2008 Woodie Awards
Guest Editorial: Hazing Immigrants
Christina Perez
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: Opinions & Editorials
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I find it laughable that someone like Mr. Sandersfeld, who claims to be "objective" and politically educated, is oh-so-obviously swayed by such erroneous characterizations of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims reflected in the bias of Western reporters and filmmakers. Research verifies that lurid and insidious depictions of Muslims as alien, violent strangers intent upon battling nonbelievers throughout the world are all too common - and more so - incorrect.
In his opinion piece, Mr. Sandersfeld stated that the authors of the Danish political cartoons reviewed in The Lawrentian's previous issue "were correct in their cultural assessment of Islam; it is a Western-hating, liberty-hating, individual-hating culture bent on violence." Holding such bold misconceptions to be true is equivalent to believing all Americans are monolingual, promiscuous, selfish and lacking family values, as they are sadly regarded in many countries. Or, for that matter, that all Hispanics are uneducated, poor, lazy, and have the tendency to abuse federal welfare programs. Or that blacks are loud, rude, drug addicts, or criminals. I think you get the point. Making such negative generalizations of an entire religion, country, race or group of people is not only irresponsible and immature, it is outright prejudice.
Media coverage, whether he chooses to admit or not, deals heavily in stereotypes because the art of storytelling depends in large part on the success with which protagonists and antagonists are evoked.
When it comes to accurate depictions of an entire race or religious group, does art imitate life, or the other way around? Muslims and Arabs are essentially covered, discussed and apprehended, either as oil suppliers or as potential terrorists. Rather than provide the human density of their lives, a limited series of crude, essentialized caricatures of the Islamic world are presented, every day and in every news channel and major newspaper, in such a way as to make that world vulnerable to military aggression.
In his opinion piece, Mr. Sandersfeld stated that the authors of the Danish political cartoons reviewed in The Lawrentian's previous issue "were correct in their cultural assessment of Islam; it is a Western-hating, liberty-hating, individual-hating culture bent on violence." Holding such bold misconceptions to be true is equivalent to believing all Americans are monolingual, promiscuous, selfish and lacking family values, as they are sadly regarded in many countries. Or, for that matter, that all Hispanics are uneducated, poor, lazy, and have the tendency to abuse federal welfare programs. Or that blacks are loud, rude, drug addicts, or criminals. I think you get the point. Making such negative generalizations of an entire religion, country, race or group of people is not only irresponsible and immature, it is outright prejudice.
Media coverage, whether he chooses to admit or not, deals heavily in stereotypes because the art of storytelling depends in large part on the success with which protagonists and antagonists are evoked.
When it comes to accurate depictions of an entire race or religious group, does art imitate life, or the other way around? Muslims and Arabs are essentially covered, discussed and apprehended, either as oil suppliers or as potential terrorists. Rather than provide the human density of their lives, a limited series of crude, essentialized caricatures of the Islamic world are presented, every day and in every news channel and major newspaper, in such a way as to make that world vulnerable to military aggression.