Newsflash, Tina Fey: Muslim is the New Black!
Wed Mar 12, 2008 at 05:54:53 PM PDT
The mudslinging has reached the level of flagrant Islamophobia. In the past few months, I have seen my faith reduced to a smear tactic. I witnessed political pundits attempt to capitalize on the public's misconceptions about Islam and Muslims to delegitimize another candidate. The RNC and McCain repeatedly apologized over some "disparaging remarks" made by their supporters, primarily regarding the usage of the name Hussein, Obama's middle name. An analyst on MSNBC's Hardball even said, "Unfortunately, his middle name is Hussein," as if there is something inherently tragic or wrong with having a Semitic name. A rather alarmist Rep. King of Iowa recently said that if Obama is elected, al-Qaida would be dancing in the streets.
We are witnessing the rejection of anything from or perceived to be from the broader Islamic world—independent of religiosity. The most prominent indication of this rejection is the photo of Obama clad in what some viewed as "terrorist gear." In a BBC Somali interview, the gentlemen photographed with the senator expressed guilt, saying if he had known the photo could potentially compromise Obama's candidacy, he would never have made the request to dress him in the hidda iyo dhaqan, the Somali term for the popular garb worn by Christians, Jews, and Muslims across the Horn of Africa. The garb is an integral part of the culture of East Africans and it has been reduced to an iconic endorsement of terrorism. The premise is that Muslims are bad and Somalis are mostly Muslims; therefore, a photo of Obama with a Somali in an "African costume" implies that he is a "terrorist sympathizer" by association. I fail to see how this equation translates, but this absurd idea appeals to core of Islamophobia.
The underlining assumptions entertain an inseparableness between Muslim, religious fundamentalism and terror. Muslims have become racialized, dehumanized, and reduced to a slew of stereotypes. Our very existence is characterized with the following qualities: violence, hypersexuality, anti-modernity—elements of discontent. The overwhelming response to the false Obama-Muslim link has been to deny the claim, not to question the roots of this bias or it's context and reverberations in our society. Recent discussions fail to represent the diversity of "the other," effectively implies that Muslims have no right to function or play a meaningful role as candidates in the political process, and completely disregards the six million American-Muslims who are stakeholders and constituents of this country.
It's perhaps impossible for some to comprehend the extent to which post-9/11 backlash has fueled changes in policies, often providing a legal mandate to profile, as well as a shift in rhetoric and the ways in which we discuss "the other." It is now acceptable to insult Muslims in media discourses, academic circles or in polite forums. The tone in which we discuss religious minorities, refugees, and immigrants have paved way for heightened levels of xenophobia. And instead of challenging such sentiment, mass media echoes and engages with this racism in the midst of a contested race.
Muslim is the new black. The label instills foolish fears and promotes intolerance toward Muslims. Polls conducted by the Washington Post/ABC News and the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) after the infamous caricatures debate convey that anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise. According to the first poll, more Americans express that Muslims in disproportional numbers are prone to violence. Forty-six percent of Americans have negative views toward Islam, a number that is higher than those directly after 9/11. The CAIR poll revealed that almost half of Americans have negative views of Muslims, and a fourth of the population is said to have extreme anti-Muslim views. A recent Pew survey concludes that only 43% of Americans have a favorable impression of Muslims, compared to the 60% favorable opinion of evangelicals and 76% favorable view of Jews. Americans by and large are afraid of Muslims and continue to harbor misconceptions about this marginalized group. And now, in a crucial campaign season, a candidate's credibility is being eroded by a false link to a religion scarred by post-9/11 backlash.
Throughout the process of the 2008 elections, the sensitivities of the Muslim community remain widely unacknowledged. This is the test of our time. How Americans view and interact with Muslims is a reflection where our society is with respect to human rights and civil liberties. I hope Islamophobia and religious McCarthyism will not be our legacy.
This dairy will be crossposted on EngageMN.com.
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