For as long as I can remember I have always been bombarded by images, stories, articles, and videos, coming from every direction, that describe to me what a person from the Middle East is like, how they dress, who they worship, and how they act. This single story that I knew for so long, and Americans typically know, is represented by my collection of artifacts that can be seen on my blog. And this single story about the people who come from the Middle East is one that focuses on the hatred, passion and oppression because of the violent nature of the religion of Islam.
This blog post displays different artifacts that show how the Middle Eastern Muslim is presented through the media in our everyday lives which gives us the single story that we have about this group of people. It is hoped that it can be seen from these artifacts that the Middle Eastern man or woman that we often think of is not correct and that there is much more about this culture that we do not see from the media.
This blog post displays different artifacts that show how the Middle Eastern Muslim is presented through the media in our everyday lives which gives us the single story that we have about this group of people. It is hoped that it can be seen from these artifacts that the Middle Eastern man or woman that we often think of is not correct and that there is much more about this culture that we do not see from the media.
Artifact #1: The first artifact is a blog with articles and pictures that promote equality and rights for women in the middle east. A picture of one of the articles from the blog is included, along with the URL of the site. This blog portrays a view that all women of the Middle East are oppressed and have no rights of their own, which makes it our responsibility to help them. There is also so much coverage and media
surrounding the treatment and rights of women of the region and how oppressed
they are. These messages and pictures full of women wearing veils or long head
dresses convey a message that women are second-class, are not appreciated, and
that the men of the region reign like tyrants over their wives and other women
in their family. Because we see so often through the media and other
representations of the Middle East that so many of the people in the Middle
East are seen as second-class we begin to feel that the culture of the Middle
East is less than desirable because of all the prejudices that we believe
exists in that region. It is a sad message and one that makes us Americans sick
at the thought of such ill-treatment and also gives us a desire to go into the
Middle East and fix these injustices. The single story of the Middle East not
only focuses on the negative feelings toward America, but also the negative
feelings toward women.
Artifact #2: This artifact is a cartoon showing the perceived violent-nature of Middle-Eastern Muslims. This cartoon comes from an online article on the hostile and volatile relationship between the Middle East and America. This artifact works in conjunction with artifact #3 to show how the media often portrays the people from this area as an aggressive and dangerous people. Because the predominate religion across
the Middle East is Islam and many of the anti-American feeling and
ill-treatment of women are blamed on the precepts of this religion, another
aspect of the single story of Middle Easterners is that they are all Islamic
terrorists, willing to defend their God, Allah, when He is threatened. The
artifacts of Muslims expressing their devotion to Allah in song, art, and
lifestyle and then also the actions of the true extremists of the religion
threatening to defend Allah at all costs portrays a specific part of the single
story of this culture. It seems to me that Americans have been trained, through
this single story, to worry and fear any follower of the Islamic faith because
of these negative media messages. It is hard for some people to understand that
some Muslims would be peaceful, non-threatening, and understanding of all
people because of the single story of the people of the Middle East that
exists.
Artifact #4: A picture of an Anti-American mural in Iran which is typical of many of the images that we see from the Middle East is artifact #4. These pictures make us feel hated and threatened and bring about a feeling of wanting to defend ourselves against this hatred. There are many representations, including artifacts #5 and #6, that show a negative feeling towards America that is felt throughout the whole region of the Middle East. This feeling is shown through articles, cartoons, and news reports that we receive here in America. This is something that causes us Americans to feel defensive and eager to stand our ground. We, as a country, do not appreciate it when other countries, peoples, or regions single us out and attack us, similar to what happened with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. It makes sense that we would feel anger towards whoever attacked us, but at the same time so many messages or opinions are received here in America that condemns the whole region of the Middle East, every person who is somewhat affiliated with the region, or anyone who follows the religion of Islam
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism
Artifact #5: Artifact #5 is a news report form ABC news on Anti-Americanism in the Middle East. These reports, like so many others portray a region that is so filled with anger and willingness to defend themselves against a country that is seen as the enemy of their God.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCgwbxvsR0c
Artifact #6: A recent News Article from America is artifact #6. An excerpt of the article is shown below. This article displays the disgust from some of our political leaders on having Middle Eastern people in our country at all. As different political leaders show their disdain for this group of people because of their view on the single story of the Middle East, many of their followers will also buy into the single story.
Source: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/gabriela_saucedo_mercer_middle_easterners.php
The
overall single story of this group of people is far from appealing and fails to
encompass the dynamic culture that comes from that part of the world and is
based largely on the beautiful religion of Islam. The story that so many
Americans hear says that the people are hostile, oppressive, hateful, vengeful,
and unfair. No one is tolerated except for those who are the norm, devote
followers of Allah. This is a sad story and one that determines the treatment
of many people who live here in America, because many Middle Eastern immigrants
or Americans with lineage from the Middle East are not accepted and condemned.
I have personally witnessed the hatred and prejudice that many Middle
Easterners receive here in America because of this single story and the lack of
true understanding from Americans and it pains me that so many people are hated
because of the lack of understanding of this culture. If we could see more than
one story of this group of people we could see the faith and love of the people
of this culture.
As teachers we will have students who come
from the Middle East or who are viewed to be from this area because of their
skin and because of this are subject to this single story. These students could
be mistreated and subject to ridicule by their classmates who do not understand
their culture. It is important that we help our students understand the beauty
of the Middle Eastern culture and what we could learn from their culture. But
in order for us to do that, to truly help our students understand, we must
first understand the broader culture of the Middle East outside of the single
story. It is vital that teachers examine the single stories that are portrayed
in the media so that we can look past those stories and dig deeper into the
culture and lives of different ethnic and religious groups so that we can treat
our students fairly and also help our students overcome those prejudices. If we
want our students to be accepting and understanding of all, we must first be
accepting and understanding of all.
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