Orientalism and the All American Muslim

Watching the video on Orientalism made me think back to one time when I watched an episode of “All American Muslim”. It is a documentary style show on TLC that focuses on the lives of Muslim immigrant families. The episode I watched took place around September 11^th and highlighted how these families remembered and thought of the day. It brought up a lot of discussion between the families about how they constantly feel the need to apologize for their faith or remind people that they are not terrorists because they suffer from a stereotype influenced by Muslim extremists. Just wearing a hijab, which we discussed as something that can be empowering to a Muslim woman’s faith, is also a dead giveaway that she is a Muslim and therefore can be associated with a terrorist. I wish I could tell the people on the show to watch the video on Orientalism, and they would realize that the illusion people have about Muslims doesn’t just come from September 11^th, but from a long history of stereotyping the Middle East as a mysterious or dangerous place.

I grew up in a suburb of Chicago that is very diverse and home to many Muslim immigrant families. I befriended a girl who is Americanized like me in every way except for one: she comes from a Muslim family and was born in Palestine. I remember once asking for clarification of where her family was from saying, “Where were you born again? Pakistan?” She wasn’t mad, but she was very firm in correcting me that she was from PALESTINE. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I now realize why she was so firm with me. As Americans we are taught the differences between France, Germany and Britain, but we learn little about the differences between Middle Eastern countries. The media often lump together situations from this part of the world and label them all as “a Middle Eastern terrorist act”. It’s easy to see why the people on “All American Muslim” feel so misunderstood. And it’s a shame that one part of the world encompassing multiple countries with years of different religions, histories, and cultures all get lumped together in such a negative way.

Christine A.