National then the New Republic did
during the Gulf War is that you had a
picture of Saddam Hussein and they
literally clipped off his mustache in a
way that you would not notice right they
just clipped it off enough not to make
it look like Hitler but enough to in the
subconscious for there to kind of have
some kind of anchoring or identification
there so you think you're going to get a
lot of different type of stereotypes
going on but generally most most
Americans my own experience is that they
really do associate Arab with Muslim
right they and the word is either Muslim
Arab they worship Allah this type of
thing you you'd be surprised yeah I
think you'd be surprised California you
would be amazed I'm yes I'm really
serious because I'm there in California
I'm always amazed at you know actually
San Francisco's Southern California
think it might be a little different
maybe but you're dealing with it huh
Sesame Street has st street and the they
have worked as word association thanks
with the letters coming up and they have
14
danger an era they have different things
this worked out rotisserie and those not
danger and it was a male handed white
crochet looking in writing but an era
and then at book was printed recently
which meant well it was grossing so it
were to go to all the shoulders to
children include us between services as
well as well and the book was published
with about a child saying something that
was showing a drummer sometimes I wish
he'd go back home yet sometimes maybe
thanks Carrie and as lots of things that
frighten me and the part about being
pregnant depicting him like his bed with
in herriman closet this horrible scholar
one abandoned dagger between this is
really will you see this also the Asians
got the brunt of this the fu-manchu's
syndrome which is an interesting book
also the oriental menace which was how
Hollywood kind of perpetrated because
and that was at the time when China and
Japan there was a lot of problems right
and and the Asian got the brunt of a lot
of these stereotypes and they're still
dealing right the the inscrutable asian
and you know they're still dealing the
Asian community so I think every
community that comes to this country
that is not from the dominant
anglo-saxon grouping there's a wonderful
book now just came out a little while
ago call when the Irish became white
which is just letting people know that
the Irish used to be at the bottom of
the totem pole right I mean Irish people
in this country a lot of people don't
know the history of the iris and what
and what they went through to establish
their rights and their I mean even 1960
John F Kennedy that was a big debate you
know and although it was partly because
Roman Catholic but part of it was an
Irishman you know becoming president
united states was still a big shock you
know the mick syndrome and things like
that and people from the east coast
probably are more familiar with this
because of the so i think the Arabs are
just a new
ooh group the indo-pak people these are
new immigrants to this country they're
going to have to deal with the same
stuff that everybody else had to deal
with and the problem is is that we do
have Islam it's not they don't only have
their indo-pak pneus or their Arab pneus
but they have a religious because it's
not just the color that's alien the
accent is alien it's also some
subconscious problems that we're dealing
with with religion unless we forget the
the the Muslims to the European
Christian West was the evil empire for
several hundred years you know Russia
lasted you know 45 50 years the Muslims
you know children were scared to go to
bed by telling him about Turks and
things like that in Europe so that's
part of our collective consciousness is
that there is a deep-seated fear of the
Saracen the Turks at the Viennese gates
you know the the Barbary Coast from the
from the shores of Montezuma to the
halls of Tripoli I Triple E was was
Barbara they were called the Barbary
pirates who according to the Muslims
were actually the Navy right they were
the ottoman navy right so you know you
got you've got a lot of problems and I
think that you know people have if you
want to come to this country it's sink
or swim that's the nature of America you
got to deal with it hopefully that there
will always be sympathetic people that
stand up you know for you know for
what's right and there have been in this
country there have been people from the
dominant culture that have recognized
this is wrong there are people that did
stand by the Jews as they were asserting
their rights or people that stood by the
african-american and and that's all that
that has been part and parcel of art of
the American experience that there are
good people within the dominant culture
and I think Paulo Ferraris point is
well-taken that in the oppressor
oppressed cycle the cycle can really
only be broken from from
within the the oppressive group right
because the oppressed it's it's it's not
possible for them the cycle has to come
is it's our children you know that that
have two from this dominant culture that
have to we have to transmit we can break
the cycle that it is possible but it's a
human condition as well so we're going
to have a lot of problems on the way you
know and we're hoping all of you are
going to go out and help please do some
of the work you know of breaking down
the stereotypes and you know and and
educating some people