All American Muslim

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by southbymidwest

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.

[southbymidwest]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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".

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by als463

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.

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.

Originally Posted by southbymidwest

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.

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.

[als463]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

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.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by als463

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.

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.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

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.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

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.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

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.

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

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.