Here is a story about an interesting experiment. A professor took a few of his students on a journey across the United States in order to better understand how people react to Muslims, members of the world’s second largest religious group.
“Muslim in America: A Voyage of Discovery”
A couple of things stand out from this story.
First, even in small towns the film crew dressed as Muslims were largely treated with detached respect or perhaps benign indifference. According to survey data, many people they encountered had negative thoughts about Muslims, but they didn’t seem to let on that they held antipathy toward them.
“Recent national polls find that four in ten Americans have an unfavorable view of Islam, five in ten believe Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and six in ten believe Islam is very different from their own religion. All this despite the fact that seven in ten admit they know very little about Islam. And yet Americans rank Muslims second only to atheists as a group that doesn’t share their vision of American society.”
Second, for as much as Islam is in the news these days, and has been in the news for the past eight years, people don’t seem to know much about the religion. Nobody should be surprised by this–and yet I continue to feel my head shake back and forth in wonderment. (Keep in mind that half of all Americans cannot name the U.S. Vice President at any one moment because, as one might imagine, it’s not an easy thing to keep track of between episodes of the Real World and American Idol…and searching out good deals at Wal*Mart.) Nevertheless, I’d like to think that people would put a modicum of attention into some basic elements of a religion that is followed by nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
So what do you think about both this project and how they were treated?
Click HERE to watch an interesting video of the crew visiting in Arab, Alabama.
This is the kind of reporting and experiments that I love to read about; people going undercover to try and find out what we don’t know about people in the United States. But I’m not talking about Tyra Banks going out in a fat suit and pretending to learn so much about herself and others. So when I saw that Akbar Ahmed had taken a group of college age students, people like me and my friends, and gone undercover as Muslims to see how people would perceive them, I was intrigued. The results they found were actually just as interesting. The part that I found the most interesting was what they found when the group went down into the Deep South, like into Arab, Alabama. These are the people are often thought to be ignorant and extremely racist, excluding those who are not like them (i.e. white). I have never been to the traditional “South” but I know of the stereotype of the “redneck”. I know this isn’t true of all people in the south; I guess this would be along the same lines as assuming all people of Middle Eastern descent are terrorists- weird. Anyway, in the video where they are sitting in the restaurant, none of the other patrons seemed like they were about to abuse the girl in Muslim garb, not even the guys in camouflage like they thought. That was extremely eye-opening. If the traditionally close-minded people of the south don’t even blink an eye, then what is really going on in America? Who really are these people in the polls judging Muslims?
Growing up in the DC Metro Area, I have been exposed to all different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and never even blinked an eye. And I can’t say that after 9/11 I started looking at the people around me to see if someone who looked Middle Eastern was around so I could avoid them. So I am very surprised when it is reported how close-minded people can be, without having met or even know anything about those they are judging. It astounds me even more that people basically have no grasp on what Islam is. Did no one take World History in high school? I know it was required in my school to graduate, and it focused a little bit on some of the major religions of the world. So even if I know a very limited amount about Islam, I do know that they believe in the same god Christians do, and follow the Old Testament too. If more people knew that maybe they would judge them less critically; especially people like the woman who asked the researchers in the article if Muslims “love their children”. Most people don’t ask the same about Jewish people, who share many of the same similarities to Christians as Muslims do. Maybe if people were better educated, these prejudices wouldn’t be as rampant across America.
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Taking a trip across the nation like Akbar Ahmed did is a great way to show and teach students about the Islam people and the Muslim religion. Whether it is effective towards the rest of the country, I can’t give you an answer. I am white and consider myself Christian when it comes to religion. I grew up with this religion and unfortunately it prevents me from exploring what I believe in. I also don’t know much about other religions, especially the Muslim religion. Therefore, I would say that I’m one of the seven people out of ten who don’t understand. I seriously have based my thoughts about other religions on what I have heard, media or not. Since our country is very much Christian, I think that the focus in media is strictly not Muslim. Even if the media did start to portray the Muslim religion, I believe that Americans still wouldn’t change their views on what being Muslim really is.
Before reading this blog, I had no idea that a quarter of the world’s population was Muslim. That’s a ridiculously large number! Americans need to stop being egocentric and see the world in other people’s shoes too. However, I see the people of America’s view on Muslims and in a way you can’t blame them. When 9/11 happened, history was made. So many people lost their lives and so many people lost the lives of those they loved. Our country was very upset with the people who caused it. Who are those people? They were Muslims. It’s sad that one group of Muslims can stand for the whole population of Muslims. I remember seeing people in airports being searched and people walking down the street being stared at.
The truth is, I was one of those people. It was until I took this class that I was able to realize the pain that some of them have to go through. I was able to see that they are people too. They are just like me and live here just believing in different beliefs. How was I able to judge someone so quickly because of faith? I understand how selfish I was and I see how selfish most Americans still are. If only Sam Richards could teach the country. That would help! Haha
On the topic of politics, we need to start paying attention to our economy and think harder. I can’t believe only half of our country doesn’t know the vice president’s name. He is a very important person and he plays a major role. But people know who Brittany Spears is. They know who Johnny Depp and Michael Jackson are. This is shocking, but it could make a turn around. If people cared about politics and chose a candidate for president by their views and not because of skin color maybe we wouldn’t be in this financial crisis.
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I think the main issue here stems from the basic quality of ignorance, which encompasses the majority of the population in the United States. According to the survey data on the blog, most people do not know a lot about Islam. However, Americans still view Islam as a violent, inferior religion. Despite the fact that there are often news stories which involve Muslims today, Americans are not well informed about anything and therefore just go along with this preconceived notion that society the United States has deemed on Islam. Just because they are not changing their ways and religious practices to fit in to our culture in America, people do just judge Muslims based off of how they look or act differently from “us” Americans. As stated in the article entitled Muslim in America: a ‘voyage of discovery’, people in America need to “look at Muslims in the context of their own culture and society” in order to better understand and start to solve these problems. Additionally, “the group needed to talk to Muslims and examine what they knew about American culture, American society and how they actually adjusted or assimilated or integrated – or not – into larger American society.” This is a key point that I think everyone needs to take into consideration. In order for society in America to accept and rid of the negative connotation that people in the United States have towards Muslims, they need to take a look at it from another perspective. If people are able to view Muslims in light of their own culture, I think this would be a big step to the beginning of a better understanding of Islam. In turn, this would lead to the possibility of not completely getting rid of the negative connotation, because quite frankly I do not think that is possible in today’s society, but at least lessening it and creating more of an acceptance towards it. There would definitely still be ignorant Americans that might not want to understand or know more about Islam, and there will be others who simply are not able to view Muslims with respect of their culture, but it would be a start and could make a little difference. Also, I think that for Americans to understand how Muslims in America adapt, or not adapt, into our culture would also aid in the problem of ignorance as well. White Americans do not think about how it is or what it must be like for Muslims in America because we are not faced with the day to day difficulties or stares that they deal with on a normal basis. Therefore, if we were better informed about this and understood the adjusting that takes place within society, maybe it would open the minds of society in America.
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I learned about the Muslim religion in a tenth grade social sciences class, and again in a positive psychology class last year. Although I don’t remember everything I learned in these classes, I think I probably know more about the Muslim religion that most Americans. I know that the main dynamics over which the religion is founded on are the same as the Christian religion and the Jewish religion. It seems that Americans have permanently linked this world religion to negativity and violence. As the experiment showed, even when Muslims aren’t being disrespected outright, they are treated with indifference. One of the girls in the article described seeing a woman drop her jaw at the sight of the girl dressed in Muslim clothing, but then she smiled. The smile seemed to be used to cover up what she had already done. I think one of the most interesting parts of this blog was the statistics that Sam provided: “And yet Americans rank Muslims second only to atheists as a group that doesn’t share their vision of American society.” This kind of quote makes me question what the majority of Americans think about the separation of religion and government or Americanism. I don’t really follow a set religion. As a teenager, I went through the Christian confirmation ritual, and I was baptized as a baby into the Christian religion, but as I got older, I realized that Christianity wasn’t something that I wanted to accept. I didn’t see it as part of my “identity”, or written on my identity glasses, as Sam would put it. I didn’t want to act as a believer when I was not in my heart. Religion is not something that I want or feel that I need at this point in my life, but I am open to accepting religion as my life progresses. The point is that I don’t think I’m an atheist, but that is sort of how I classify myself when asked. My questions lie in how your religion relates to how committed (for lack of a better word) you are to the vision of American society. I don’t see the connection. I don’t see how not believing in a God, or following the Muslim faith would lead someone to automatically also fall into the category of being un-American. Personally, I don’t see myself as being particularly against the American vision. It’s interesting to me that I may be the recipient of the same kinds of attitudes that Muslims experience from some American people if atheism was something else, something that was displayed from the outside. That statistic really makes me feel more connected to this issue that I thought I was previously.
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After first reading the article, I found that this is a really cool idea for students to see how the world reacts to Muslims in our country. I think it’s very important to be able to see from the place of other people’s shoes and not only will this greatly impact their lives, but the stories that they will have and tell from their experiences will help other people to understand, grow and learn. I imagine that it must be scary to know what sort of reactions you might get throughout this journey but in the end that’s the point…to experience something that will shake you. I am also not completely certain that this journey will present the group with exactly the results they are looking for. For instance, the fact that they are traveling as a group and there are people documenting may show people that this group is looking for a particular answer and so they respond in that way. Not to say that they may not get dramatic results. I am not sure if I heard this correctly, but I think at one point in the video at the end of the blog they say that nobody even bothered to notice the girl. Part of me when I heard this wondered if this was partly due to the fact that she was surrounded by other white people and there was a camera crew around them. This does not exactly present the typical, “normal” situation for something to occur or an act of discrimination to take place. However, overall I think that this group will still learn a great deal and their results will be life changing.
I thought it was interesting in the article how it says that by the middle of the century, one out of four people will be Muslim. I think that people, myself included, need to start becoming more educated because this statistic is huge. I think that the various prejudices and stereotypes that exist in our minds are stupid because there are so many more people out there that we are judging that really do not deserve it. Yes, someone who looked like them may have done something bad to our country. But, that is really no basis to judge someone. It is absolutely true that “America-as a superpower, as a world leader- needs to be able to interact in a positive way with one-fourth of the world’s population.” These people have a lot to offer to us and I think we need to embrace it. This project is a great idea and I think that many more people should be experiencing stuff like this. I think that documentaries and videos and “experiments” like this really help to show people what is occurring and move people. I know in high school my grade watched a documentary about the invisible children in Africa and the results of watching it were extraordinary. My high school is the number one school in the country to raise money to build schools for the kids in Africa and it has truly impacted my classmates’ lives to make a difference for those kids.
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This ones coming from the heart because Im a Muslim. But really now, who dresses like a Muslim no a days. I honestly don’t think Muslims should have, or even want to stick out in a melting pot like America. Sure a woman may wish to cover her head, but nothing more is truly necessary. In the unlikely event that she may want to cover from head to toe, one can do such a thing and not necessarily have to stick out. Men, besides having a beard should not have to stick out in any society. Anyone being different per say is asking for attention weather good or bad. It is in today’s world that one should be able to wear or do whatever they wish, however lets not loose our brother that I like to call common sense. Common sense has been drifting away from society at large slowly and silently as time goes by. Realistically now, who really needs to wear a traditional dress anymore? Its for that reason that I believe anyone trying to stick out, weather for their own cultural reason, or straight up just to stick out, they will get the attention demanded. Granted it’s a little more complicated for women, and one shouldn’t have to avoid certain areas simply because of ignorance found in the area, but lets be realistic for a second. Lets get a fat white guy, wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans and an American flag printed on the front and drop him in the middle of Pakistan. Not necessarily the middle, put him up north, in the mountains where he would get some hardcore confrontation. Obviously the guy will probably be killed and his shirt burned while the people dance around the burning shirt. Shit happens in certain areas, and one should respect and be smart enough to realize that one could very well not be accepted in a certain area. Sure its ignorant, and it is America, but no place is perfect, and peoples ways and thinkings are hard to change. Its truly unfortunate that people are being harassed because of their religion or colour, but that’s life, don’t let it screw your day up. Im a Muslim and I have been treated differently because of that fact here in America, but lets not analyze the fact that shit happens in America. Lets not forget I got an American passport simply because my parents lived here long enough. A Jew couldn’t get a Saudi passport if he and his family lived there for three hundred generations. Wait; Jews aren’t even allowed to enter the country, so lets analyze that for a second before we start criticizing America and it’s ways. A lot of people died a long time ago, and a lot of people have trouble getting over that fact, so let them be angry and ignorant for a few decades.
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Why is it that the average American has such a limited understanding of the many religious, political, social, and cultural aspects of Islam? If I were to give an opinion I would say it is due to the fact that much of this information does not directly pertain to their day to day lives. In the instances it actually does mean something to the average American the nature of the relationship is crucial to dictating the viewpoint. On average Muslims have demonstrated time and time again that when given the opportunity they can be incredibly successful in American society. Following this track they come into contact with non-Muslim Americans in settings such as universities and white collar work environments. In such settings interactions occur where people have the opportunity to discuss their backgrounds, answer questions, and expose one another to their respective cultures. During this positive and friendly discourse both parties often learn the other is really not all that different and they could caught a glimpse into the experience of the other fostering greater understanding. On the flipside Americans who are lower on the socioeconomic scale who live in areas with few or no Muslims living in close proximity have a completely different experience with Islam. Much of their experience is influenced by events of a negative nature that include terrorism, war, and energy uncertainties completely blown at of proportion by the mass media, after all if your only experience with a group of people is seeing masses of them cursing your country and burning your flag a favorable or even open opinion towards them can be quite elusive. After all the idea of people simply living their lives in faraway lands is out of sight out mind, but when something happens that is somehow adversely related to them tempers fly, I mean isn’t it interesting that something like a terrorist attack has the power to miraculously transform every ignorant opinionated loudmouth in an expert in international relations/prophet of doom/supreme unquestioned moral authority? We also have to consider that the majority of the enlisted military personal who have the higher causality rates come from lower classes. Combine this with the fact that some much armed military conflict has occurred between Americans and Muslims in recent years. What exactly are people’s gut reactions going to be to that general group of people responsible for the death of their father, son, husband, brother, or friend? However, it would seem that there is hope is slowly emerging out of this tense and frustrating situation. More and more Muslims continue to move into communities where they have never lived before and while there is a fair amount of initial conflict and mistrust it fades over time and the non-Muslim American, through interaction, can start to see their Muslim coworkers, class mates, and neighbors as individuals rather than representatives of a greater group.
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After reading the story about the article “Muslim in America”, I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind, all mainly memories. I live very close to New York City, so September 11th had a big impact on me. My town is very diverse and full of people from different countries, cultures, and religions. The period after the announcement came on the loud speaker at school that day, my grade, the sixth, had lunch. One of the very loud, outspoken, “troublemaker” girls in my grade stands up on a table and asks for our attention. We all look at her because we have no idea what is about to happen. She yells to all of us that America deserved what was happening to us and that the Muslim world was going to take over. She proceeds to kick over a garbage can. This girl was Arab and everyone in the cafeteria was silent. We hadn’t seen the news coverage or known what was really going on so it was completely shocking to us that this girl would say this. What had we done? Why did the Muslims hate us? When I went home that day and told my mom, she was mortified. Her words to me, though, were not words of hate towards Muslims or Arabs. She told me that that girl was only one opinion and I shouldn’t let her affect how I see anyone else. After that day, I heard tons of stories on the television about how our country was being so protective and trying to stop people who looked Arab or Muslim at airports and other places. It seemed so awful that these men who terrorized our country makes our view so skewed. We group everyone together and just because certain men in a group are against us, we think that they all do. We are so scared of the things that we do not know about. This past semester I moved in with a new roommate. I saw her last name on Facebook and I’m not even going to lie, I had my stereotypes. I have never been a “racist” person and I’ve grown up to be open and accepting to different cultures, but even open-minded people have prejudices and stereotypes. After living with her and talking to her friends, I have learned so much about the Arab and Muslim beliefs and customs. It is sad to think that people would be scared when I have not met one of them who was a bad person. I think we are holding onto the past and not seeing that one group does not all believe the same thing. It makes me think of the Holocaust or the KKK. Just because a lot of Germans were Nazis and involved in the war, doesn’t mean that all Germans hate Jews. Or in the case of the KKK, not every single white person hated and terrorized blacks. While the numbers may have been large, it just goes to show that a small group of people make majorities look bad as well.
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It was very interesting to watch how the Alabama people react to Arabs or women wearing a veil. Surprising I had such an incident here in state college. We were going to Wal-Mart with my friend’s mother who has a veil on. And since the first day I came here I never felt offended or nobody ever gave me a dirty look for being Arabs. But this time it was different. My friend just parked her car and her mom came out of the car. He opened the door and was one inch away from touching the car next to us. She didn’t even touch the car. The guy who owns the car got so mad and started insulting us and calling us “You Arabs. “You think you can come here and do whatever you want because you have money. My friend’s mother just said I’m sorry but it didn’t touch your car. He’s like I’ll make it on the way out I’ll make sure to scratch your car. Just imagine how offended the mother felt. I’m sure she gets that a lot from people I Europe and in the states. She gets insults and dirty looks because she wears a veil. And for some reason the Islam nation is viewed as a terrorist nation that’s full of violence and hate. It’s either that or they have no clue why some people have a veil on. Sometimes I feel that people in the United States are to self-indulged in their nation that they don’t bother educating themselves to know more about the world. Sure, the United States of America is a huge nation where most people don’t need to know about the outer world to survive. But it doesn’t mean that you should be ignorant of other religions and cultures. As is people come to the United States expecting this great nation that knows everything about the world where people understand but it comes as a shock once they are here and notice how people don’t know anything about what’s going on in the world. They have the most advanced technology and most of them live a great life but yet they don’t make use of it. They just ignore it and become more sucked into their nation. You call races names, did you ever think of how people view you. They view the United States as amazing and from time to time invaders but yet we have the heart to respect when not being disrespected. On the other hand, some of the Americans judge without knowing what it means or the belief Muslims have. I just believe that people should make time for themselves to educated themselves and know more about other religions and cultures.
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Cayla Rasi
It really is amazing to this that people can judge, fight, and verbally badger other people because they say that “their religion is wrong.” You are right, in your blog you say that a lot of people do not know about specific religions and are not educated about them and yet they are judging people who do worship a certain way.
Hello!?! Would a lawyer go into a court room and not learn both sides of a case in order to perform his/her best? Everyone needs to learn about other religions because may be then, people would be able to at the very least, respect one another and understand that not everyone thinks a certain way.
I found the following statistic interesting (the one you gave in your blog): five in ten believe Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. I actually recently read a book titled “The trouble with Islam today” and it is all about the judgements and assumptions that are made about Islam. This statistic surprises me now, only because I have taken the time to learn about Islam and learn what the religion is all about. I also had several questions that I wanted to answer myself, because I no longer wanted to judge people based on assumptions that I had made (along with other people). One of those assumptions is “Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence.” Here is what I discovered about that: Islam is a very peaceful religion, and what has allowed the Taliban to be so violent, what has been the key source for the killings, and bombers – it’s is the manipulation of the sacred religious text.
I wonder how many Muslims in the middle east know how to read. I wonder about this statistic because I think to myself: if everyone knew what their sacred text was actually saying, would they allow the violence to continue? I know from the book “the trouble with Islam today” that many Muslim women are not educated and can not read. So when you think about it, how can they know what religion they are following if they can not even study it themselves!? They are being told by fathers, brothers, and husbands what to think about the religion – and at that moment when those men are telling women what they need to do because their religion “says so” that is their opportunity to manipulate the sacred words to mean something else.
Before people start making accusations about another religion, they need to study the religion first. I know that this is not possible, for people to take the time and study another religion that they already seem to despise—but imagine if people did learn about other religions, then we would all at least be able to respect each other and our beliefs, we may not want to follow a specific religion and practice that religion, but we could at least understand each other and stop these continuous religious wars!
It is amazing that people are traveling around and educating people about their religion. More people need to listen!
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What an intriguing and eye-opening experiment! Akbar Ahmed and his team of student’s have shown a lot of courage, courage that I don’t know if I would have been able to show. These college students, who are just slightly older than, have taken time out of their lives to be a part of a very interesting social experiment. Traveling across the United States pretending to be something they are not, pretending to be something that not many would wish upon their worst enemy in this post 9-11 world, to see how their fellow American’s would react. What guts that must have taken.
Although Sam has again looked at the bad in this situation, saying that they were treated coldly or with detached respect or perhaps benign indifference, I must disagree. I am an eternal optimist. My optimism about the world and especially America’s positive reception to others unlike themselves, makes me believe that this was not a failure but a small success in race relations. And the group’s trip to Arab, Alabama, even with Hailey Woldt dressed in traditional Muslim garb, is a prime example. This particular trip shows that even in the least excepting part of the country, the Deep South, minorities can get by and not meet any harsh criticism or threats.
I know that it is not what we as a society should hope, that the minorities can just “get by” but this is a huge improvement in our country’s journey towards equality.
Of course we need to improve our education on other religions other than the “norm” in our country. And of course we need to increase our awareness of other societies and cultures at home and abroad. And we definitely need to increase our overall knowledge of our government’s policies and leaders. But we also need to take in the positive actions when they come around. We need to look at this group’s trip to Arab, Alabama at face value, as a success, as small as it may be.
Alabama and the other confederate states have only been “segregation free” for just over 40 years. It may seem to be a long time coming, and a disgrace that even after 40 years race and religion are still a problem, but the United States is a young country. We still have much to learn. We still have much to grow. Ahmed and his students are helping to spread information and the truth about Islam. They are reaching out to the most uneducated, the most uninformed public and being honest about what the Muslim world and their “mysterious, violence encouraging” religion really stand for. It’s a social experiment that is hitting an important target. And will hopefully lead to a more accepting nation as a whole.
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I really found the “Muslim in America” blog to be very interesting and a real eye opener. I believe that this piece really showed how ignorant people in America can be and how it easy it is for us as a people to pass judgment on people religions that we have no idea about. I believe that as a film major and as someone who wants to travel the world and make documentaries that this was a great project to be a part of. This really proved to me that Americans are very uneducated when it comes to topics that are concerned with race and religion. I believe that the Islam religion is a religion that most Americans are very uneducated about but because of the events of September 11th, 2001. I can also blame myself as an individual for not knowing much about other religions and for casting a judgmental on other peoples religions that I know very little about.
I believe that this project shows that Americans are not acting out violently towards others that are different from them but are rather confused at what other people are like. I believe that to a lot of people religion is the backbone to their lives and it something that is very important to them. A lot of people believe that their faith is something that molds and shapes their personality and how they live their lives. I also believe that people are more concerned with their own faith rather than having to educate themselves on other religions. I believe that because we are too lazy to research other peoples’ religions we are confused as to what they really believe in and what they are all about. I believe that having the students dress up as Muslims and really feel what it is like to walk around in their shoes they were able to learn more than they ever would have sitting in a classroom. I believe that this helped them open their eyes to really see and feel what it is like to be considered “different” in our country, and to really feel what these people go through on a daily basis.
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I think this is such a great project to show the world that not all Americans are so (as Akbar would put it), “malign”, and that the people in the video were actually pretty nice. I especially respect the blond female in the video because she does not jump to conclusions in that she does not want to offend the dressed Muslim girl from Texas. I want to commend Akbar for his work to see how Americans would react to someone different within a certain area, i.e. Muslims in a deep southern town. I wonder how this project would have gone if they replaced the Muslim female with an African American, in which I wonder how the town would have received this type of person. I truly think this video shows the hearts of Americans these days, especially eight and a half years since September 11. I think if this video were shot about five years ago, the perceptions of people may have been different. However, I also do think that because the person is a female, I don’t think the Whites’ perceptions of a female Muslim would be as strong as what a male Muslim would be, since all of the September 11 attackers were males (not to accuse or stereotype).
This video has brought up certain thoughts that I have always had throughout this Sociology class. I have always wondered how people would react to other “non-normal” people within their area. For example, I have always wondered how a cowboy would be taken in a black ghetto of downtown Philadelphia, or vice versa, a gangster that is taken to the middle of nowhere in Texas and how those people are perceived in such a town.
I still think that many Americans have a great heart and are understanding to the different cultures and religions that other people have. However, the statistics shown still show that some Americans have a hard time dealing with things from the norm. Many still believe that Islam teaches violence within the religion, but that is certainly not the case. I think the reason Americans believe this, is because “one bad apple spoils the batch” ideal. The media shows terrorists that have violent backgrounds that are Muslim, and I believe the American public gets these ideals from what they are shown. I truly think that American citizens need to educate themselves about other cultures and religions, for those people belong to our country as well! I certainly believe that if Islam taught ideals of violence, there certainly wouldn’t be as many followers as there are today! I think Sam brought up a good point a few weeks ago, and I wonder if many middle-eastern people believe we are “murderers” because of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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A quarter of the world’s population is a significant amount. Yet the majority of America does not take the time to familiarize itself with the religion. As Sam said, is this really any surprise to anyone? Speaking for myself, my high school had a comparative religions class. In this class we compared all sorts of religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism, but we spent considerable time on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Because of this and my own personal fascination of religions, I feel as though I’m in the upper echelons of American society regarding knowledge of other religions.
I was somewhat surprised to find that small towns were so outwardly accepting of these people dressed as Muslims. Coming from central Pennsylvania, I know there are a lot of small towns around me, mostly white, that are not very accepting of other cultures or peoples. Even a lot of my friends from Penn State just assume that I am an intolerant racist because of where I am from. I then quickly have explain to them that no, that is not the case and that I’m not from the mountainous areas they assume. I am from Harrisburg, five minutes from the city. This provides for a very suburban lifestyle, not rural much like my friends like to think.
One thing I found interesting in the story itself was that they mentioned that when the girl had full Muslim garb on she was thoroughly checked at security in an airport. Is this wrong? Are we, as Americans, wrong to profile people dressed in Islamic dress, considering them more dangerous then everyone else in the general population just because of their theistic beliefs? Or, is it just human nature to be concerned about safety? And at what point do we go too far in ensuring our safety? Having just flown to Jacksonville, Florida, I know the airport can be an extremely stressful place. Everyone is concerned about getting to their destination on time and safely. Because of this heightened tension can you really blame someone for feeling a little nervous when they see someone with a turban on praying to themselves in Arabic? Maybe he’s just praying because he is as nervous as you are. Maybe not. I think people’s biggest fears are of things that they do not know. Arabic and Islam in general are very foreign concepts to people in America. Even the practicing Muslims in the United States are not overtly obvious in there practices so it is not always easy to tell. This foreign concept is what I think causes everyone to be nervous about it. All in all though, I think that knowledge of the religion can go a long way for the ignorance that’s out there and can significantly help the tensions between people.
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To be perfectly honest, I do not entirely understand why the researchers elected to conduct this experiment in the manner they did. Obviously as a participant in the experiment, it gave the students a first-hand account of what it is like to be a Muslim, but as far as I could tell from the article, the experiment gained nothing truly informational to share with the public, because the cameras were in full view; of course local citizens were on their best behavior. And maybe this is just putting on display my naïveté, but I think you really have to spend a lifetime in a Muslim’s shoes to get a sense of the racism, because I sense that very little of it is overt, at least when the party being hated is present. At the very least, most people know that the majority of people would look down upon any explicit racism. To me, this experiment seems to be modeled like the first phase of most spy movies, when the protagonist meets face to face with the antagonist, possibly over a game of blackjack, and exchanges coded threats and gains no real information. Maybe I am being overly cynical, but useful racism experiments should be modeled after the ones we learned about in class, where the white experience is compared to the black experience, but substituting Muslims for blacks, or more compellingly, using all three groups. The students should have gone undercover as the sort of person they were interacting with, leaving their ivory tower, and instead of attempting to understand the feelings of an ignorant person through the lens of a Muslim, they should have attempted to understand where American extremism towards Muslims comes from by playing the role of the ignorant. Essentially what I am saying is, if these students actually expected people to be incredibly outwardly racist, just because they were in a small town, even with cameras rolling, then they are detached from reality. It does not surprise me in the slightest that they did not experience extreme prejudice and discrimination, and it should not have surprised them. Just like the Muslims they are defending, most Americans are decent folks too.
Despite all of that overly critical writing, the message that the group is trying to express is hugely important. The basis of all prejudice is ignorance of the facts. And who can blame people when the old news they get is the sensationalized garbage that the media spoon feeds us. Exposure to Muslims and knowledge about the religion- the true religion, not the extremist minority version of it- is essential to eliminating prejudice. Hopefully, the group was at least able to expose the isolated residents of the locations they visited to true Islam, and were able to share that Islam is extremely similar to our Christianity. After all, familiarity breeds liking, and obviously so does understanding.
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I think that the reason the people in this experiment experienced south hospitality is because of the fact that the white people were afraid to treat them blatantly different. While it seems (from what they said) that they were treated nicely, I would have liked to hear what people at surrounding tables were saying about them. I doubt it would have been as nice. I think people did not want to treat them badly to their faces because of something mentioned earlier in the blog: the fact that “five in ten (Americans) believe Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence.” People do not want to treat someone badly that they fear would act violently toward them. So many people at other tables, people from a distance, could have been saying really intolerant and bigoted things, but the documentary is unable to capture that. The white woman in the video demonstrated what Sam has been saying in class for the past few lectures, the fact that white people don’t like to get in open discussions of race. The white woman in the video said she didn’t want to answer all their questions fully because she didn’t know anything about their culture. Most Americans don’t know much about Muslim culture.
The reason that many Americans have negative views toward Muslims is because they are uneducated about that culture. They do not see Muslims in their towns and they do not learn about Muslims in their schools or through the media. Since most do not know about Arab culture, they make generalizations based on the few things they have heard. Most uneducated Americans connect the terms Muslim, Arab and Islam to the September 11th attacks and therefore think that all people associated with Islam are terrorists or at least they are dangerous. This ignorance is one of the leading reasons why there is intolerance and bigotry in America. For this, I believe all people should be required to take a course like our Soc 119. I do not know how this would work (how we could do this), but I truly believe it would lead to a better society. Maybe if it could be instituted as a required high school course. Some high school students are too immature to learn things of this nature though, so an alternative could be having universities require it. If Sam could try to convince Penn State to require it, that would be a great start, and later the race relations project could extend out to other universities. Knowledge, or lack thereof, is a huge cause of racism and intolerance and the quicker we are able to educate everybody, the quicker we can clear up race relations.
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First, I just want to say that it must have taken a lot of courage to actually perform a study such as this and, I find it very humbling to come across professors and students alike willing to put themselves in these situations to further knowledge of the subject to better the rest of society. After reading this article, I think the line that really took me aback was when the American woman asked “do they love their children?” Questions like these really do go to show that despite the fact that most Americans do not go out of their way to learn about the Muslim culture this does not, by any means, stop Americans from suspecting the worst. Frankly, I find this statement rather sad. I feel as though any parent, regardless of culture or race is going to love their child and the mere fact that this woman could make such a broad generalization about Muslims me wonder if she views Muslims as regular human beings, clearly not if she assumes that it is not in their human nature to love their children.
Secondly, I did not find it particularly surprising that when Hailey Woldt put on the black abaya in Alabama she was not verbally abused and declined service, as she had expected. In this day, and age I feel as though people are much more conscious of what they are saying. It is the norm and vastly encouraged to be “politically correct.” So, it would seem that even if those individuals who gave her weird glances and stares had not said anything it does not necessarily mean that they were not thinking anything negative about her. It also may have been to her advantage that Woldt’s has blue eyes and appears to be Caucasian, people may not consider her a “true Muslim.” In addition, I think the lead researcher had it right when he pegged the people’s reactions in the café as being “intentionally blind.” They would simply take a quick glance and look away. Finally, I think the fact that Hailey went into the restaurant with all men probably influenced the situation also. Plus, the fact that they were filming the entire experience. Therefore, there seem to be a few variables that may bring about results that would not coincide 100% with how real Muslims are treated, although it did seem to shed some light on how Muslims may be treated in the South.
Furthermore, treatment towards individuals different from Americans seems to vary immensely upon context. If a Muslim is in a large group of people who for some reason or another dislike Muslims or “blame” them for 9/11 than the actions of a few individuals could entice others to join in and treat that individual badly. This could be a factor to what happened with the parade incident. Overall, it is a sad fact that most American’s know little to nothing about the Muslim culture and religion and still jump to radical conclusions about Muslims. If only Americans were given a clearer picture of other cultures through media I feel as though racism would be a much rarer occurrence.
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I believe what Akbar Ahmed and his students did was pretty interesting, challenging, and possible scary. Changing your identity and dressing like someone other than yourself is not an easy thing. I am amazed by this girl’s confidence for volunteering to put herself in such position. I am sure it was a very interesting challenge for her as well. I would assume in little towns like Arab, people would be shocked to see someone with a different look and religion. Some people can have extreme reaction toward these differences. I personally have heard of many horror stories about racial discrimination and hate crimes. I would not be surprised if the girl wearing hejab got attacked or the people around her got attacked, since she is dressed like a terrorist to some people’s eyes.
I am coming from a bigger city where I have seen people with different colors, cultures, and religions and I truly enjoy all these diversities. These differences add so much to the culture of a city and help the citizens to become more knowledgeable about the world. It was great to see that people did not overreact toward this girl’s Hejab, besides the stares. I would not assume that stares are signs for hatred, thus I believe it could be caused due to curiosity. I stare at people when they look different because it is interesting to me and I want to know more about them and not because I hate them. It is so great to hear that people in such small white places have started to accept other cultures and are able to respect the differences.
One of the major reasons explaining why people used to hate and overreact to people that dressed differently and had a different culture was due to lack of education. I know back in high school most of my friends followed and believed media and never cared much more to go and actually figure out the truth about all these differences. Knowing what it means to be a true Muslim will clarify the fact that Muslims are not supposed to be terrorists. There are only the extremist of the Islamic religion that commit such crimes like 911 and automatically people generalize and judge every Muslim based on that.
Overall, I thought this was an amazing experiment. Traveling around the U.S and watching people’s reaction toward Muslims is an incredible idea. I am thrilled to hear that people treated the girl dressed in Islamic cover nicely and no one overreacted. This shows that people have become more educated and know much more about different cultures than they did 10 years ago.
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When I first read this article I thought the experiment was a great idea. For people to actually understand how others are perceived they need to live a day in the life of them. It was great that these people took the time to do that and care enough. Many people would do this and think it’s a great idea, but only a few might actually participate in the experiment, just because they simply do not care enough. My friend’s roommate whom I me this year is muslim and it was the first muslim person I had ever actually had a conversation with her. She was here for the semester and was from Egypt. She rarely mentioned anything about being muslim, but I can say she was definitely one of the nicest people I had ever met. If I were to see her walking down the street there is no way I would be able to point her out and know her religion. It is a sad, but very true thing that these people are viewed so differently. Walking through an airport is probably one of the most difficult things for them because they know that the second they step foot into the airport that they are being judged and many people think that they will take over a plane or other absurd thoughts. It is a horrible thing, but I am going to be honest and say that I, myself have had those thoughts and I am truly embarrassed to say that I would view other people that way just by seeing what they are wearing. These people could probably be the nicest people in the world, but constantly will be judged, especially after 9/11. I think many people have these negative views of muslims because they are not the typical “norm” of the United States. The average person does not go around with their face covered here, and people are scared of new and different things. Also, many people probably had not heard much about muslims before 9/11, so all of their opinions are based solely because that event happened and that is not fair. And, now, the war in Iraq is on the news and it brings the muslim religion into a negative light into the houses of millions of people, and making it worse, children hear it, and know nothing else about the religion, so they grow up being uneducated about it and base their opinions on that. Just because there are a few bad people in the religion, it gives it a bad name. There are probably plenty of people similar in other religions, but they are so common in the United States that no one thinks of it that way.
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I think the Muslim project Professor Akbar Ahmed is doing is a real eye opener. It shows how little people know about a different religion and culture. It also shows how people react to them. I completely understand where the statistics come from about American’s thinking them violent and unfavorable because people of their religion attacked us, the United States. I know this was eight years ago but it affected everyone and that does not go away. I am not saying people have a right to judge people they don’t know or the religion they do not completely understand, I just understand where they are coming from. People need to get these Muslims a change and stop putting them in the group of terrorists and Osama Bin Laden.
Our troops have been in the Middle East now for about 8 years. This war is always on the news but what do we really hear about the lives we are fight for over there? We hear about how more Americans were killed or were they are heading next. Why would people want to them more about those people? If the media portrayed some things different people could get a real eye opener and maybe understand a little better. I know there are shows out there that talk about it but not enough people hear them.
It is scary to know how Professor Akbar Ahmed and his team are put in danger for are documentary about people and the reactions and/or knowledge of Muslim people. People are people religion does not change that even though so people seem to forget that. It is just people being racist.
I thought the part in the video where the team talked to those people from Arab, Alabama was really interesting. They had no idea what religion the girl was, no clue. They just associate her with someone from the Middle East. She could be from anywhere in the United States, but people will only see her as from the Middle East. It is the way our country has identified Muslims. I guess it is kind of a stereotype. We have to learn about their culture and religion before we can attempt to see them for a normal person with different a belief.
I wonder how this project affected Professor Akbar Ahmed. He is Muslim and to see so many people clueless about his religion and judge it, I feel like it would be hard. I think it is awesome for him to show people how they act with Muslims. He is also teaching people about the Muslim religion which probably means a lot to him and other Muslims. He is making a stand for Muslims everywhere and for everyone else it is an eye opener.
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It always amazing me how many people fall into ignorance. It also amazes me how one event changed the way we feel about a whole society of people forever. Before 9/11 I’m sure most people never really thought of Muslims and Arabs. But after that tragic event the way we feel about Middle-Easterners and Muslims has turned negative. The statistics shown about how Americans feel about Muslims doesn’t surprise me. I myself have to admit that I do not know much about the faith, but I do not have an unfavorable opinion of it. I think it’s important for us to try to put ourselves in their shoes. It must be hard for Muslim-Americans, especially those who dress traditionally, to deal with the prejudice that they do. To me, it is similar to how Americans felt about the Japanese and Japanese-Americans during World War II. We even put Japanese-Americans in internment camps! A lot of our negative feelings towards Muslims stem out of ignorance and fear. I would suspect that the minute I mention the word “terrorism” the first other word or image that would come to mind is an Muslim or a person of Middle-Eastern dissent. As I have read in a few posts by others- I believe the media has a lot to do with this. If the media spent more time educating Americans about the Muslim faith than equating them with terrorists, maybe we’d have less discrimination. Awareness is key when thinking how to fix this problem. I commend the team behind this social experiment. They are brave for taking on this project. We’ve all heard the horror stories of hate crimes. But it’s nice to know that people smile at Muslims. Humanity is much more powerful than we think. People are able to accept a lot more than we think. I was pleasantly surprised to feel about the acceptance these Muslims were reacted with. I do Americans are ignorant in general. I am not saying most Americans are racist or that they are cruel-minded, hate-oriented people. They’re not. Most are just trying to put food on the table and smile on their kids’ faces. Ignorance comes directly from a lack of educated. Most Americans are uneducated about other cultures, races, and religions. They don’t think about it. They don’t have time to think about it. I think if more of us were aware of Muslims we could get rid of some of the discrimination against them. When I read about the statistics that some Americans think the Muslim faith is very different from their own and it is more likely to encourage violence my first reaction was in agreement. But it took me a few seconds to rationally think about it and understand that that is not the case. We need to step away from our first impressions and look deeper. Education is the key to ended ignorance.
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The Muslim in America: A Voyage of Discovery is a very inspiring project with a very basic goal – to find out what it is like in a Muslim’s shoes in country that claims “diversity” and “equal opportunity”.
It does not surprise me that individually the crew was “largely treated with detached respect or perhaps benign indifference”. After all, no one would want to be labeled as a “racist”, especially when all fingers would be pointed a specific individual. So even though the survey data says that many people they encountered had negative thoughts about Muslims, people would not exclaim it.
(If you really think about it, it is kind of the “silent racism” prevalent in our country today. We may never admit to it, but we all know it is there.)
It is not uncommon that people’s thoughts are often influenced by their environment or those among them. And as much as someone would hate to be single-handedly pointed out as a “racist”, depending on where one may live in or how one may have grown up, one would hate just as much to be pointed out as “different”. A person would be ostracized just for holding a different belief, even if that belief is the one that brings peace and equality among all.
Wanting to find out more about Journey into America, I decided to go to the link posted on the blog entry which lead me to the project’s active blog. (I was not aware that is a current, ongoing project – which a recent entry of today’s!).
I was very much drawn to the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Muslim Syrian-American who did everything he could to help and rescue victims of Hurricane Katrina. He used his own boat, and offered food and water to all who needed them. He was just an American doing a good deed for a fellow American. But because he looked like a “terrorist”, he was imprisoned. I just don’t get it. They didn’t have anything on him. At all. And it was not as if terrorists caused Hurricane Katrina either. So I don’t understand his capture at all. It is something that would leave me aghast and ashamed – similar to what the blogger wrote.
What is even more appalling is the treatment that Zeitoun received once he was taken. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”?
“He underwent humiliating strip cavity searches and was denied a blanket. For three days he languished in the prison and underwent sleep deprivation, handcuffed upright next to a loud generator. “
Not to mention, his starvation because food served always had pork, even though he had explained his religion and beliefs during interrogation. It’s just unbelievable. I do not even know what I would do if I were placed in his position. I do not think I would have the same outlook or reservation as Zeitoun who exclaims that his ordeal was “tame” compared to other Muslims.
No matter how much I look at it, it is devastating to read how these things still happen. No matter how idealistic I would like to forward to, I cannot ignore evident prejudice and maltreatment of people who are just like me – a minority living in America, “land of the free”.
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I think the only word to describe the article “Embracing Muslims in the Holy Land” is stereotype. People always place stereotypes on people who are “different” than them or their people. Stereotypes are places on cultures, religions, etc. by almost everybody. They think these people are “weird” because they are not like them and do not have the same religious beliefs or act the same way that they do. I think this is wrong, but some people don’t mean to do it. They get bombarded with these stereotypes by always hearing about them in society and from other people. So they might not mean to be racist or place stereotypes on other people, but they do, and therefore are racist themselves. These label these people from other cultures and religions as “freaks” because they do not fit in by their standards.
I though the article was very interesting. I am a white Catholic who often sees racism and hears of stereotypes often. Over the past week for Spring break, I went to California. I flew out of Newark, New Jersey into San Francisco. I also flew home from Los Angeles back to Newark. So I spent a lot of time in the airports where a lot of stereotypes and racists attitudes come into play. I believe this is mainly a product of the events that happened on September 11, when a terrorist who was of the Islam religion flew a place into our nation’s World Trade Center in New York. These people did this as part of their religion. They thought it was a religious act and that they would go to heaven because of it. Therefore a lot of people in the United States turned their opinions on Muslims as both a hateful and violent culture. This event happened almost 8 years ago, and these views still exist today by many people. They get frightened when they see these people in the airport because they associate the acts committed by those few people and stereotype them as terrorists.
I believe this is true, and this does happen at the airports , but when I went on my trip last week, I saw many “normal” looking white people get pulled aside and searched. Many of the people working in the airport in California were black and Hispanic, so does searching white people in the airports act as racism? Who’s to say no? I saw them pull aside more white people than blacks, Muslims, and Hispanics. I don’t hear any white people complaining about this and labeling it as a racist act.
I don’t think its right for people to look at Muslims differently, but sometimes I think its not really a choice, its just the way they feel inside. They aren’t used to seeing people like this often. Many people are terrified of flying, and when they see these people in the airport who look like the people who attacked our nation on September 11, they get afraid. I’m not saying its right, but that’s the way it is. Hopefully one day we can see these people for who they are, not what they look like or what they wear.
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I think this is a great study to uncover some typical American ethnocentrism. Unfortunately, after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, it created a very bad stigma for Middle Eastern people in America. The American people needed someone to blame, and unfortunately they blamed it on anyone who has dark skin and looks like they are from the Middle East. This can be blamed on lack of education. “Islam became the most talked-about, controversial, debated, hated and, really, mystified religion in America.” and yet the people who hate it, know nothing about it. They obviously are not educated on the extremist group who carried out the attack. Those Muslim extremists are an extremely low minority.
It is a shame that a nation can destroy someone someone’s identity. The Muslim identity has come under severe attack, especially after September 11th. While talking to people in their research, they found that Muslims were extremely uncomfortable with their identity. One woman was even strong enough to say that she hated it (her Muslim identity) and that she wanted to simply fit in. It is terrible to think that a normal person cannot even be comfortable with herself due to the ignorance of other people.
When watching the video I noticed that the researchers had a pretty bad mentality going into Arab, Alabama. They were expecting bad attitudes and possibly even violence. Sometimes, carrying this attitude will simply create additional bad attitudes. I am sure the researchers did experience some weird looks while walking down the street; however, this always is not a bad thing. These towns are predominately white and Christian and have little experience with Muslim people. Difference is usually noticed, and being noticed is not always a malicious thing. The people they met in Arab were friendly and quick to inform the researchers that they did not know anything about Arab culture. Unfortunately, lack of education can lead to prejudice, stereotypes, and racism. There are always a few closed minded bad eggs that will ruin it for everybody.
When visiting a foreign country it is only expected to be seen as different. It is not a bad thing because you are different. When traveling through Europe, I knew I was different and I was treated differently. This did not bother me and I expected it. I had a different culture, different views, and ate different food. What I did not expect was people to judge me because I was different. This is something that we have to overcome. Prejudices can be detrimental to relationships, institutions, and culture. I believe that prejudice will always exist; however, one way to overcome this is through education. A good way to become educated in another culture is simply through experience. Instead of passing prejudgments, go talk to the person, do not be ignorant, and admit your lack of knowledge in their culture.
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Ignorance. Watching the video at the end of this blog post made my mind go straight to the word ignorance. In our society igonorance has a definite negative connotation, but really is it fair for us to expect everyone to know everything about everything? I’m sure there are a lot of cultural things in the South that we would stare at and judge and be ignorant towards. But at the same time I think ignorance is sad. It represents the lack of knowledge a person has about other cultures. The people who were interviewed from Arab knew that they didn’t know anything about the woman’s outfit and religion and therefore would not make assumptions. It’s great that they won’t make assumptions, but it’s sad if they don’t actually try to learn about the religion, after having this experience. I think ignorance is fine until you are exposed to a difference. If at this point you don’t open up and try to learn, then you truly are the negative version of ignorance.
I think this experiment is so, so interesting. It’s amazing that they have been able to create a situation where a person who would normally fit-in can experience what it is like to be the outsider in one’s own country. I’m not at all surprised by the reaction, or non-reaction, of the people in the town of Arab. I would have been incredibly surprised if people had been violent- maybe not so much if they made some comments. I think that we are truly mostly raised with political correctness in mind, and amongst friends may discuss the “outsiders” but will very rarely confront someone about it…especially if they are in a group. In this situation I also wonder if the fact that the woman dressed in the Islam outfit (sorry, I don’t know what it’s called- I guess I’m ignorant as well and should look that up) looks caucasion with blonde hair and blue eyes had anything to do with the lack of a reaction. It would be very interesting to do this experiment again with different people and see how the reactions would or would not vary.
I think it’s extremely sad that so many people do not know anything past what they have seen on the media about Islam. But then again, I think the a lot of people don’t ever try to truly learn and understand other religions. Religion is a touchy subject, just like race, and it’s a hard one to explore and understand other religions if you are devout to one. Therefore it doesn’t really surprise me that so few people know about Islam. Honestly, I know the basics, but not much more than that…and for me to learn more, all I would have to do is a Wikepedia search. But for me, whether someone is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, I really don’t care. And so if I do meet someone who is Islam it doesn’t make me think of them differently. Unfortunately for a lot of people it would.
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Marlon Chopra
I definitely agree that most Americans know nothing about Muslims. I somewhat can understand how most of they think that way too. The United States and many of her inhabitants are very close-minded, shut off people. They sit in their bubble and are only concerned with what is happening in and around their bubble. But you better not mess with that bubble because then you’re going down. Americans like to take whatever they hear on the TV or from other people and run with it. Many of them never feel the need to try and verify this information they have received. Many take what they hear as gospel. This is not just one group; Whites, Blacks, Asians, etc. Many westerners think this way. . Now, I personally do not know a whole lot about Muslims and the people of Islam, definitely not enough to tell anyone about it, but I am not in the dark about it. I have done research on my own, trying to learn more about it. Not a whole lot of research, but more than most.
. I know how many of the Muslim students on that trip feel. Most Americans know nothing about my religion, Hinduism. Many of them think they do, but they have no idea, this is the diary of a Hindu. Sorry, I had too. I know how it feels to have people completely butcher my religion and what it stands for because they feel they are cultured and are the almighty. I personally hate it. I hate when people try to tell me about my religion. I hate hearing people talk about things they know nothing about. I hate it when they spread their uniformed “knowledge” onto others because the other people don’t know that it’s complete balderdash. That goes back to what I was talking about before. Many Americans take what they hear as gospel. They take what they heard verbatim and then go spew the useless nonsense to other people. I especially hate it when people tell me my religion is wrong and their’s is right; don’t do that. Don’t try to force your belief system on me. I can never see why people have to do that. I can never see why people just won’t let others have their own beliefs and respect that people think differently than them.
I felt bad for the kids though. I felt bad that they have to go through the issues that have aroused because they are Muslim. Especially for the guy that had the problems in high school.
I don’t think most Americans think that Muslims and the people of Islam are terrorists, but I would not put it past them. Sometimes I am awe struck with what comes out of people’s mouths and what they think. I definitely think that some people think this, but not a majority. It’s a sad reality that there will always be people that automatically think the worst of people.
I think the whole road trip around the US, to better inform the public is a great idea. I love road trips in general, but a road trip with a cause is cooler. I love that they are pleasantly surprised with the reactions they get. I myself would have thought that they would get hateful and rude reactions from people, but they seem to be getting warm welcomes. It’s an enlightening experience for both groups; the students on the trip and the people they are encountering. I hope the trip continues to open people’s eyes and minds and we move closer to a more accepting America.
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I think it is a wonderful idea of having students travel the country and embrace another cultures. This should happen more in today’s society. In classrooms, all we ever do is just “talk” about different situations and how you would handle it, but in a class like professor Ahmed’s, you would be thrown into the mix and actually live though what others go through on a daily basis. Types of classes should be offered like this everywhere. I think it would fit into a race relations class. It kind of sparks my memory of when we were shown the skit with the black man who dressed up to be white, even though it was meant to be funny it made a loud statement. Everyone jumps on the word discrimation to define these sometimes misintruppted acts of “racism”. I personally think that it is just because people aren’t educated enough on the different surroundings and situations that might come up. I don’t think people mean to descrimate but its just a gray area that people need to be educated on. A class like this forces you as a student to think outside the box, as well as help inform the public that your interacting with what is going on with the issue you are trying to iron out. I think 9/11 has a huge part in discrimating against Muslims but I feel as though people need to accept the fact that it happened and the profiling is part of security measures. I’m not saying its right but it is just the reality in society. I also think that people associate the Islam religion as bad. We, as Americans just aren’t educated in the religion. Lets be honest…I don’t think people fully understand their own religion sometimes. Islam shouldn’t be associated with something bad. If you were to analysis every religion, I’m sure you could find something bad to say with each one. Overall, I think this professor’s journey with his students is a great idea. I would love to see something like this catch on all over the country. It would be cool to see a type of class like this explore all different cultures that aren’t fully understood. Professor Richards states in his blog, “Second, for as much as Islam is in the news these days, and has been in the news for the past eight years, people don’t seem to know much about the religion. Nobody should be surprised by this–and yet I continue to feel my head shake back and forth in wonderment. (Keep in mind that half of all Americans cannot name the U.S. Vice President at any one moment because, as one might imagine, it’s not an easy thing to keep track of between episodes of the Real World and American Idol…and searching out good deals at Wal*Mart.)”
Even though I do agree with this statement. Why are we comparing it to TV shows. Religion is much more important. I understand his point when he says people care more about who is dating who but at the same time entertainment news is sort of stimulating and exciting. The people who want to know more about a certain religion will take the time to learn and hopefully educate others into knowing more.
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First I’ll address my views on the reported ignorance of the American people towards the religion of Islam and politics in general. Although it should probably be common knowledge who the vice president is at any given moment, I really don’t think that criticizing people on their lack of political knowledge is productive. If I could take a rough guess as to where politics would stand on my list of priorities in life, I’d bet that it would be at around number 45, behind football and shark week – and I’m not ashamed to say so. I think that something even worse than someone who doesn’t know the name of their local representative or current Secretary of State is someone who criticizes those people and then turns around and criticizes the government for being corrupt. Of course it’s important to know about issues of the world that matter…but the names of our government officials are not important to me whatsoever. To be knowledgeable of the religions of the world and those that belong to the people of the United States is important, but I don’t think that we can look down upon the people who aren’t aware. Maybe we should criticize the system of education that taught them? Or the media who reports on the situations going on in relation to the religion but not the actual religious doctrine or customs? As far as the experiment goes, I found myself buying into the southern stereotype of racist white people and was a little bit ashamed after I watched the video and realized how wrong it is to assume that people are racist or non-accepting just because they live in the south. I think that the video shows that the people conducting the experiment were guilty of the same prejudices that they were attempting to expose.
The actress posing as a Muslim went as far as to say that she was actually afraid that people of the town of Arab would become violent and actually attempt to hurt her just because of her outfit. It was refreshing to be pleasantly surprised by their kindness and indifference but I doubt that the surprise became front-page news or a twist in this man’s book. Instead of seeming surprised and pleased with the results, the conductors of the experiment seemed disappointed that they didn’t uncover cruelty and bigotry, which to me is disappointing. Not all southern white people are racists. It is a potentially offending stereotype and a common misconception, just like the misconception that all Iraqis are American-hating terrorists or the generalization that many Iraqis are guilty of, that all Americans are Christian killers. I think that this experiment had the opposite effect than the one that the conductors had hoped, and I’m glad. The actions of the people of Arab should show us that many stereotypes and generalizations are mostly false and that buying into them is wrong.
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This was a very interesting experiment. At first I was a little surprised that the people in Arab, Alabama were seemingly indifferent to the student dressed like a Muslim. Even the student in the beginning of the movie clip admitted her fear of violence. It was interesting to see that people instead generally looked once and then looked away. I think it would be more interesting, however, to listen in on the conversations, or hear the thoughts of the people that looked away. I think we would find suspicion and maybe even hatred behind their blank expressions.
It seems that people in general are afraid of as well as intrigued by things they do not understand and this is especially true with other cultures and religions. It is likely that many people in Arab, Alabama as well as many of the American towns this group visited have never before seen a Muslim in person. Undoubtedly, their perception of the religion and people comes directly from what they view on television, which is vastly negative as well as terrifying. This is outlined sadly by the woman Sam quoted asking if Muslims love their children. This basic question really sheds light on the views that many Americans hold toward this religion, especially considering that loving your own child is a fundamental part of being human. This question almost is implying that Muslims are something alien and evil and do not share even the most basic aspects of a “normal” person. The statistics of how little Americans know about Islam also demonstrate the vast ignorance of our population. I find it extremely depressing that people are unable to see the parallels between Islam and Christianity, and to understand that we worship the same God. I believe that if this were possible, our hatred and anger would dissipate and race relations would improve immensely. In our culture, however, it is very easy to get lost in the negative news portrayals and forwarded emails without looking much deeper. I find it striking how willing people are to accept the things they hear about groups they do not understand.
I also find it extremely sad that we as a society allow this to happen. We seem to love to hate other people, groups, or institutions, and the media only fuels the fire. If the truth is not interesting, the story will be spun to catch the attention of viewers. Only one side will be told giving people a false perception of the story. Because of this I dislike watching American news as you are bombarded with a glamorous story spun in the direction of whatever political party that station sides with.
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Maybe it is very negative of me to assume, but I would be curious to hear about the negative experiences that this group encountered when traveling around the world. I know that the article said that even when in small towns, no one was down right mean. But we have read so many articles lately about people who complete extremely ignorant acts without fear of its publication. And a lot of these articles deal with blacks. A race America has been used to hating. Not in a sense that people of color are hated by all, but in a sense that racism against Africans and African Americans is deeply rooted in society. The Muslim culture was not as prevalent, or maybe just not as noticed until after 9/11. I would almost assume that because it is a new fear, a new “other” that the actions would be more irate and ignorant. But maybe the positive sides to these encounters have to make me start believing that change might really be possible.
I believe that change is possible, but it will take time. It will take time because it is fear that runs the show most of the time. People are insecure and looking to others in order to find what they think they are supposed to be. And when they feel threatened by an outside culture they don’t understand then that fear turns into hate. 9/11 created a hate that mixed the unknown with the misrepresented. It made Americans view Muslims “unfavorably,” although Americans really know nothing about Muslims at all.
I am not sure what it is that keeps us not only ignorant, but also uninterested in finding out more. The majority of Americas will waste more time on Real World and American Idol. They don’t care to travel. They don’t care to open their minds. Is it fear that keeps that the trend as well? So many people make assumptions without ever stopping to find the truth. That isn’t only true when it comes to race relations, relations between cultures, or relations between religions, but it is also true of relations between those of the same color and background. We make assumptions based on hairstyle, the way someone dresses, and the manner in which they speak. We assume we know where they come from or what they will stand for simply by watching them in line in front of us at the grocery store. Am I wrong in thinking that insecurity and fear is what is driving this? What are we so threatened by? And how can we convince people to stop and take a second look or rewire their thinking to look for evidence, instead of making assumptions?
In Soc 001 Dr. Richards gave a lecture on death and how in our fear of death we really aren’t truly living. Death is only a part of what gets in our way; WE get in our own way. We really need to accept that fact that we are all going to die. We will all rot the same way (as gruesome as it sounds.) And when we acknowledge that then life can become about the soul, about the inner beauty we all have to share, a beauty hidden by societies demands; demands that cause fear.
It is obvious that the film crew dressed as Muslims set out to find some answers. More people should try to step into a different world, a different set of shoes and try for once to really get to know the people we share the world with.
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After September 11, 2001 and all the tragedy surrounding that day, America has viewed Arabs and Muslims in a completely different view. Before this date, they were treated indifferently, and now people see Muslims and Arabs as terrorists or potential extremists that are associated with the Al Quada. Reading this blog and the article that went along with it, I was a little surprised by the civility of the response received by those dressed as Muslims or the actual Muslims in the group. I knew that not many Americans could name who the recent or previous Vice president of the United States was, which most definitely says something about the citizens of America. We may take the time to watch our sitcoms and keep up with every episode of American Idol, but we don’t keep up with political and global issues that are more prevalent and important than who is America’s next top model. The experience of Craig Consadine shows the underlying issues involving Americans and Muslims in America. They just do not see eye to eye. Not only that, Americans are uneducated in religious issues, and really refused to find out the truth but insult what they do not know. Jonathan Hayden talked about how he met a woman who had not never met a Muslim but did not know if they loved their children or not. That shows that she did not think of them as they thought of Americans and did not even see them as real people. Many Americans have yet to meet an actual Muslim or have a chance to react to them. Because of Saddam and the Taliban Americans see all Muslims as associated with that and not as true Americans even if they were born here. The professors experiment showed that Americans do not really know how to react when they see Muslims cause they immediately think badly of them. How ever he helped to enlighten them and show them that there is much more to Muslims than what Americans have seen in Saddam and the Taliban. Americans can not base their opinion of Muslims off of just one group of people because that would be like if every other country thought every American was fat and lazy. I think that Muslims are still discriminated against in air ports and the checks are not as random as the people who work there claim them to be. I know I have been stopped and questioned before cause I am brown. I know Muslim Americans who were born here who get strange looks for wearing head dresses or covering up completely in hot weather; I feel that Americans should learn to accept and respect and be open to other religions and groups of people that they are not familiar with.
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This article made me realize how much people really do not know about the Muslim religion, including myself. I have an idea of the basic principles but it surprises me that I have never really thought about researching more about such a common religion. This is not to say that I have ever treated anyone of this religion negatively because of my lack of knowledge, because I know enough where I do not believe that the majority of Muslims are bad people. It is pretty shocking that so many Americans can attribute so many negative thoughts towards people just because they are dressed a certain way. I do however think that the video shows that we are on our way towards less animosity. It seems like although many people may be ignorant, they are willing to learn more about the second most common religion. I have never really understood how religion could play such a big role in society, especially when most are very similar on general goals. A Catholic person could be a bad person just as much as a Muslim could be. The fact that people do not see this is sort of strange. From this project it is comforting to see that even though there are barely any Muslims in “Arab”, Alabama that the people still did not to be too phased by Hailey. They could not even name her religion, but they were still very kind and interested in learning more. I definitely think that the first step towards peace is to understand the views of others. If we could all accept others for their different beliefs there would be no need for war. This is not only the fault of American citizens; however, because much that is portrayed in the media makes us feel a certain way. If a group is represented as an enemy it is hard for many to distinguish among good and bad people. I personally would like to be more educated on the topic so that I can help to spread the correct truth. I am optimistic that we are on our way towards peace and that although everything will not be perfect tomorrow; I have hope that it is not too far away. There are far too many views in the world today to not accept differences. The variety makes life interesting and who is to be the judge about what religion is “right”. We all essentially know the same amount and no matter what we may believe, no one truly knows what comes after death. Regardless of anything else treating others with equality and integrity is essential. There is never any justification for violence and the sooner we realize this the sooner improvements in society will be made.
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I think this experiment is inspiring and geared towards the right goals. It is an extremely efficient way to take the problem of West/Muslim relations and make it accessible to the masses. It is an ingenious use of different sociological techniques, which allow the students to experience first hand the foundation of their research and I wish that I could ever have the same opportunity.
To understand something foreign to us, to move forward we need to have a direct experience of that issue. Too often people feel like getting so involved requires too much effort but ultimately it will end up being much more useful to their personal growth and to the development of their research.
Unfortunately people will not make the effort to get information but if students get involved then they might find it easier to relate and get interested.
Ignorance seems to be widespread in America. If something does not seem to be beneficial, then most people will not take the time to care or get information about it. The culture is very profit driven.
This is very regretful because being open-minded and having a thirst for knowledge are an assured way to end inequality. Because once we understand others, once we know what is really going on and can independently chose what to believe from our own research, then communication can be established across physical, cultural, racial and ideological borders.
I am a strong believer that the most important education one can get is through traveling and mingling with other culture. I value that experience much more than a simple college degree. As much as that might mean little to many, I will always respect multiculturalism because hands on experience of others is the only way to move forward.
Any type of knowledge means nothing if it cannot be applied to something physical, if it has no effects in the ‘real world’. Any data can go either way, it is up to us and to those that teach us to lead us toward a positive application of the concept we are being taught.
In regards to my reaction to the people in Alabama, I think that the fact that the veiled girl was alone made her more acceptable. When they were interviewing those people outside the restaurant, maybe the camera presence changed people’s reactions and made them more cautious over their choice of words.
However it was impressive to see that nobody directly attacked her. Again she was a woman, and the only one in that context wearing a headscarf. Furthermore had she been a resident maybe her treatment when she wanted to get a job or get any type of service might have been different. As much as that story is inspiring, it does not speak for the whole of the ‘south’ and as long as people do not have direct experience of something, and have a way of understanding it then they will not accept it.
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I found the blog post “Embracing Muslims in the Heartland?” and the article and video posted with it to be interesting on several different levels. My first reaction to this experiment was one of surprise, I like I assume many others figured that these students would be treated harshly and would not be given the respect which they deserve. I found it to be comforting to know that this was not the case and even if they were treated with a sense of apathy it is much better than reactions of bigotry and violence. But where I disagree with Sam is in the statement of, “even in small towns the film crew dressed as Muslims was largely treated with detached respect or perhaps benign indifference”. This statement almost concludes that they were treated this way because of how they were dressed. I feel we all treat people with “benign indifference” everyday and to go up and begin to ask questions, while it may turn into being informative to the party asking the questions, is in reality treating these people dressed in Muslim garb different than one white person may treat another.
The thing which I found most interesting of the posted material was the response on iReport to the video which was posted. An over-whelming amount of people responded by saying this experiment was prejudice in itself and that by classifying the south as red necked bigots the professor and his team were no better than any other prejudice group. This response is somewhat true. Ahmed did select the town of Arab, Alabama because of its believed aversion to races and ethnics different than its own so he did make a premature assumption that this would be a racist community. But if we look at this issue in the sense of the experiment Ahmed and his crew were simply seeking to view racism throughout the United State, which anyone would be naïve to deny existed. I can understand the frustration of the citizens of this community but if they look at this on a larger scale they can see and understand that it was not a direct attempt to portray them personally as racists.
A point which Sam makes that I completely agree with is the lack of general knowledge concerning Islam which many Americans possess. This lack of knowledge contributes to the overwhelming ignorance surrounding this religion and needs to change. I personally learned about Islam in my grade school and high school education only a few times and went through much of my life only knowing small facts about this religion. It is an individual’s personal responsibility to seek out the information needed to become informed about peoples different than them and to help stop the spread of ignorance.
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I think that this project is good as an eye-opener for America. After the attacks on 9/11 there was skepticism all over the country about the Muslim religion. Muslim followers were looked down upon, shunned, questioned, and were national pariahs. Regardless of their personal beliefs, they were outcast by the rest of America.
I remember there were two Pakistani twins in my middle school. This one day, a local bully threatened to beat them up saying that they were responsible for “blowing up” the World Trade Centers. Initially, the twins pretended to ignore this statement, trying to avoid the threat. The bully followed them down the hallway calling them terrorists, saying that he wished that their people would die, telling them to get out of the country. The twins (who were in my math class) didn’t show up to school for the entire next week.
It doesn’t surprise me that people in America are ignorant of the Muslim religion. People in America are ignorant of what’s going on in their own country. It’s mind-blowing to think that by the middle of the century a quarter of the world’s population will be practicing Muslim. It’s also terrifying. The only thing that scares me about this exponential growth is that there are still Americans who believe that since we are the current superpower, we are the only people worth understanding. There are still Americans who believe that all Muslims think like al Qaeda and want to blow up America.
I’m not sure how I feel about the peacefulness of the people of Arab, Alabama. I don’t know if I think that it was genuine. They reported many stares, but that could happen in any town or even city for that matter. People simply stare at the unfamiliar. However, what was going on in their mind when they stared? Were they thinking hateful thoughts? Were they questioning why that woman dressed the way she did and thought she looked silly? Just as the woman resident of Arab said, she couldn’t guess what religion the other woman was dressing as because she didn’t know much about the Middle East.
And then there are other small towns in the United States that I know would have said something to her. There are still arrogant, simple-minded people who simply hate anyone who resembles the terrorists of 9/11. Just because in this documentary, they didn’t get yelled at, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t happen anywhere else.
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Although it is certainly the epitome of naivety, I think that I can sort of understand where the general opinion of the public is coming from. Most people admit that they don’t really know much about Islam, but they will still say that people who are Islamic are more likely to be violent. Yes, it is pretty idiotic to make judgments on something that you do not understand, but at the same time, look at what we are exposed to. The media plays to the whims of the uneducated public. Its liberal bias is nauseating. Every day we are fed information about the situation in Iraq, and seldom is this good news. The reporters fail to tell us anything about the positives. For example, I have heard little about the schools, hospitals, roads, etc. that are being built each day. Nor have I heard about the millions of Iraqis that act favorable toward the American soldiers. In fact, the majority of the Iraqi people like what we are doing for their country. But body counts and civilian killings are always prevalent in the paper. When we are facing these kinds of statistics, it is no wonder that people are going to have an ill conceived notion about things. We hear Iraq, Muslim, Islam, Arab and it automatically equates to “terrorist.” Terrorism is based around violence and therefore Islam = Violence. It’s a simply if then mathematical equation. And we all do it.
As for the lack of education toward the topic of Islam, I find this to be relatively unsurprising as well. First of all, what do people really understand at all. Ethnocentrism is overly prevalent, (perhaps especially in the United States), and none of us really have any interest in anything that is different than our own. That being said, why would we want to learn about something that is below us. I am curious as to how many people understand Hindu or Buddhism, or even Judaism. Penn State is represented by a large population of Jewish people, and I would estimate that very few non Jews understand the religion beyond the absolute basics. People care about themselves; and that’s about it.
I am particularly baffled by the Muslim in America Project, however. You would think that in the southern Alabama town, she would have been treated with less kindness. Maybe it was the southern hospitality. On the other hand, it does make sense that she was a center of attention at the airport. People equate Muslims with terrorists, and terrorists with September 11th, and September 11th with planes. So naturally that would cause fear and caution by the security. Plus, Muslim garb simply has more places to stash weapons.
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First of all, I give Professor Ahmed and his crew props for embarking in a journey like this. It really shows a lot of courage especially from his young American students. I also respect the fact that they are going out of their way to try to understand new things and make an impact. Ever since September 11, there has been a lot of confusion about the religion of Islam. The word Islam is almost always associated with terrorism nowadays. Many Americans today have sort of a phobia towards Islam and Muslims are viewed as advocates of violence. A big part of this reason is because Americans are ignorant when it comes to a lot of things especially other cultures and religions. If people who really knew the religion of Islam and its true message, I think they would appreciate it much more and become less prejudice towards Muslims. Islam’s message is not to kill innocent people like what happened on September 11. Everyone said Bin Laden and Muslims are responsible for what happened and whether Bin Laden did it or not, he is not a true Muslim. Bin Laden and everyone involved are radicals who interpret the Quran in an extreme way. Islam is a book that promotes peace amongst its people and other groups as well so to me being more educated about the religion would definitely change the views of a lot of Americans when it comes to Islam. So I admire efforts made by people like Professor Ahmed because otherwise things will not change and Muslims will remain “the terrorists”.
Sam gave us some very interesting facts and statistics about Islam and to be honest I was quite shocked. He said that by the middle of the century, 1 in every 4 will be Muslim and that right now there are 57 Islamic countries around the world. Islam is second only to Christianity with almost 1.4 billion followers worldwide. The way I look at it is that if a quarter of the entire world’s population is Muslim then there has to be a reason for that. All these people aren’t going to follow a religion that creates hatred and violence between amongst themselves. It really shocks and bothers me how Americans treat and view Muslims in this country. After 9/11, the media did an excellent job of convincing people that anyone that looks Middle Eastern and has a beard is automatically characterized as a terrorist. I come from a Muslim family and we strongly believe in our faith. Even though we are all U.S citizens, we get hassled at the airport all the time because my brother’s name is Ahmed and my mom wears a scarf. I understand the government is doing their job in protecting this country from ‘terrorists’ but what bothers me is the stereotypes and the stares and mean looks, etc. I just encourage Americans to be more open to other cultures and religions and try to be more educated and less judgmental. That’s why I admire Professor Ahmed’s efforts in trying to find the truth and at the same enlightening people and hopefully making an impact.
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