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A Deeply Ingrained Racism we Have Failed to Address
by Peter Ryan
It would be racist not to vote for Obama simply because he is black. Wouldn't it be equally racist not to vote for Obama because he was "Arab"?
If we needed any further evidence that prejudice against those of Arab descent has become the last publicly acceptable form of racism in American society, we have only to turn our attention to developments in the Presidential campaign these past few weeks. The most hostile attacks lobbed against Senator Obama? He's a Muslim. He's an Arab. He has a foreign name.
Above: A collection of photoshopped images on the web trying to peg Obama as a Muslim or an Arab and a T-shirt emphasizing his full name.
Obama, in fact, is not an Arab. Nor is he a Muslim. He is a Christian with a deeply rooted faith in Jesus Christ which he speaks of openly, as he did at the Saddleback Forum. At the forum, Rick Warren, one of the most influential evangelicals of his day, expressed a deep admiration and personal affinity for both Senator Obama and Senator McCain.
But what worries me most is not that the presidential elections have gone negative. It's not that some candidates feel that they can get away with completely baseless accusations and inneundos. What really worries me is not the campaign itself but what the campaign has revealed: there is a big chunk of this country that still feels it's okay to be racist as long as their targets are Arab. And there is a even bigger chunk of this country that sees any Muslim, regardless of their world view or ideology, as "an enemy."
Recently a woman at a McCain rally accused Barack Obama of being an Arab. John McCain came to his defense, stating that he was a "He's a decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with."
It used to be that, in the common discourse of this country, calling someone a "Jew" was largely to be seen as an accusation, an insult. That is how deeply ingrained Antisemitism was in our society. Is calling someone an "Arab" considered an insult today?
Imagine the conversation had played out as follows:
Woman: "he's not, he's not... he's, uh, he's a Jew."
McCain: "No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with."
It would never happen. McCain would have immediately called out the statement for what it was, an Antisemitic remark. Less important would be the question of whether or not the woman had slandered Obama, far more important would be the question of whether or not she was attempting to slander the Jewish people.
I don't single out blame on Senator McCain for his failure to respond to the inherent racism of this statement. I think many other politicians would have responded the same way. The prejudice is so deeply ingrained in us that we can't even see it for what it is.
We could even stretch a bit and fully give the benefit of the doubt to McCain by assuming that he either misheard or guessed (probably correctly) that the woman was going to proceed to call Obama an "Arab terrorist." Either way, the country deserves reassurance from the McCain campaign that "Arab" is not an insult.
The media seemed to miss the mark as well. For the majority of news anchors covering the story, the fact that calling someone an Arab is not in any way an insult or a denigration simply wasn't on the radar, it was a detail that was completely overlooked. The woman's comment was rightly seen as untrue and the intention behind the statement was rightly judge to be slandering Barack Obama, but the fact that the assumptions behind the statement were deeply racist was largely ignored. If someone at a McCain rally shouted into the microphone that they weren't voting for Barack Obama because he was black, the pundits' commentary would revolve around the issue of race for the next several days. But it seems almost tacitly accepted that it would be okay for someone not to vote for Barack Obama if he were an Arab.
As James Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute, noted in a public statement:
"While We are pleased to see that the senator is trying to dispel rumors about Senator Obama, but we feel the need to point out that Arab Americans are also decent men and women with the full rights of citizenship as enumerated under the constitution. Arab Americans are part of the great melting pot that is this country's strength. We work towards peace in the Middle East along side our Jewish partners. We raise our sons and daughters to be model citizens of this nation. We serve this country with honor. The suggestion that any ethnic group is treacherous and Anti-American is unacceptable, dangerous, and unbecoming of such a great nation."
Commentator Juan Cole rightly points out that another U.S. Presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, IS, in fact, an Arab-American.
"Mr. McCain, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans are decent, family-oriented citizens. The only thing wrong with calling Obama by either of these modifiers is that it would be incorrect. He is not an Arab ethnically, but rather northern European and Luo (Nilotic). He is not a Muslim but a Christian.
"McCain's insinuation that "Arabs" (whether he and his friend actually meant "Muslims" or not) are not decent and not family-oriented and not citizens is obscene.
"Ralph Nader, one of McCain's rivals for the presidency, is an Arab-American, and McCain owes Mr. Nader and all Arab-Americans, indeed, all Americans, a huge apology."
McCain: Obama Decent, no Arab by Juan Cole
Islam is not a race.
Islam is not a race. I'm having trouble believing you read the article, though, since I mainly discuss rhetorical assaults on Arabs.
You could certainly argue that "Arab" is not a race either, that it's more of a linguistic/cultural group, but it is also normally defined as an ethnicity (If you look at the CIA world fact book, for example, and look at ethnic breakdown by country, you'll see "Arab" figure predominately in a number of Middle Eastern states).
I think that a lot of these smears are designed to elicit an overly defensive response from Obama. If he denies being "Muslim" or "Arab" too strongly, then he risks maligning Muslim and Arab Americans. These smears have two purposes, basically, to appeal to racists and to create tension between the people targeted by the smears and the people who vehemently deny them.