In chapter one Salaita describes America's view of the world as good vs. evil, with Arabs always being portrayed as "evil" and Americans always portrayed as "good." What do you think about this? Has the shift from the Bush administration to the Obama administration reconciled any of Salaita's concerns? Be sure to use evidence from the book and outside sources to support your responses. Feel free to locate web links for outside sources (such as online newspapers, journals, news stations) to support your argument. One such article for discussion can be found at:http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/gen.bush.terrorism/. Please note the date--five days after September 11th.
We've also looked at numerous political cartoons like this one below:
and this one:
Although, all of these were published before the Obama Presidency. I'm curious to hear your views on this!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Do-gooders and Evil-doers
Posted by Mr. P at 10:01 AM
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57 comments:
I agree with the fact that Salaita said the Americans are protrayed as "good", while Arabs are protrayed as"evil".In my opinion, to the U.S has protrayed others that Americans are the innocent ones and didn't cause the conflict between Iraq, and America has protrayed Arabs as savages who wants to destroy America and take over.Salatia mentioned in chapter 1,that the Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay mentioned the word "evil" as least twenty times in speech discussing Arabs,while Salatia also mentioned that President Bush on 9/11 referred to the attack as good verus evil, the good are the Americans, while the evil were labeled as terriots also known as Arabs.Far as Obama's adminstration,there haven't been as much conflict with Iraq and America, like it was with the Bush's adminstration,but Salatia's concerns about the discrimaitaion of Arabs by America hasn't been at ease.Salatia also mentioned in chapter 1,that liberal anti-Arab racism is rampant in the U.S, bascially racism of Arab is still around and is more than likely to increase, due the conflict between America and Iraq.Obama has made a major shift from Bush's adminstration due to the fact the article on CNN'S website said that Bush spent his weekend setting up the war with foreign leaders and as a president he should have tried to settle the conflict and made peace before the conflict got out of hand, but he didn't. Obama's purpose is different from Bush due to the fact Obama wants to actually solve problems and help America, while Bush did opposite.As the first cartoon just represents Jimmy Carter with the Hammas which is a terriost political party, basically the purpose of this cartoon is to show why Hammas can't get a chance.The second photo represents a Hammas family that are about to risk their lives.The father has four lives to give which is his family, not his own life.For the war families are losing their lives and the Hammas have to make hard sacrifices.
Honestly, I believe Arabs were, and still are, always portrayed as evil, even before September 11th. Look at the cartoon Popeye. Popeye, a good old White American Sailor, was the hero, and Bluto, a huge Arab man with a scruffy beard, was the villain. However, Bluto was rarely referred to by his name, but he would often be dubbed as a generic thug, carnival hypnotist, sheik, lecherous instructor, etc, subliminally filling children’s minds with the idea all Arab men were like Bluto. Keep in mind, this cartoon came out on December 12, 1919 as a comic strip and later became a cartoon in the 1930’s, decades before 9/11. Also, as I watch many action movies recently, I still can’t help but notice that the evil guys that the American’s are always trying to destroy happen to be Arab.
With that said, I agree with Mr. Salaita. Many Americans, not all, have this wrong view of Arabs, majorly due to the media’s constant portrayal of them as “barbaric, violent, bloodthirsty terrorist.” The American media is doing to the Arabs what they’ve done with blacks, Mexicans, and many other minorities before them: They’re grouping them, labeling them all as one thing, and slowly turning and brainwashing the American people into believing that all of these people are like this! Unfortunately, Arabs got stuck with the word terrorist.
Has the shift from the Bush administration to the Obama administration reconciled any of Salaita's concerns? No, not really. As Bush said 5-day’s after September 11th, “My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers.” Thus we went into the War. Now, Obama is trying to pull the troops of Iraq, but I feel that the damage has been done. Once a race of people get a label stuck on them, it’s practically impossible to get it removed. The Arabs have gotten the terrorist tag stuck on their foreheads, and sad to say but in this American society, they may always be terrorist.
I agree with Salaita when he says that Arabs are the evil ones and Americans are the good ones. I say this because today mostly everyone agrees that us Americans are the ones that are evil and also bad. The Arabs are the ones who want to come to the U.S. to destroy it and make it their own home. While as the americans are the innocent ones. In chapter 1 it states that the Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay gave a short speech whwere he used the word evil nearly twenty times to describe the Arab world. So what do that tells us that the Araba are the bad ones while us americana re th ones that are trying to keep peace in our native land. They state that in the battle of good vs. evil, evil is the winning. They say Arabs are evil, not some, not minority, but all. As they describe that all americans are good, not some, not a majority, but all.
Salatia's fews on America seeing Arabs as evil and America as good is a very good and true point. It is 100 percent wrong to sterotype all Arabs as evil because of terriost attacks on the U.S, but because of the attack on America we feel the need to label Arabs as evil, murders and savages. This is ok because America seems to look at itself as the in charge country and then not worrying about anyone else. Salaita states "Speaking of enemies- eniemies being anybody who might prove impediment to the United States' appetite for foreign resources- as evil is fundamentally a part of the American vocabulary,..." Since some Arabs committed the attack on the United States they are now considered enemies and since they are enemies they are evil, all are evil. Which this statement is racist toward Arabs. Why should all Arabs be considered terrorist, even the once who where born in the United States. Past incidents are being especially used against Arabs along with 9/11 attacks "The Same evil that terriorized past generations with Holocaust and the Gulag terriorized us with the 9/11 attacks," Why is it that white surpremacist aren't treated as the Arabs are treated, why arent people trying to excile them out of the United States? They have killed just as many people and it goes back to the slavery days. Since Obama has been in office it seems as if he is trying to repair any anit arab racism in America. By having sit downs with presidents in the middle east. President Bush certainly encoaraged the racism with Arabs, "As President Buh said on 9/11, in this war on terror we now wage- this war, make no mistake, of good versus evil- we will not distinguish between the terrorists and those nations who help and harbor them." He is clearly supporting the whole good versus evil, Arab versus America thing, which is so racist!
I do agree with Salaita’s belief that Americans are portrayed as good and other minorities, mostly Arabs, are portrayed as, evil because of the Bush administration. Whenever you turn on the news, Arabs are always seen as terrorist or evil people. In the book there is mention of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. America has depicted Palestinians as “evil” killers, on the other hand the Israelis are softer spoken or “good”, which is all an American perspective. I do believe Salaita’s beliefs were reconciled simply because what President Bush said six days after September 11th. In his speech bush said “evil-doers” were attacking our country. I believe that Bush’s purpose was to just give his racial beliefs and views on Arabs. Now that President Obama is in office he is trying to make peace and not judgments about Arabs.
I believe and will always believe, that here in America, Arabs are portrayed as evil, horrible people. I agree with the Salaita because the Americans are viewed as the innocent ones trying to make peace with everyone. I agree with Count Olaf, from years ago they have always portrayed Arabs, especially Arab men, as evil thieves that want to hurt everyone else; Its so sad how people think of Arabs. The media takes what they think Arab are like and begin to change the views of people all over the world.
In Chapter 1, the first sentence, states that a year after 9/11, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a column by John O’Sullivan assessing all the post 9/11 discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans, (30). People begin to assume that the word “Arab” and “terrorist” is the same thing, also stated by Salaita (34), ever since 9/11 and even before that time.
Also revealed in Chapter 1, the former House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, stated the word “evil” about twenty times while talking about Arab World (41).
DeLay also says, “As President Bush said on 9/11, in this war on terror we now wage – this war, make no mistake, of good versus evil – we will not distinguish between the terrorists and those nations who help and harbor them” (41). The Bush administration made matters even worse. As DeLay stated, President Bush believe that the war was good versus evil, Americans being the “good” and the Arabs being the “evil.” In the CNN article, Bush is stating that ALL the “evil-doers” (The Arabs) did the 9/11 terrorist attack. He assumed that the whole nation of Arabs were considered terrorist, which is completely wrong.
I believe that the shift from the Bush administration to the Obama administration has reconciled some of Salaita’s concerns, but not completely. Obama is trying harder to make peace with the Arabs and Muslims, then the way Bush did. He is also trying to get our troops out of Iraq, while Bush was trying to push them in. However, I agree once again with Count Olaf, once a society labels another society, that label is stuck there almost forever. Lets hope that the Obama administration will begin to change that label and make peace with the Arabs and Muslims around the world.
I agree with Salaita, when he discusses how Americans are portrayed as good and Arabs as evil. In any situation concerning Americans, they are taught to be the heroes and good, in school history books. In order to make things that America does justifiable, the Arab people are portrayed as being evil. Throughout chapter one, Salaita constantly brings up how the Arab people are considered terrorist and how young Americans are raced to fear them. This fear is then said to cause discrimination and racism toward the group. It is also brought up that many people believe America is right in all of its actions toward the Arab people and that Americas actions shouldn’t be considered racist. The CNN article is a clear example of how America believes that it is good and that anyone that is not American can be seen as evil and that good has the right to eliminate evil by any means necessary. Things have changed from the concerning the shift from the Bush administration to the Obama administration but I do not believe the shift has reconciled any of his concerns just yet because Obama's presidency has just started and nothing has really been done concerning the issues that Salaita brings up, yet. I do believe that some of his concerns will be reconciled in the future though. The cartoons shown illustrate how Arab Americans are portrayed in America: people who use bombs to commit terrorist acts, even if their children’s lives are at stake. The cartoons portray Arabs as inferior and as terrorist. The cartoons are an example of Ant-Arab racism.
I agree with Salaita that Americans are portrayed as good and Arabs are portrayed as evil. Not only Arabs, but any other racial minority in the United States. I believe that the way that schools in the United States teach students history that is not correct and also that sometimes makes others look “bad” and “evil”, but yet Americans are seen as heroes. I feel that Arabs have always been portrayed as evil but after 9/11 more attention was brought to this race because of the terrorist attacks. In Chapter 1 Tom Delay used the word evil more than twenty times in order to describe Arabs, which we can see that Arabs are portrayed as bad. Also in the CNN article it is apparent that Arabs are portrayed bad, we can see that even by the title. Bush states, “…rid the world of the evil-doers." We see that the “evil-doers” are the Arabs, and the good are the Americans. As the shift from Bush to Obama, is very different. Bush planned out the war and reacted a way that he should have not, and Obama wants to make a change. Obama is acting completely different than the way that Bush would. Therefore I agree wit Salaita that Americans are portrayed as good and Arabs, along with any other racial minority, are portrayed as evil and bad.
I agree with the author because Americans will always be viewed “good” compared, not only to Arabs, but to other ethnicities or countries. Arabs have been targeted as “the bad enemy” since the event of 9/11. One of the things that really caught my attention was when Salaita states “Arabs are evil. Not the majority of Arabs. Not some Arabs. Not a minority of Arabs. All Arabs are evil, including the elderly, the infants, and the incapacitated. Americans, though, are good. Not a minority of Americans. Not some Americans. Not the majority of Americans. All Americans are good, including the White supremacists, backwoods militias, and corporate embezzlers. This is what all American children learn,” (39). I find this very interesting because it is true, kids will always see all people as good, careless of the bad actions they make. A year since Obama got elected, Arabs are not very targeted as “bad people”, nowadays, I see African Americans being more discriminated since we have an African American president now. Obama has yet three years to go, and I do have some feeling that he will fix some mistakes Bush did in the previous years.
In my opinion, I feel that Americans VIEW Arabs as "Evil". In my opinion, Arabs aren't evil, I feel that their actions are just different than those of Americans. In a way,I feel that maybe the way view Arabs are probably the same way Arabs view Americans. Arabs probably feel that Americans are also "Evil Doers" and that there reasons for waging war against them are irrelevant. Under the Bush administration, he labeled Arabs as evil people that were agaisnt the good. In his reports during 9/11, he express deeply that the Arab race was and should be considered as a "EVIL" and harmful nation. He truely despised this nation and all of their actions. Under Obama and his administration, he strays away from labeling the nation as good or evil. His focus is only to remove the soliders that are in war with the Arab nation. No reports have officially been written criticizing Arabs under the Obama administration. In the cartoons that were displayed in class,we saw that Obama was holding hands in between a Hamas soldier as well as Great Britian's Prime Minister. This shows that Obama's focus was to bring unity between the two countries and not to label anyone as "GOOD" or as "EVIL".
Salita proves a valid point about how Arab people are treated. Arabs are often forgot about, it seems like their problems aren't as important as others. In my opinion Obama's staff doesn't feel the same Bush. Bush was all for the war in Iraq, while Obama seems to feel that the whole war is useless. The U.S. portrayed themselves as doing well by getting rid of "evil"(Arab) by going through with the war. Years later we're still putting lives in danger over a bunch of nonsense.
I agree with Salaita because since Arabs are such a small minority their views aren’t talked about as much as an American so I completely understand why they feel this way. If Arabs don’t have a loud enough voice which they don’t because there are so few they wont be heard as much as the White, Black, or Hispanic populations. So I just went to the Chicago Tribune to find an article and I searched "Arab" and the majority of the articles also included something about terrorists. So I also feel since the media focuses a lot of it's attention on how Arabs are connected to terrorism many people take this and generalize this for the entire group. Also, I feel like Obama has worked with this issue to some extent but hasn’t exactly directly focused or talked about this issue. His broader idea is just trying to keep the peace between countries. Here is an article talking about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize and the reactions around the world http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-tc-nw-obama-world-reax-1009-oct10,0,5793662.story. Here is an exert "The Arab world greeted Obama's Nobel Peace Prize with praise for his efforts at reaching out to Muslims but also with frustration that the president's eloquence and charisma have not forced dramatic change on the ground." So he is trying but it is not all there yet and I don’t expect it to be all there yet for some time.
I think it is true that because of 9/11 America has put a brand on Arab-Americans as "evil-doers". I think that though this brand is true it is unfair that all Arab-Americans are punished for an act the only one group committed. “In the commercial, the picture of the Arab appears when the word terrorism is spoken, which not only implies that all Arabs are terrorist, but also that terrorism exists exclusively in the Arab World (as opposed to say, the White House, where Bush is responsible for most unwarranted civilian deaths than Osama bin Laden)” (Salaita, 34). In this quote Salaita displays an example of the subtle racism that was displayed after 9/11, even though President Bush was responsible for civilian lives than Osama bin Laden. With the change in administration in the United States government some changes have been made my President Obama like the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-05-20-obamagitmo_N.htm
I feel as if Americans are a little worst than Arabs. Reason being is because look at President Bush; he was one of the worst presidents in history because of what he put this country through, he tells people to go back to work the following Monday (1)??!!!! Attorney General John Ashcroft infamously declared, “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you,” (40). So it’s evil to die for your faith and it’s ok to die for a country that doesn’t care for you? This doesn’t make sense how the Americans treat the Arabs; it’s just as bad as blaming all Arabs for an attack only 3-5 men committed. Also, Americans are a little worst than Arabs because of all the Americans that are causing the violence in different areas of the U.S. I feel as if President Obama is trying his best to reconcile with the “Arab World”. I feel this way because he’s trying his best overseas and President Bush called them “evil-doers”. What type of President makes a country turn their backs on others when only a couple did wrong?!
(1)- www.cnn.com
In relation to the view of Arabs being "evil" and Americans being "good" i feel like the Obama administration has done nothing to reconcile this image. I feel that as long as the War on Terrorism is still happening, the peoples are going to view Arabs as "evil doers". In chapter one, the Majority House Leader, Tom Delay, mentioned the word "evil" roughly twenty times when referring to Arabs; even Bush referred to the attacks on 9/11 as a notion of good vs. evil. I feel like Obama however, is doing a better job at reconciling than Bush did. Obama is actually going to the Middle East to help solve America's issues, where in my opinion, Bush made more problems than he solved. I also feel like Arabs were made out to be the bad guy way before September 11th, but 9/11 just increased the hatred spwaned by culture, color, and creedance.
I feel that people should not view Arabs as bad and American’s as good. Just because the terrorists were Arabs, don’t mean that every single Arab will grow up to be a terrorist. I hate when people classify all Arabs as a bad person and be prejudice to an Arab person. I think that now that Obama is in office, Arab nations and America will settle thing rite and more peaceful. All Bush wanted to do was get rid of Arabs and terrorist by any means. He really didn’t want to hear what there reasoning was and that all Arabs are not bad. As Colin Powell said, “"You either respond and rip them up, help us rip them up, get rid of them, or you will suffer consequences," he said.”. Treating them this was will not solve anything, it just will make thing worse then they are. So I think that both Americans and Arabs should be considered equally good and bad.
I agree with Salaita when he says that Americans are portrayed as the good ones and the Arabs are protrayed as the evil ones. This can not only be seen with Arabs but with other groups that arent considered americans. After September 11th Arabs have been impated the most, and been cosidered evil even more.There has definately been a change on views that followed the change of the administration. There arent as many problems it is safe to say that Obama is trying to do the best he can to address all of these concerns and fix as much as he can.
latasha S
In my opinion i feel that people do look at Americans one way and Arabs another, which happens to be badly. I don't actually think that it's right, because no one should judge or be judged on what someone else did espically based on the race. No one can help the actions that another person took. I think that Obama will reconcile some of his concerns because he wants to be for the people, and that doesn't include specific races or anything. He wants to knid of friend with arabs and let them know that he dosen't really feel total anger at all Arabs because of the 9/11 incident. Also i think that Obama is handling the situation more correctly,Bush Claims to have talked on a phone for a weekend and ect. but it takes more, also he was a "leader" and he should have acted the part.
I agree with Salaita when he said that Americans are seen as good people, but on the flip side i dont agree with that he said Arabs are bad people. The reason i feel this way is because all Arabs are not good, but by the same token all of them are not evil. Okay they may have been the cause of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. But we only believe this because that is what our government alleged the Arab people of doing and we accepted it.
In my opinion i think that the views of Arabs have changed since the Bush Admin. left and the Obama Admin. came into power. I said that because, when Bush was in office, all he had to say was things like war on terrorism and getting rid of al Queada.
But with Obama, he wants to drift American out of this idea of war on terrorism and try to canvince the world of viewing Arabs like any other civilized race.
But for real thought i do be kind of scared when i see an Arab person on the same plane as me.
I agree with Salaita statement that Americans portray THEMSELVES as good and Arabs as bad. Many times, especially since 9/11, America plays the victim role;like they have done no harm to any one. 9/11 has sparked much of the present Arab and Arab American racism. Though the terrorists responsible for 9/11 were Arabs, it is not fair to associate all Arabs with terrorism,evil plots, etc. I think the shift to Obama's administration is slowly shifting our nation from discriminating and pre judging Arabs. Obama's plan to bring peace to Pakistan and Israel is the first step to that process. Maybe then Arabs won't hate America so much and we will see that all Arabs aren't out to get us.
I agree that Arabs are portrayed as "bad" because they are, and have been even before 9/11. If anything the Bush administration should be seen as the bad people. Bush started a war that has gone on for way too long and it probably should never have happened. This has led to even more Americans believing that Arabs are "bad" people. The Obama administration is trying to fix what Bush ruined, but it will happen slowly over a long period of time. Unfortunately for now, the majority of Arab people will be seen as terrorists/bad people.
I agree with Salaita of Arabs been seen as evil and Americans as bad. The Arabs have been put a name of terrorists and that's how they are seen. Americans are seen as the good people that try to stop evil from entering the U.S. As it's mentioned on chapter 1, White supremacist and that's what kids are learning in school. The stereotype of Arabs is not going to be taken away from people's minds. Americans are seen as good. Religion is being brought up to this belief. They said that god wants to protect everyone from evil, and that's what the U.S is trying to do. Americans are seen like the one's that aren't responsible for the war that was caused, it was all the Arab's fault. Now, Arabs are seen as vengeful people and that want to attack. After Obamas's election, this portrayal of Arabs had reduced a little bit/ The truth is that it's still going to continue because people have not forgotten about the attack on September 11. Bush wanting to stop terrorism was no success. There is still going to be conflict with the Arabs because now people have the tropical ideology of them being terrorist and being evil.
I agree that Arabs have been portrayed as evil and especially after 9/11. Americans assumed that all Arabs were evil just as Salaita states " Arabs are evil. Not the majority of Arabs. Not some Arabs. Not a minority of Arabs. All Arabs are evil, including the elderly, the infants, and the incapacitated"
(39). I understand there was a concern for the country's safety but it is wrong and unfair to treat all Arabs as if they are criminals or terrorists. I also agree that Americans have been portrayed as "good" but not all Americans are, just as all Arabs are not evil. Descriminating against Arabs shows that all Americans are not good contradicting the statement that Americans are good. With Obama in office I believe he has great ideas and hope to help Salaita's concern, but we must also remember that he has still a few years and change will no occur over night.
I agree i noting that Americans are portrayed as "good" and Arabs are portrayed as "bad". In the Bush administration, Arabs were always considered as "evil" and that they were the only ones in this situation who was doing wrong. Just as Salaita said it the first chapter about how Bush refered to the attack on 9/11 as good versus evil. As we have moved on to have a new President, Obama, we can now see a transformation in the presidental view. Though we do have a new President, Salaita still feels that the fear for Arabs is still present and will most likely increase in the future.
I completely agree with Steven Salaita, "All Arabs are evil....All Americans are good." This is what people of American teach each other and learn from the media. I feel that when a president of America makes a comment such as, "We will rid the world of the evil-doers," and a leader of Former House Majority makes a statement like, "The same evil that terrorized past generations with the Holocaust and the Gulag terrorized us with the 9/11 attacks," American citizens are forced to this stereotypes that all Arabs are evil. Its not fair to Arabs that all of them are forced to pay for what a hand full of Arabs did. However, America has made it their job and top propriety to single the Arabs out in a negative way. They are "evil" because the media has manipulated citizens to believe so, being backed up by people who are suppose to obtain authority. It is true that Arabs may have been seen as "strange, dirty, greedy, or myth believers," before 9/11. Meaning that there was racial discrimination against them, but after 9/11 those terms made a turn to become more abstract and direct. Arabs had become, "evil, killers, and vicious animals." In my opinion America is at fault for calling a race "evil" and reacting on it and referring to themselves has "good." That is twisted; how can you be "good" when you are emotionally attacking a race to make them "evil?" Its impossible!!! As far as the switch from Bush administration to Obama's administration i feel that the switch is a positive one. Instead of Bush trying to provoke a war and attack the Arab World, Obama is trying to ease that war and conflict. Bush caused the issue and Obama is trying to undo the damage that Bush created. Following the awarding of the Noble Peace Prize to Obama, according to the Chicago Tribune, "The Arab world greeted Obama's Nobel Peace Prize with praise for his efforts at reaching out to Muslims but also with frustration that the president's eloquence and charisma have not forced dramatic change on the ground." This prove that the Obama administration is reaching a success level with connecting with Arabs.
I agree with Salaita about Arabs always being portrayed as evil and Americans as good. I say this because as there is a lot of proof for this. We see it all the time in cartoons like the ones shown above, and in news like Fox News (mentioned by Salaita in the book). Its also very obvious in the speeches made politicians. One of the examples given was the one with Tom Delay, where he repeatedly related evil with the Arab world for a good twenty amount of times. Additionally, like Salaita mentions in the book, Arabs are described as people who burn, murder, destroy and are easily inflamed. The Arabs are shown as evil terrorist who want to kill Americans, and the Americans are shown as good people trying to make peace. As far as I have seen on different media, racism against Arabs has stayed the same. It just happens that during the Bush years, the racism was bigger and more out in the open, even Bush himself supported those stereotypes when he made the speech about this nations security after the 9/11 attack. Therefore, the 9/11 attack really brought a lot of hatred towards the Arabs, but as time went on, people slowly started to let go slightly on some of those feelings, and lowered their portrayal of Arabs as mean. Now that Obama is president, the racism hasn’t changed, and kids are growing up to think that Americans are good, and Arabs are evil.
**Mr. Pond I had to create a new password and username because I didn't have the right pssword.**I like the fact that Salaita is bringing up the fact that we have Arabs have been portrayed as "evil". Bush has had lots of security and people looking out for terrorists. He is trying to tap into phone lines all because of one person who tried to destroy parts of America, this is very unneccessay and also unfair to the Arabs. In the first picture I don't like how they have the Jews looking evil with the guns and masks like they are bad people.
Okay. So, I would have to agree with Salaita on this one about the Americans being "good," but I also disagree with the generalization of saying that Arabs are "evil." Despite what anyone has to say, whether it's media, news, etc., why do people people that Arabs are evil? Arabs often are portrayed as killers/terrorists/unwanted/naiive. But they are not. For example, if one Arab guy kills an American, then all Arabs will be thought of as evil. If an American guy were to kill an American, what makes that situation any different? nothing.
In Chapter 1 it says, "A student at Baltimore's Boys' Latin School, Ridwan Yaseen Tomhe, delivered a senior speech in which he claimed, "The word 'Arab' to some people is synonymous with the word 'terrorist,' implying that all Arabs are terrorists.""
I agree with Tomhe, that is exactly what people think of Arabs. Also, like in the clip we watched "30 days" when people were asked the question, "What comes to mind when you hear the word 'Arab,' 'Islam,' or 'Muslim'? All of the people responded by saying, "terrorists," "killers," etc. all bad responses. Could it be 9/11? Could it be the media's affect on people's own thoughts about Arabs? Could it be Bush's negativity and extreme hatred for the Arab people? I believe that all people's thoughts about Arabs should be witnessed rather than thought or heard about. People's thought about what an Arab is should be individual and not just, "Oh, because my friend told me." or "The news said this." or "9/11 is all there is to say."
None of these answers would should that you've ever actually seen or met an actual Arab person in flesh. Not in movies and not on the news. In person.
I agree with Salaita because in the 1st chapter, he always showed clear evidence of how Arabs were noticed by only being evil people, and that Americans were good-hearted good-doers.
The shift from the Bush administration to the Obama admistration has not eased his feeling about the Arab racism present in todays society. He feels that all Arabians are being placed in a category as terrorist, and that terrorism is the goal for all Arabians. He displays this clearly in chapter one. He also recieved data of going against text books who bash Arab people. He feels that even though there has been a change in office, much has not been to the American's racist mindset.
This is Zoë (Mya)
I also agree with Salaita. I think America has the tenancy to have this weird obsession with labels. I do not understand how you can label a group of people bad because of a few misguided people. After 9/11 America has definitely been hasty towards Arabs, Muslims, and Arab Americans. I completely understand that they were upset, but that does not justify the mistreatment and judgment of people. As a few of my classmates stated, In chapter one of the book Tom D. made a reference to Arabs as being evil. Tom D is a Republican(Clearly lol) I just think people can be very insensitive towards others. There are all types of "evil" and "bad" people in the world.
I do agree with Salaita in the fact that Americans are portrayed as "good" and Arabs are portrayed as "evil". However, I feel like not only Arabs are portrayed as evil, but all minorities in general. The media has a lot to do with this. In movies, newspapers, etc. the media always seems to target minorities. No I feel like the shift from Bush administration to the Obama administration does not reconcile any of Salaita's concerns. Although Bush claims to, "rid the world of the evil-doers," Obama is not helping the Arabs either. Obama has put,"The peace process on hold, due to his inability to get the hardline cabinet in Israel to cease settlements in the Palestinian territories, or to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip." However, there has not been as much conflict between the Arab world and the United States. Bush's administration as well as Bush have targeted Arabs ever since the 9/11 incident. I believe that Obama being elected as president gave the Arab world a sense of hope. However, Obama is not fulfilling the promises that were made to the Arabs. And even though he has not fulfilled these promises he still obtained the Nobel Peace Prize.
Bush refers to Arabs as "barbaric," however, the 9/11 incident is not a reason to say that all Arabs are barbaric. The statement "You either respond and rip them up, help us rip them up, get rid of them, or you will suffer consequences," that was said by Bush. Is just unbelievable it makes us realize how much racism and targeting against minorities still occurs today. The political cartoons that we have examined in class helps realize how much Arabs are targeted more after the 9/11 incident. Overall hopefully Obama does do things that will change Arabs lives in a positive way. And will help political cartoons like the man with the Hamas bandage on his forehead, and his family covered with explosives not occur."Many Arabs are skeptical. Some say that it was too early to grant Obama a Nobel, arguing that apart from words, he has not yet helped make the Arab world a better or safer place."
Citation: http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KJ14Ak01.html
I do agree with Salaita because many Americans have the tendencies to label non-american or even Americans. Some Americans believe that people from other countries(such as Arabs) come to the country to try and ruin their opportunities although they are really trying to have the opportunity to live a better life. In the book Salaita tells his story about how he was sensitive about his brown skin, and as people were taught more about exceptionalism in America they began to turn the fascination of his brown skin into hate. This is because Americans push onto other Americans what should be accepted into American, and after 9/11 many Americans believe that Arabs are terrorist and cannot be trusted.
Although I do agree with Salaita that Americans are portrayed as good and Arabs as evil I don't think it's all thanks to the Bush administration. The news is partly responsible because Arabs are portrayed as terrorist, you rarely hear about a terrorist of a different nationality. In the book, Salaita mentiona the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Americans (the smarter ones at least) have depicted Palestinians as the bad guys, and the Israelis are the good guys. In the speech that Bush gave, he said “evil-doers” were attacking our country. Now a statement like that is used to generalize a group of people and I think he did a good job of just pointing out Arabs. With that speech all Bush did was increase fear of Arabs and promote ignorance. President Obama is now trying his best to help erase what Bush had promoted.
I believe that Salaita is partially right when saying good vs evil. In the country we live in, everything that goes against us is considered bad or in this case "evil". Arabs or only considered evil because they go against the United States and have tried to terrorize the U.S. Americans are only considered good because in most cases we are the good guys who try to make things right. The problem with Salaita saying that Arabs are evil and that Americans are good, is that each nationality consist of both. Americans are considered evil because even though we dont want war and to be terrorized, we provoke it by being too far into other countries business. That is what the Bush administration did, because they got too far into other countries business in the Middle-East, that a war was started and the economy has ended up in the place it is now. Arab can be considered good because besides the terrorists, who want bad things to happen, they are actually just like every other nationality. Most Arabs dont want war because America has troops over ther in their countries killing their families, but there is nothing they can do because the political leaders over there are making bad decisions. In the article posted 5 days after 9/11, Bush continues to say evil-doers because of they tragedy that had just occured. Yes a lot of Arabs are terrorists, but it is inaccurate to say that they are all evil-doers. As for the switch to the Obama administration from the Bush administration, it has really made things better because there has not been as many problems with Arabs and if there were the Obama administration is actually trying to solve them.
I have to admit that I too agree with Salaita. Honestly I think it’s totally unfair. Due to a few bad people, an entire race must face discrimination, mistreatment and prejudice from the American society. Americans fail to realize that it’s not there job to solve every problem, or find a resolution to anything they come across or disagree with for. For example in the CNN article, Bush states, "My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers". Who said that the Government of one country can decide what’s right or wrong, or good or bad in an entire world? Bush's "Job" was to solve the problem, but Obama to a different approach, which was addressing it. I personally choose peace over war any day. Salaita states on page 34,"People begin to assume that the word “Arab” and “terrorist” is the same thing". Although it is stereotypical it is completely true. I believe this is the mind set that Obama is trying to lead his country out of. So yes they are making an effort of reconciling Salaita's concerns, but it hasn't quite taken effect. But if Obama's administration continues at this pace, the title that the U.S has gained will soon evaporate.
As with everyone else, I do agree with Salaita that Arabs are protrayed as "evil". Though, I don't believe all Americans are portrayed as good, but I do believe that they are portrayed better than others. Many people now, when they see an Arab, they think "Muslim", and "Terrorist". Which terrorist is a very bad thing, and people try to make Muslim bad as well. Even with me being a muslim, people sometimes ask me am I mixed with Arab, and I have to look at them and ask "Do I look Arab?". No offense to the Arabs in any way. So how Arabs are portrayed in just movies, shows, and on the radio can affect them simply. Just because the common Arab they want us to hear about are the bombers, which is automatically a "terrorist". However, Americans have their flaws too, and it is shown, maybe not as bad as other groups, but still shown. An example in the chapter of how this goes is when Salatia mentioned the 9/11 attack that President Bush referred to as good vs. evil, with the good being the Americans, while the evil were the Arabs. Basically, all America really does is to find that one thing on that certain group to down them. Such as a couple attacks from Arabs, they are now lowered to "Terrorists". While all Americans do is try to make themselves above all others, by using everything little thing they can.
I agree that americans are viewed as good and arabs as evil. Thats mostly because america always spin things to make it seem like we are the victims or trying to save someone from evil. In chapter one Salatia mentioned ex-president Bush's statement after 9/11 that it was a good versus evil attack, referring to the terriorist as good. But as i read some of the other students in the class comments i noticed that alot of people were instantly connnecting Arabs to terriorist. i don't think his concerns have been reconciled. Just because there has been a switch in adminastrations doesn't mean that the american people and government will not still look at Arabs as evil and themselves as good. Hopefully his concerns will be reconcilled with obama's adminastration in power but i doubt it will be anytime soon.
I agree that Arabs are portrayed as bad, and Americans are portrayed as good. Americans always put on this role that we are superior and don't do anything wrong but this is not the case. Arabs should not be considered terrorists because one group of people ruined and destroyed a nation but that shouldn't ruin the reputation for the rest. Americans always have to put the blame on other people and make them look bad. Since 9/11, Bush was for the war in Iraq, while Obama wants the troops to come home and thinks it was useless. Obama wants to solve foreign relations problems and make all cultures closer together, just like the cartoon in class when Obama was pictured with the Hamas and Prime Minister.
i don't agree that the Americans should be portrait as good and Arabs as evil. I mean somebody who is good and pure wouldn't start a war. He wouldn't sent thousands and thousands of soldiers to die for a lost casue. Isn't it evil to kill civilians that haven't done anything. The author even agress that its evil.
I agree with the statement that Salaita made about the Americans being portrayed as the "good," and the Arabs being portrayed as the "evil." In my opinion, Americans have been always portrayed as the good ones, being attacked and harmed by Arabs. Arabs have always been seen as the evil ones that are eager to destroy the Americans. But I do believe that we dont take in consideration what the Americans to do the Arabs. I also belive that the media is responsible for this, we never see in the news the actions that Americans take against the Arabs, but we are always reading about what the Arabs do to attack the Americans. Looking at the 9/11 attacks, not to long ago, President Bush referred to this as a battle. This battle needed to sides, the good given to the Americans and the bad given to the Arabs, Americans seen as heros and the martyr while Arabs were the "terrorists." In chapter 1, I remember reading about a place burning and the Arabs were the first that were blamed. This is due to the portrayal that the media has given the people about who the Arabs are.
I agree with Salaita's explanation of the world's view of the Arab race. She goes into much detail about the differences, and also possible reasons behind those who are racist.
There was one peart in the book when he said "...that is why I believe Israel's occupation is racist...". I didn't expect him to say a phrase so straightforward as he did. In the beginning of this book, Salaita was explaining true issues dealing with racism, reasons behind these issues, and possible ways of solving them. He spoke in an eloquent manner, carefully describing things and he either left his opinion out, or left it as a hidden message if you will. This quote from him really caught my attention, and it kind of took a little of my respect from him. He was judging them, something he hadn't done in the book yet, and I was just a little shocked.
Overall, I think his explanation of Americans believing they're "good" and Arabs as "evil" or their enemies, I think that was very much true.
First and foremost I agree with Salaita when he says that Americans are portrayed as the "good" and Arabs are the "bad". As a witness to this racism, I often encounter occasions where I would hear people around me saying things like "all you see running America is Arab people, they own all the businesses and corner stores" or "the government is allowing the Arabs to get our jobs". I find this statement nearly true in some cases but the reality isn't near racist to me. The fact that Arabs are eligible to own so many businesses is not racist, but it's because we as Americans simply do not want to get jobs. American people only seem to have a problem when they notice things in large amounts.Because they notice more Arab people being successful in America, they have a problem. On page 34 of chapter 1 Salaita mentions how "Arab-Americans students at local private schools say that after 9/11, strangers stared or made hurtful remarks when they were with their families because they spoke a foreign language, had an accent or dressed differently. The fact that Arabs were known as STRANGERS of being "evil" people is just stereotypical, but the quote is also a true statement. In my opinion I feel that one culture should become isolated in a world of many because of only a small fraction of their population. On page 41 of chapter 1 Salaita describes a speech given by Tom DeLay mentioning that DeLay mentions the word evil more than twenty times when he describes the Arab World. DeLay says "The same evil that terrorized opast generations with the Holocaust and the Gulag terrorized us with the 9/11 attacks"and"As President Bush said on 9/11, in this war on terror we now wage-this war, make no mistake, of good versus evil-we will not distinguish between the terrorist and those nations who help and harbor them". It amazes me the way people are able to catergorize another group of people because of a couple. In Tom DeLay's speech he mentions how the terrorist were "evil" and those within the nation or around the nation are the same. If this is true, are Arab infants "evil"? If so, how could they be? If Not, they are as innocent as any other Arab.
Well i think its somewhat reasonable for people to view Arabs as "evil" because of their lack of knowledge. To be honest, after the 911 attacks, I too viewed Arabs differently. I thought everytime I saw an Arab that they were somewhat responsible for the terrorists attacks. I'm no racist but I was most definitely uninformed. And I honestly think thats how most people who think the same as I did are. So i somewhat agree with Salaita but I most definitely disagree when they say American are "good." Even though Americans are portrayed as good I dont think they are. Ever since the beginning of this race and culture class I've become more informed about everyday things and I know know and believe that Americans are not "good." Not saying that everyone is bad but not everyone is super nice. There's tons of crime, racisim, killings, and much more. Because of thos things, I think that America is not even close to being considered good. Misconceptions are the reasons for these perspectives. For example, in chapter one Salatia mentions that Tom Delay the Former House Majority Leader refereed to Arabs as "evil" several times. I believe he felt somewhat comfortable doing this because of his misconception. It's easy for a person to take one feeling or view and apply it to everyone and that's exactly what Delay did. Its not an excuse but it's somewhat understandable. It's unfortunate tho that the perceptions can pass on from year to year. For example, because Bush put out this whole "good vs evil" thing thats the first thing Arabs will think about when they refer to America.Therfore, it's affecting the way that people, Arabs or not view Obama because he has to take on a country who have built themselves on this "good vs evil" tactic.The CNN reprt shows that Bush was basically predicting the war before it started, something that a president should not do in my opinion. A president should try its hardest to keep its country out of war but it seems like Bush was initiating it. Now Obama will have to pick up the pieces because of something that couldve been prevented if people actual thought before they spoke.
Well i think its somewhat reasonable for people to view Arabs as "evil" because of their lack of knowledge. To be honest, after the 911 attacks, I too viewed Arabs differently. I thought everytime I saw an Arab that they were somewhat responsible for the terrorists attacks. I'm no racist but I was most definitely uninformed. And I honestly think thats how most people who think the same as I did are. So i somewhat agree with Salaita but I most definitely disagree when they say American are "good." Even though Americans are portrayed as good I dont think they are. Ever since the beginning of this race and culture class I've become more informed about everyday things and I know know and believe that Americans are not "good." Not saying that everyone is bad but not everyone is super nice. There's tons of crime, racisim, killings, and much more. Because of thos things, I think that America is not even close to being considered good. Misconceptions are the reasons for these perspectives. For example, in chapter one Salatia mentions that Tom Delay the Former House Majority Leader refereed to Arabs as "evil" several times. I believe he felt somewhat comfortable doing this because of his misconception. It's easy for a person to take one feeling or view and apply it to everyone and that's exactly what Delay did. Its not an excuse but it's somewhat understandable. It's unfortunate tho that the perceptions can pass on from year to year. For example, because Bush put out this whole "good vs evil" thing thats the first thing Arabs will think about when they refer to America.Therfore, it's affecting the way that people, Arabs or not view Obama because he has to take on a country who have built themselves on this "good vs evil" tactic.The CNN reprt shows that Bush was basically predicting the war before it started, something that a president should not do in my opinion. A president should try its hardest to keep its country out of war but it seems like Bush was initiating it. Now Obama will have to pick up the pieces because of something that couldve been prevented if people actual thought before they spoke.
I do agree with Salaita's statements that America is potrayed as "good", and Arabs as "evil". On page 8 of the introduction, he refers to a bit of nationalism in America where whites and minorities unite to discriminate against Arabs. I don't know if this was his in intention, but that is what I infer from the text; I often hear blacks lash out against racism and discrimination, but on the other side of the coin blacks can be heard mispronouncing "Arab", and making fun of gas station owners. White people do this as well, but I bring up blacks because it says that Arabs are sort of a common enemy for all Americans, whether you are white or a minority. It stems from a lack of understanding of Arab culture, or their refusal to represent themselves in popular culture, that has led to ignorance among many Americans.
I agree with Salatia to a certain extend because there are those in America who disgree what the Bush administration has done and have and still are using political cartoons to say so. However they are the minority and on a general scale he is 100% right. The main focus on Arabs in the media during and after the Bush Administration was terrorist, monsters, evil and Americans ate it up. Salatia even talks about how Tom Delay Former House Majority Leader said "evil" at least twenty times in a discussing Arabs. The Obama administration is not the same however there is no conflict nor doess Obama want conflict with the Arab communities around the world. I do not believe that it is possible to put in end to those who create such ignorant and racist cartoons. In fact more of those people today use the cartoons to say that Obama himself is a terrorist. Such as the New Yorker coverr that depicted Barack and his wife as terroist planner to destory America. I think the focus has cahnged not the concept.
I would also have to agree with Salaita that arabs have been stamped the title Evil. After the events of 9/11, I must admit that I thought of the same thing because of the many news media outlets portraying them as such. Just because these few select men decided that the bast way to show American's that they meant business was to take these Boeing Jets and crash them into the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon now the world thought that all Arabs and the Arab World was up to no good. After these attacks many practicing muslims business were destroyed and some muslims were killed because of what others did.
Now that Americans have gone to war with the a small part of the muslim world, allies of the United States have said that they will help with this war on terror. In my view those men who crashed the jets into the WTC and the Pentagon are evil, NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE EVIL, that is what we must get through our thick skulls.
Well i do believe that Salaita said that Americans are "good" and Arabs are "evil" but i am unsure why exactly. In my opinion Salaita is racist. In the United states Americans areo believed to be saints, like they never do anything wrong. However Arabs are protrayed as being terrist, less fortunate, ingnorant, and Salaita whould put it "evil". Like in chapter one there was a comment made to the grandchild saying "Indians don't piss". It seemed as though the American thinks that Arabs aren't able to do the things that they do. As far as Obama and Bush, Bush seems to have the same perspective of Arabs as Salaita. I say this because out of all the countries to go to war with he chooses Iraq. Im not saying that there is not a reason for him making that decision, however, im pretty sure that other countries has done something drastic to our country that would bring us to war. As for Obama i dont beileve he has the same views as Bush and Salaita because he is putting the war to a end because he feels as though it was a pointless fight.
The cartoons that we viewed all had a little historical information that i was unaware of, so i really liked examining the editorial cartoons and finding out exciting information.
i agree with salaita saying that america protrays its as good and arabs evil. the switch from the bush administration to the obama administration, i think added to this. because during bush's presidency, he made it seem like when 9/11 happened all arabs were after mass killing of americans and that made the american people scared and through that propaganda american was easily pursuaded that all arabs were evil. but then when obama became presidency, more arab "terrorist" made their public debut of their plan just a few months into his presidency against the US. i dont think that these threats are to be put in action but sent out to america as a threat to end the war and let arabs be. through these threats arabs have been able to open americans eyes that none of whatever the reason for war is, is neccessary and that all arabs have no disire to be a "terrorist" except to protect their beliefs, coutries, and survival.
if anyone is evil it should be americans because what one country sees as protection against war, we see as a threat to our country with concern of power and not always safty. like when iran was testing missile, we thought it was missile to attack us because they can travel far, or when Russia built the first missile to outter space the NASA program was started and other technologies including math and sscience was sponsored and advance so that russia will not be more knowledgable than us and we wont ever get behind again on urban studies or issues.
i dont see arabs as "evil" or "good" nor do i see america as "evil" or "good." their both fighting for a useless cause and are creating or storing deadly weapons for what we believe is armageddon.
I do believe that since the incident with 9/11 Arabs are seen as evil people. They are portrayed as terrorist all over the world. Poor people are being stereotyped because of this whole past situation. Indeed since Bush's presidency he did nothing but put this country in a bad position. There was no need for a war but that war has brought us to large debt.I enjoy reading Salaita's book because it just tells us more about these Arab;s and what they go through being one of the minorities in the U.S.
Salaita has a logical excuse as to why he states that Americans are 'good' and arabs are 'bad.' America has brainwashed it's citizens to be ignorant, selfish, and self-centered human-beings. The war in Iraq was for our personal gain, at least that's what I think. No one really knows why America decided to start a battle with Iraq, some believe that we started it for oil, others say we did it because the person we were looking for was hiding there. In chapter one of the book Salaita explains O'Sullivan's article and how it affected post 9/11 arab and muslim people of the U.S.A. Due to articles like that the citizens of America have no other choice but to look negatively at people of Middle-Eastern descent. The two pictures we examined during class were simply portraying a stereotypical image of Middle-Eastern people. These images don't help the Arab-Americans at all, but that's the whole point when your racist against Arab-Americans.
I totally agree with Salaita's statement that Arabs are portrayed as evil, and AMericans are portrayed as good, because just by looking at the media there is pure evidence. And there has been many negative streotypes about Arabs.
Through out Salatia's talks about how the differnt groups, like liberal and consevatives are racist, and what types of racism they act like. What I think will improve racism as a whole is if Obaba realizes how much the government controls America. if he finds away to get more control of the government system, then he will ultamately be able to the media, and other factors that contibute to the negative associations of race.
Ok, so I definitely agree with Salaita when he says that Arab/Muslims are portrayed as evil. I think this especially happened after 9/11. Before 9/11 I don't remeber ever hearing about Arabs bring terrorist or dangerous. In the article that Mr. Pond links at the bottom of the blog Bush is basically saying that Arabs are dangerous, crazy, and are terrorist. Bush is saying that Arabs are the evil-doers. Also in Salaita's book, on page 33 that after 9/11 Arab/Muslims were not able to build mosques in New Jersey (other places as well) because the community was saying that terrorist would be praying in these Mosques. I feel that most traditional Arab/Muslims are seen as affiliated with terrorism. Also of course Americans are seen as do-gooders because the media and the government are showing the United States as the victim (like the U.S. is so innocent right?). Since the change to Obama's administration, I don't really think Arab/Muslims have a better image. I think they are still seen as evil. I think Obama will try to change the way people view Arab/Muslims but ultimately I feel Arabs will always be seen as dangerous.
If the government of any country wants their country to look as if they are the victim they will be sure to point out the good that they're doing and point out only the bad of the rival country. This is especially the case when it comes to the book that we are reading in class, "Anti-Arab Racism in the USA". America has constantly bashed or forced images of the Middle Eastern world as bad and savage like not only when it comes to their dealings with America, but also when it comes to the problems that their own country's government is giving them. Truly if America were to allies with the Palestinians instead of the Isralites , the view that the Palestinians are monsters, or "evil" as Salaita quotes the American politicians and journalist alike saying then the same would become the fate of the Iraelites. It will always be the same no matter which political party runs the white house with America's roots being so deep into being superior to other nations, event those who they consider allies, they will not settle for being the bad people in a conflict with another country. Obama though seems as if he are bringing out the more understanding people who din't want to be blinded by the sheild of one sided views of most Arabs both new and born in America. I recently read in the Mash, the high school student version of the Red Eye that Obama is making himself known too much as an ordinary person, which he is, he just doesn't hold position inn the most ordinary job. But the fact that he is trying his best to address even problems in the celebrity world and help Americans see that Arabs are indeed people too makes it evident that that he is trying his best to change the world by a few problems at a time.
I agree with what Salaita said about Americans being portrayed as good and ARABS AS EVIL. iN THE INTRODUCTION, he talks about how Whites and other minorities come together to go against Arabs. For example, The famous cartoon "Popeye, Popeye was American and he was also the hero while the dude with the beard was Arab and he was Popeye's villian.
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