Week 3

It's been a very interesting week. I watched bits and pieces of the Republican debate last night (2/25/16) and a short film (approximately an hour long) of Guinean immigrant Adama and her arrest. The fact that Adama (the film), was broadcasted on Tuesday (2/23/16) after being completed in 2011 caught my interest. There must be a reason that the event in this film (the arrest occurred in 2005) was being shown today...well, because it's relevant.

One of the key topics, I think, in the Republican debate was the relationship between Israel, a Jewish country, and Gaza, a Muslim territory. How would they achieve peace? Would they achieve peace? What were they going to do about ISIS?

So, the fact that this video has been broadcasted recently is a red flag. People are realizing that there has been an anti-Islam influx lately and in order to counter this sentiment, videos and documentaries portraying American-Muslims in their homes, their actual lifestyles and their concerns is also on the rise.

It's important to remember that even though a great group of people may greatly fear and hate Muslims and Islam, there is another group that counters this ideology with their support and understanding of Muslims and Islam.
 Yes, 16 year old Adama was a Muslim, she was an illegal immigrant--she didn't have papers but she was also a good student, a good friend and an excellent older sister. What we still don't know today is why she was under suspicion of being a suicide bomber.

Adama didn't know why she was being arrested. She cooperated as much as she could because she knew she was innocent. But being subject to intense interrogations and strip searches is a horrifying experience and Adama barely had time to recover from it, because as soon as she was "let go" with an ankle bracelet and 10:00pm curfew, she became the breadwinner for her mother and four younger siblings.

She put on a strong face for everyone while reliving her horrible encounters alone in her room. But she persevered through the hardship (her father's deportation and the threat of her siblings being sent to foster care) and ultimately, through the United States Justice System, she was allowed to stay in America instead of being deported to Guinea and given the chance to bring happiness back to her family.

Similarly, Usama Alshaibi, an Iraqi immigrant grew up feeling all American until he too faced difficulties.

(OK, let me back up a bit. As I was watching Adama, which was actually broadcasted as a series by PBS called America Reframed. So I stumbled across Alshaibi's video, and I thinking it would be interesting and relevant, watched his video American Arab as well.)

Usama and his family love America, except it is hard for them to say they are proud to be Americans. They felt targeted during 9/11, when the US went to war against Iraq, the appearance of crazy backwards Arabs in Hollywood

and instances like when president Obama was accused of being an Arab:

 

They were confused as to why a country that promised freedom and liberty was now targeting them and their people. So Usama started telling the stories of other American Arabs as well:

An Arab woman, Amal Abusumayah, who started wearing the hijab (the head covering) after she was married was assaulted at the grocery store. While at the checkout line, someone attempted to pull her scarf of her head and then run out the store. Amal confronted the assailant and notified the police but decided not to press charges. She thought that the best course of action was to let the assailant go with a warning to demonstrate that Muslims were not violent people and they have the ability to forgive.

Arab metal/punk rock musician, Marwan Kamel, defies the both Arab world and American world's definition of "normal". Marwan plays loud music, smokes and drinks along with his fellow "rebels" of society proving that labels don't necessarily correlate with actions. 

Stereotypes do exist and we cannot get rid of them. They are part of our history, our present and future. The only thing we can do is learn from these stereotypes and understand that within the broad categories that society has formed, each person contains nuances that place them in a category of their own.

If you have time to spare, check out these links:
Republican debate highlights
Watch the short film Adama
Or you can read about it here
More on Adama's case here
Watch the short film American Arab 

P.S. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the Oscars, those who were white, those who were of color, male, female, foreign, American, homosexual, heterosexual (the list could go on) especially Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (who is a Pakistani-Canadian female)!

Like I said before, there is as much support for the "minorities" as there is for the "majority" and this year's Oscars did an excellent job of portraying the importance of diversity.  :)