed Media Watch this a collection of movie clips put together to demonstrate how Arabs have been depicted as mindless killers in Hollywood. Many of us don’t even realize it when it happens, but these images that we receive throughout our lives brainwash us to one extent or another in how we perceive Arabs… […]

Comments

KXB wrote:

Uh - “Arab” is not a social construction, no matter how many times you repeat it as a mantra. First, it is a language. A general definition can be than an Arab is one who’s native language is Arabic. Pretty simple. Religion complicates matters - most Arabs are Muslim, but most Arab-Americans are Christian (hailing from Lebanon and Syria), but their majority in America is dwindling, due to greater immigration of Arab Muslims - though their number is lower than South Asian Muslim immigration. There used to be sizable Christian populations in Arab countries - indeed, many of the most prominent Palestinian leaders after the creation of Israel were Christian. But as Islam has taken on a greater prominence in the political life of Arab countries, Arab Christians find themselves under suspicion. It’s gotten so bad in Iraq, that there are fewer Christians there now than when Saddam was in power.

The problem with Islam is that it is a religion that is too closely identified with the Arabic culture of Mohammed. Arabs make up roughly one-fifth of the world’s Muslims, yet Arab mores predominate. Thus, you have the absurd site of women in Malaysia and Indonesia wearing chadors and burkas, which are not indigenous to the region. In parts of Hyderabad or Lucknow in India, you see the same thing. They pray in a language they do not speak or understand. If Islam is too thrive, and reflect the diversity of its followers, it needs to become less Arab.

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 11:07 am ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:

KXB:

“Arab” IS a social construction in the sense that it is NOT a race.

There are Arabs that are blonde with blue eyes and there are Arabs that are black with black hair and everything in between. It is only the language that ties them all as “Arab”

On Islam, you are conflating two things: The language that the Qur’an was revealed and Arabic culture.

With the original sources of Islam being in Arabic, IF ONE WANTS TO BE A SCHOLAR, then he should learn Arabic. As in Judaism one should learn Hebrew.

As for culture, I can assure you that the cultural style of dress for women (and men for that matter) is different in places like Indonesia and Malaysia, than say Saudi Arabia or UAE

A Malaysian woman, a Saudi woman and a Pakistani woman may all wear a hijab, but all three can be different cultural styles and be within Islam. However, a person typical will call ALL THREE styles “Arab”

The Qur’an is in Arabic…But Islam is NOT Arab

Are there extremists who feel that we should live as Arabs live? Yes. But this is not all Muslims nor is it Islam

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 12:24 pm ¶
KXB wrote:

Tariq:

I’m not suggesting that there is no diversity among Arabs or within Islam – in my post I explicitly wrote that Islam needs to acknowledge its diversity, not smother it with an Arab identity. While there is some degree of acceptance of this diversity within the US, it is not true of Islam globally. Adoption of Arabic dress is just one example. Changing names upon conversion is another. A couple of years ago, I attended a wedding between a Bengali Hindu woman and Bengali Muslim man – before they got married, she had to adopt a Muslim name for her family to use. Prior to that, I knew a Hindu guy who married a Muslim woman – she was not required to change anything about herself. In South Asia, Muslim families like to claim Arab ancestry, believing it is better than what was really the case, that ones ancestors converted into Islam.

Another instance of where Arab interests are dominant in the Muslim world is politics. We are told that the world’s Muslims are upset that the Palestinians do not have their own country. This is probably true – but there are other non-Arab Muslim populations that have various grievances, ranging from countries such as India, Thailand, China, and the Philippines. Yet, you do not see Arabs care about their Muslim brethren across the globe. Arab nations responded poorly to the tsunami which devastated Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim nation. Similarly, South Asian Muslims that toil on worksites throughout the Middle East are treated like crap, despite being members of the ummah. That they are not Arab is more important that they are Muslim.

And, with the increase of air travel, this means more Muslims can perform the hajj. One unintended side effect is that once they return from Mecca, many then try to change their own countries to reflect life there. After all, if that is the land of Mohammed, then if you want to be a good Muslim, you should make your country reflect that. Saudi Arabia certainly believes that, which is why it funds mosques and schools throughout the world.

Arabs may want to showcase their own diversity – they just won’t allow it for other Muslims.

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 1:54 pm ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:

KXB:

Yes, there are a lot of cultural misunderstandings. Changing one’s name is NOT a requirement. David Chapelle is a Muslim. He did not change his name. Some Muslims think that becoming Muslim is like getting “made” by the mafia

On the Palestinian issue, you DEFINITELY have a point and I talk and write about this all the time.

I do not intend to say that Arabs are devoid of problems, but there HAS been a misrepresentation of them in the media that has dehumanized them (and Muslims in general) in an unfair manner

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 3:41 pm ¶
Shama wrote:

KXB:

Your response shows exactly how convoluted this whole issue is. The article above does not talk about Islam but talks about stereotyping of Arabs in the media, yet you saw fit to talk about Muslims in general. I am Pakistani and before I started wearing hijab I was racially ambiguous and often people thought that I was Latina or Caucasian. However, after I donned the hijab people automatically assumed that I was Arab. I have two biracial boys, with no Arab blood but I guess they are “Arab” too.

The problem with stereotypical Arab cartoons and other negative media images is that it is damaging to all Muslims because often when people see these images, they see ALL Muslims as such because of the tendency to see these two groups as one in the same.

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 4:36 pm ¶
KXB wrote:

Shama,

The reason people assumed you were Arab after donning a head scarf is quite simple - because a head scarf is associated with Arabic culture, not Pakistani. Slowly, it is becoming a pan-Islamic article of clothing, even though it’s most likely origin is in the Caucauses - many Eastern Orthodox women also wear headgear similar to head scarves.

In Pakistan, head scarves were rare prior to Zia’s Islamization drive in the 1980s, in an attempt to placate Islamist parties that would otherwise object to hid dictatorship.

If an Arab woman wore a salwaar kameez, wouldn’t people assume she was South Asian?

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 4:50 pm ¶
Merq wrote:

Thanks for putting up Planet of the Arabs. I saw it a year or two ago, while putting together my web-doc on race, and contacted Planet’s creator, Jacqueline Salloum for an interview. Unfortunately, not only did she not respond, but I weighed the scope of an all-encompassing analysis of racial representation with my 3-month deadline and decided to focus on one group for the time being.

However, I’m definitely planning on expanding the project, and hope Ms. Salloum will respond then.

(So yeah, I’m not going to join the preceding argument, as I don’t have the strength right now.)

Posted 13 Sep 2006 at 7:14 pm ¶
Umar Lee wrote:

KXB one of the reasosn you see Chrsitina migration from palces like Palestine is that they wre the upper-class and as the econmoy has progressively gotten worse they have becomon economic refugees to the West. In Iraq the situation has detroiated due to the rise of religous extmsim after the US invasion and occupation.

KXB if you mean by hijab a specficic style worn by Arab Muslim women that is becoming Pan-islamic that is one thing; but you can look at drwings from the 1800’s and see that in almsot every Muslim country, the vast majorty of Muslim women were covered.

Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 10:36 am ¶
Umar Lee wrote:

BTW, I normally type my comments and then cut and paste them into word for a spell check but this site didnt let me, or even let me go back and check them myself, thats a bad feature.

Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 10:37 am ¶
KXB wrote:

Umar:

That is faulty reasoning - you say the women in drawings from Muslim countries the 1800’s shows them covered. Yes - in the drawings, they are covered. That does not tell me about their clothing in real life. If I look at a drawing of life in China from the 1800s, and all I see are rickshaw pullers, that does not mean all Chinese were rickshaw pullers. The drawings you cite present the viewpoint of that artist, which is helpful, but cannot be relied upon for historical accuracy.

You cite Christians fleeing Arab lands as their economic fortunes dip, but you only use Palestine. In Lebanon, prior to Israeli bombing, you had years of economic growth, but no comparable growth in the percentage of the Christian population. In Egypt, the economy has gone up and down for the past 2 decades, but the Christian population has gone steadily down. Economics is not to sole reason - an inhospitable environment fostered by the majority culture also plays a role.

Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 12:14 pm ¶
Tariq Nelson wrote:

KXB:

I actually agree with much of what you are saying, but do you see how you are conflating what you are saying about Arab/non-Arab treatment in the Muslim world with the issue of Arab/Muslim portrayal in the media?

Even though much of that is true (I have traveled to Arab lands and know what you speak of) this does not mean that it is ok to say that “all Arabs stink” or call for all Arabs/Muslims to be wiped out. I think you would agree that if a person said such a thing about blacks, Latinos or Asians, that they would be put on the fringes and not allowed to come on mainstream television shows for interviews as an ‘expert’ on those people.

These are separate issues. Many in the blogishere, would have you think that all Arabs/Muslims are violent medievalists. It’s just not true.

Just a note on dwindling numbers of Arab Christians in Lebanon and other places: Arab Christians tend to have less children as well.

Posted 17 Sep 2006 at 7:44 am ¶