Hannah Rosenberger

Hannah Rosenberger

American Muslims In The Media

It seems that in recent history, Muslims in the United States have seen two stages in this country: unrecognized and threatening. Now, as Americans move deeper into the era of the “Muslim boogeyman,” it has come to inevitable – furthered fear mongering and propaganda directed at the public. One segment of National Public Radio’s “Tell Me More” with the host, Jacki Lyden, focused on exactly that.

In the segment, “Are Muslims Treated As Outsiders In Their Own Country?” Lyden spoke with Arsalan Iftikhar (author of Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era and regular contributor to the program) and Jen’nan Read (researcher on “Muslim and Arab integration in the U.S. and abroad”), on the topic of Newt Gingrich’s comments, as well as other political figures, on Islam. They began by speaking about one comment in particular:

On a radio program ... [Newt Gingrich] was asked whether he thought the press would be focusing on Mitt Romney's Mormonism...

NEWT GINGRICH: Do you think you're going to see two pages on Obama's Muslim friends or two pages on the degree which Obama's consistently apologizing to Islam while attacking the Catholic church? Do you see anybody in the elite media prepared to say, gee, isn't this kind of odd that we really worry a lot about the Koran and nothing about the Bible?

The speakers on the program took turns assessing where this comment fit against the accepted norms of today. Together they found that in American politics it is generally the Republican candidates who bring up the concept of Islam, and do so because it is the last accepted slur to “other-ize” Barack Obama. To call Obama a Muslim is in essence to remind the public that he is not one of us. He is un-American, has different values, does not understand what the people want, and it is a way reminding people that Obama is black, while never having to say it.

By playing up to this in the political sphere, these candidates reinforce the concept of Muslims as boogeymen. Lyden and Iftikhar referred to Islam as the new ‘red menace,’ which I find to be an excellent analogy. It is the idea that something harmless, an ideal or a religion, by gaining followers will be the downfall of this country. As the contributors asserted, this is due in large part to the media. Because of the constant ‘ratings game’ newscast must ‘sensationalize’ everything.

They find that the key to truly assimilate Islam into American culture without the fear that comes with it now lies with the media as well. If there were more human interest stories in the works to show the public that Muslims are no different than other Americans, that Muslim is only one of the identities that a person wears, then they may no longer seem to be the ‘other’ that they have been made out to be.

I felt that this radio segment covered a wide spectrum of American Islam in the media as it moved through the political sphere, what affect Islam had for Bush as compared to Obama, as well as the brief availability of ‘All-American Muslim’ to make Islam seem more accessible, more normal. I agree with Iftikhar that this is the post-9/11 civil rights struggle and may one day be just a note of past prejudice.