All American Muslim
 

Is anyone watching? I'm curious how "outsiders" feel about the show. Having gone to UofM-Dearborn, I learned a little about the Muslim culture, and A LOT about them not all being terrorists. Many I met were wonderful people.

What network is this on? ETA: TLC (it is not on now)

I understand but it is sad that you did not already know this. In all honesty, why do you think you needed that reality check?

I am sure that goes without saying. This sounds a little like "some of my best friends are (insert)."

I said that because

1- a big purpose of this show is for the world (or Americans) to see that they are NOT terrorists. I already knew this. I was in college on 9/11 and it was heartbreaking to hear my friends' stories.... yes my FRIENDS... about how they were being treated by the public. Friends or not, I've never once felt threatened by a Muslim and it's REALLY sad that many people have felt that way. I hope this show changes a lot of people's minds.
2- Many I met are wonderful people, and just like all races, religions, body types, genders, I met some shitty ones too.

Don't try to turn my post into something it isn't. I'm very interested in this show because it's showcasing a culture I was surrounded by for 6 years, and it was filmed in my own "backyard". Don't turn this into some kind of hate thread.

I'm going to go with informative and having potential. I've watched worse.

When you type: "having gone to UofM-Dearborn, I learned a little about the Muslim culture, and A LOT about them not all being terrorists. Many I met were wonderful people" it conveys that you did not know this until you attended UofM-Dearborn.

Again, doesn't this go without saying? In stating the obvious, are you trying to inform people or speaking about what you learned from your experience? Serious questions.

It is what it is. I am responding to your posts just as I would to someone who said "I went to a school with a large Jewish population and learned A LOT about Jews not all being greedy" or a nonwhite person who said "many white people I met in college are wonderful people."

What is embedded in those statements?

Sure, you can add that there are wonderful and shitty Muslims just like there are wonderful and shitty people of all races and ethnicities, religions, etc. But, again, in stating the obvious are you trying to inform people or are you speaking about what you learned from your experience?

I was wondering why Dearborn, Michigan is home to the largest mosque in the United States. Then I read the racial and ethnic demographics of Dearborn. Approximately 86% whites which includes about 33% Arab Americans (approximately 30,000).

Wikipedia is okay sometimes:

Interesting blogs about All American Muslim:

http://www.buzzfocus.com/2011/11/21/all-american-muslim-episode-2-review-the-fast-and-the-furious/

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/15/my-take-all-american-muslim-doesnt-speak-for-this-muslim/

http://blog.chron.com/thestraightpath/2011/11/all-american-muslim-the-tlc-version/

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47508

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My thoughts based on the videos that I have seen and the things that I have read: Shows like this have pros and cons. DUH, of course. These shows can be informative but they can also merely form "exceptions to the rule." I tend to dislike shows that are teaching people about different groups of people and can be interpreted as attempting to prove "they are just like us." CNN's shows like "Black in America" also toll that line.

More importantly, when interacting with and learning about groups of people who we were previously less exposed to, we need to think critically about how we express and respond to what we have learned. We can have the best of intentions but people typically do not react based on our intentions. For example, I have had people in real life tell me about a television show they saw on Black men in America or something they read and they have said things like "I learned from this show...I also have some really good Black male friends...they aren't all street-level offenders despite Black males statistically being disproportionately involved in violent crimes...and many of them are really good, intelligent people." I responded with "thanks for that reminder and your expression of approval of Black men...I guess some people need that newsflash about Black men...did you need it? Do you still need it from time to time?"

I'm giving my damn opinion. Before college I knew nothing of the Muslim culture. All you hear about in the media is negativity about Muslims. I appreciate my college experience, learning about MANY different cultures since I grew up in a predominately white, middle class, Catholic community. Hell I was the weird Italian who brought Nutella sandwiches to lunch (think: My Big Fat Greek Wedding and her moussaka).

This is an internet board, not a speech class on Persuasive Writing. I'm not going to carefully think about every single letter I type, just in case you decide you want to pick it apart and find a reason to make it look like I am discriminating against something. It is what it is. Stop searching for hidden meanings.

I feel you on this.

I keep meaning to tune in but am never home. It's On Demand so I'm going to watch an episode right now.

I'm giving my damn response to your damn opinion. ;)

I am responding to how you expressed what you learned. That is all.

There was no hidden meaning. You said exactly what you meant. It is wonderful that you learned something and how you expressed what you learned is what I am responding to.

The bolded sounds like a newbie responding to GCers critiquing their spelling. LOL.

I am planning on catching up with this show On Demand once this class term is over. I'm anxious to watch it and everybody around here is talking about it, especially about the young woman who said she dyes and styles her hair even though it is always covered in public.

Which one is that? I know there is the daughter who dyes her hair and is married to (or marrying?) an Irish Catholic man who is converting.

Your organization must be so proud.

I don't know, I'm only going by things I've heard people talk about.. haven't seen it yet. They did talk about the guy who is converting also, so maybe that's the one. It was a lunch conversation that I couldn't partake in since I haven't seen the show yet.

Read the rest of the thread. Calling someone a fatty and saying that you learned about a culture are two totally different things.

my organisation, my schooling, and my parents all taught me never to judge someone based on their religion or their race, its just a little bid sad that a tv program taught you that "not all muslims are terrorists".

Did they teach you that reading is fundamental?

Calling someone a fatty is judging someone. Do you know WHAT made them overweight?

Did you also know that judging a group of people based on their colour or religion is racist?

lol

No, it's prejudiced.

I didn't know that religion was race based?

And who was judging?

Face it. You called an overweight person a fatty. You are part of the bullying problem in America.

you're as bad as I am, by stating that "not all muslims are terrorists" implies that before you watched the show, you actually did think that "all muslims are terrorists". say what you want to sweetheart, but your just as judgemental!

Sweetheart.... READ THE THREAD.

I judge people who are college educated and can't differentiate between "your" and "you're" while trying to call someone out for making a poorly-worded statement after thinking it is okay to make fun of someone for their size. I also judge people who call other people judgmental but, don't even know how to spell the word properly. I'm a bad person!

Seriously though, I know the intent was there for PM Mama but, maybe the execution wasn't as good as it could have been. She was sharing that the show was insightful. That's great! I think that if we can watch television that teaches us something, instead of that trashy reality stuff (the stuff that I love), that's even better! Unfortunately, there are people who had such messed up thinking about various religions and races until they went to college. I never met a Muslim until I went to college. I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet so many great people while in college.

The same way some people lump every Republican in with Tea Partiers (yes, I have actually had people make that statement to me), we shouldn't lump a large group of great people (Muslims) in with a small percentage that wants to harm others (terrorists). If there weren't people out there who didn't lump everyone like that together, there would be no need to even make this show. There are some small-minded people out there.

I believe it was Suehaila (sp?), the older, unmarried Amen daughter that wears the hijab, who said that on the first episode.

I'll admit, I was thrown at first with the hijab and the Southern Michigan accent, which is really, really stupid. No one expects me to have a German accent since that is my heritage, so, yeah.

We don't have an accent ;) However, I guess I experience that so much here that I don't think about it.

I did watch this the other night on On Demand and enjoyed it. I'll keep trying to catch it. I have friends who don't wear the hijab here but they do wear it when they go home to their more conservative families.

Yeah, the Southern Michigan/Northern Ohio accent definitely is there on the show. Of course, I should talk, whenever I visit Ohio for more than 2 hours, the name Anne, which is pronounced "Ayun" in my neck of the woods becomes "Eeyan".

Lol sister we finally agree on something. You worded it way better than I did. (aka sometimes when you're posting on a message board, things don't come out right) I never thought they were terrorists. After high school I didn't think anything of Muslims because there were none there. I began college in 1999 and meeting people of all backgrounds and colors was something new. I learned that there were many great people, and this was before 9/11. I didn't know much about the 93 bombing so I really had no opinion. Had I started college after 9/11, because, really, negativity about Muslims is all the media portrays. I might've thought different. But that wasn't the case.

It's not stupid actually lol. Many Muslims (and Chaldeans and Lebanese and Arab in general) do have an accent even though they were born here. But I also see an accept between people in my little area of southeastern Michigan. Eastsiders especially.

No worries. I knew what you meant. I came from a small town and started college after September 11th. In fact, I was in the military at the time it happened. I can still remember the hateful comments people in my small town would make about the whole situation. I'm glad there is a show like this to help other people who don't have much diversity see things from a different perspective. My town is about 99% Caucasian. Not everyone leaves my town to go to the military or college. Many of the people on here who may have been fortunate enough to grow up in a diverse town would be shocked at the beliefs still held by some of the people (of all ages) in my hometown because they never actually left.

Religion is correlated with race, ethnicity, and culture. Are you one of those people who pretends that the history; and racial, ethnic, and cultural dynamics of religions around the world are a mere coincidence?

This is one of the more amusing threads in a minute and that has nothing to do with the new show.

Most people in this country do not grow up in diverse "towns." The average American may see or interact with people of a different religion, race, ethnicity, or culture at work or school (sometimes, not even that) but consciously and subconsciously spends more valued time in religiously, racially, ethnically, and culturally segregated friendship and family environments.

So, there is nothing shocking about what PM_Mama experienced. What is interesting is how she conceptualized and expressed what she learned. Afterall, "many I met were wonderful people." But, of course, PM_Mama will claim ignorance and pretend as though I was just randomly trying to create one of "those threads."

Anyway, back to the thread that is not really about a show.

Actually no, I'm not ignorant. I didn't conceptualize what I learned.... I worded my thoughts incorrectly. Als worded it better.

Thanks to als463.

Oh, well thank you ladies! The truth is that we should thank EVERYONE in this thread for making it such a great topic of discussion. If we never have discussions like this, things will never change. I applaud PM Mama for bringing up this show (which I hadn't even heard of--though I watch more television than I should even admit) and DrPhil (as well as anyone else) who made a point to look at this from a different perspective. I think we can all learn from one another on here.

I think I may check this show out! Thanks PM Mama for bringing it to my attention. Also, thanks for giving me another reason to procrastinate in doing my work :rolleyes:, lol.

I didn't watch the show--I don't really watch that much TV so it's no surprise there.

Sometimes diversity leads to more segregation. In terms of numbers, I didn't grow up in a diverse town the way that NYC or SF are "diverse cities," but there was a lot less segregation since there wasn't a _____ community the way that some cities have. Because of the military, my hometown has substantial populations of Thai and Filipina women; but outside of that, there are only handfuls of other ethnic groups and they tend to associate with larger groups. For example, the Indo-Caribbean people will associate with the larger "Black community" in my hometown, while in NYC they are segregated by countries--there are delineated Trinidadian and Guyanese communities that don't mix all that often. Eastern Europeans and other white immigrants just get assimilated into specific "white" communities based on their socio-economic status. I guess it's more of a "melting pot," which has its benefits and drawbacks.

The accent thing that PM_Mama mentioned doesn't surprise me at all--I see it in some groups here. If they're living in insular communities, patronizing the same businesses, and going to schools in the same areas, then there are fewer opportunities to interact with larger communities and the accents stay, even among second-generation Americans.

As the child of a Dutch parent and a Speech pathologist, I have an accent. I am often asked where I come from. It's interesting.

Realistically, discussions like this are not what make things substantively change. Things change when societies remove incentives and resources for keeping things the way they are; and add incentives and resources for change.

There are plenty of people who will watch All American Muslim, claim to be gaining insights, and will still say and do things that potentially negatively impact Muslims. To reiterate what I typed on page 1, shows like All American Muslim, Black in America, and Latina in America tend to merely create "exceptions to the rule." Such is life and the constant challenge of differences across groups of people (which are not inherently bad) and the inequalities that were created based on those differences.

:) Just being honest to avoid the ponies pissing rainbows routine that tends to happen when people discuss group dynamics. We can discuss a show and discuss the details behind the show without it becoming about some sweeping change that is going to make the planet fart unicorns.

Oh, no I don't think this thread will necessarily open up doors or eyes of people who choose not to read but, I do think it's great to have these conversations. For instance, I remember you saying something in a thread (I think it was you) that said something about how saying, "I have a ____ friend," really makes a person look dumb. To be honest, until that was said in that thread, I never thought about it and I'm sure I was guilty of it as well. No, I didn't make racial slurs and then say, "Well, my friend is ___ so, that is okay" but, I'm sure I have said things similar to, "I'm not racist. Don't call me that. I have friends who are ____." When it was mentioned by people of various races in a thread, I started being more aware of what I say and how I say it. In fact, I def. pick up on it when other people do it. So, this may not change everyone's perspective but, it can help those of use (a general we) who didn't realize how close-minded we sounded.