You're right... I misused the term "mincing words", ironically enough. But I guess my point is that it is not just "Johnny Whitebread" who might be persecuting Arabs right now. I don't know about Ann Arbor, but where I live in very ethnically diverse Brooklyn, I have heard *racially diverse* people (Black, White, and Hispanic) express suspicion towards Arab or Muslim residents. It is not a racial issue because, although Billy Redneck might tend to be the one who actually commits an act of violence towards someone who may not even be Arab, there is no specific racial allegiance amongst non-whites that embraces Arabs either. These are cultural and ethnic biases that people of many races have.
For example, there have been longtime tensions between Arab and Black communities in certain areas including Harlem and Detroit, which has the largest Arab population in the country. Perhaps I came off a little strong, but I just don't think this type of prejudice should necessarily be confused with Racism. -J on 9/20/01 7:42 PM, Brian Dillard at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > um, "mincing words" means to quibble about precise definitions when the > general meaning of the discussion is clear. you're the one who's mincing > words. > > i think you meant to say, "don't misuse words," but whether you call it > racism, ethnic discrimination, anti-semitism or anything else, the fact > remains that all sorts of americans who don't look like johnny whitebread > are being harassed, discriminated against and in some cases killed because > xenophobic americans, looking to alleviate their feelings of powerless, are > lashing out against anyone they think even looks like they could be a > terrorist. > > my south asian boyfriend's a grad student in liberal bastion ann arbor of > all places, and he's been getting pointed at in the residence halls, hassled > by teen-agers at dairy queen and generally made to feel like he shouldn't be > showing his face. this is happening all over the country, and harassment is > the least of it. > > you seem to feel very superior that you know the difference between a > "race," an "ethnic group," etc., but what's your point? does it do a sikh > man who's being gunned down at a gas station in arizona any good to argue > that not only are arabs caucasians, but that sikhs aren't arabs at all but > are south asians? i don't think so. > > brian dillard > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jason Kessler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2001 7:21 AM > To: gord; David González > Cc: 313@hyperreal.org > Subject: Re: [313] Enough with the "False" CNN Coverage ting, already! > > > Let's just clarify one thing here buddy... anti-Muslim or anti-Arab > sentiment, as wrong as it is, CAN NOT be equated with Racism. Why, you ask? > Because Arabs do not represent a distinct Racial group. Technically they are > Caucasian, but ETHNICALLY they are Semitic peoples... the same as Jews! In > fact, Jews and Arabs are genetic cousins; there has been scientific research > done to this effect. I'm really getting sick of people calling it Racism. > What we're talking about is anti-Arab or anti-semitic behavior, not Racism. > > Don't mince words! > > -J > > on 9/20/01 6:05 PM, gord at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> I wasn't going to post anything to this list about this topic (since it >> really isn't the forum for it), but this is a great point. >> >> Much of the mainstream media has been putting a very racist spin on this >> and has created a dangerous situation. I have heard personally from one >> Islamic man living here who has received a number of death threats. I >> also know that there are a lot of Palestinians living in North America >> who are scared to walk the streets for fear of racist backlash. >> >> The analogy I always like to draw for people is if Timothy McVeigh had >> bombed a building in Iraq, would you feel it was right for the people of >> Iraq to blame the entire United States for it and want to retaliate >> against us? Would you, as a fellow American, feel any connection at all >> to his actions? I'm sure this is how the majority of Palestinian people >> feel at the point. For the media to show that footage and imply that it >> represents the feelings of all Palestinians is atrocious. >> >> g >> >> On Thursday, September 20, 2001, at 12:24 PM, David González wrote: >> >>> ok, maybe you're right, but as far as I know, in those images all you >>> can >>> see is about 5 kids, a woman and two adults celebrating (about 9 or 10 >>> people). That's all the celebration? is that all the footage CNN could >>> get? >>> Why are this images said to be celebration of the palestinians, for me >>> it is >>> a celebration of 10 palestiniansd, most of them kids... I think that is >>> also >>> distorting reality. I'm not defending anyone here, all I say is this >>> type of >>> things promote hate and violence, and that's exactly what we are trying >>> to >>> avoid, or is it not? >>> >>> >>>> I'm really getting sick of this thing. The "False" CNN coverage is a >>>> hoax: >>>> >>>> >>> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1540000/1540102. >>> st >>>> m >>>> >>>> and >>>> >>>> > http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_402920.html?menu=news.latestheadlines >>>> >>>> CNN says fake footage claims are 'baseless and ridiculous' >>>> >> >> . . . >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
