Dispelling the Myths of the Arabs (or at least attempting to)
According to a National Geographic poll conducted in May of this year, 63% of Americans aged 18-24 couldn't locate IRAQ on a map of the Middle East.
9 out of 10 couldn't find Afghanistan.
Link to National Geographic Poll
U.S. respondents did worse than youths from every other country surveyed, with the exception of Mexico. Perhaps it's not just a lack of education and awareness about the Middle East that's a problem. Half the respondents couldn't find New York on a U.S. map. Stellar educational system we seem to have.
And still, after four years of continued media coverage of our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan you'd think that more Americans could have identified where those countries sit on a map. My generation is supposed to be the involved, political youth of America that has been sparked into action by recent world events and political corruption here at home. For goodness sake, Puff Daddy was parading around in a Rock the Vote tee-shirt in 2004...you'd think something would have come from that.
Maybe this is why Americans don't have a problem fighting a war in either of those two countries, they're so far away that they don't even register as real. They are "over there," existing half way around the world in a reality that is "other" from our own. I'm sure that this administration's harsh rhetoric concerning the Middle East and South Asia hasn't helped. A war against "terrorist" actors, bent on the "destruction" of America and at war with "our values," sounds really good, especially if the country is far enough away that you can't place it on a damn map! Bush and others have been good about dehumanizing the Arabs, and don't even get me started on media control and manipulation of the wars...maybe another time.
When I decided to study abroad in Sharjah no one knew where it was either. After explaining it was "near Dubai," and in the UAE, I still got mostly vacant looks. Then when you mention Arabian Penninsula, or a money word like "Saudi Arabia" for context, people start paying attention. Most wandered aloud what I'd do around a bunch of camels and tents, and I still get that when I talk with people over the internet now. But the truth is, after being here for a week, I'd be hard pressed to find more than a couple ways in which life here differs from life back home.
The truth is that people in the Middle East, or at least what I can speak to in the UAE, aren't that different from us. They sleep in beds, they watch the Simpsons, American soap operas, and American Idol, they refer to every brown fizzy drink as pepsi, and they eat french fries with everything! You can dress in a suit and tie for work, blue jeans to go to the mall, or go with traditional dress, whichever suits you. And the malls here put those in the west to shame! They're huge, with everything from the Gap and Prada, to Zara, and other local shops. I don't get the assumption that everyone in the Middle East lives in some third world squalor, or that that they possess inferior intelligence, or are inherently dangerous. These generalizations and stereotypes are flat out false, and dangerous. I actually had to convince someone today that all Arabs don't live in tents, just the very poor or Bedouin. Really, I did.
Dubai could have just as easily been Palm Springs, CA, and the American University of Sharjah is home to some of the most intelligent, down to earth, inspiring individuals I've met, all coming from different Arab nations. I'm not sure what the answer is or why such popular misconceptions exist, or even when they started. But education seems to be the key. I don't know about mainstream America, but I never had a Middle East history lesson (that made it past Mesopatamia and the Fertile Crescent) and it was never included in my high school geography class. Ask most Americans what the number one foreign policy issue is right now and they'll probably say Iraq, so maybe the U.S. needs to start educating its citizens about a key part of the world, and stop propagating myths that damage our ability to understand and work with the Arab world.
9 out of 10 couldn't find Afghanistan.
Link to National Geographic Poll
U.S. respondents did worse than youths from every other country surveyed, with the exception of Mexico. Perhaps it's not just a lack of education and awareness about the Middle East that's a problem. Half the respondents couldn't find New York on a U.S. map. Stellar educational system we seem to have.
And still, after four years of continued media coverage of our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan you'd think that more Americans could have identified where those countries sit on a map. My generation is supposed to be the involved, political youth of America that has been sparked into action by recent world events and political corruption here at home. For goodness sake, Puff Daddy was parading around in a Rock the Vote tee-shirt in 2004...you'd think something would have come from that.
Maybe this is why Americans don't have a problem fighting a war in either of those two countries, they're so far away that they don't even register as real. They are "over there," existing half way around the world in a reality that is "other" from our own. I'm sure that this administration's harsh rhetoric concerning the Middle East and South Asia hasn't helped. A war against "terrorist" actors, bent on the "destruction" of America and at war with "our values," sounds really good, especially if the country is far enough away that you can't place it on a damn map! Bush and others have been good about dehumanizing the Arabs, and don't even get me started on media control and manipulation of the wars...maybe another time.
When I decided to study abroad in Sharjah no one knew where it was either. After explaining it was "near Dubai," and in the UAE, I still got mostly vacant looks. Then when you mention Arabian Penninsula, or a money word like "Saudi Arabia" for context, people start paying attention. Most wandered aloud what I'd do around a bunch of camels and tents, and I still get that when I talk with people over the internet now. But the truth is, after being here for a week, I'd be hard pressed to find more than a couple ways in which life here differs from life back home.
The truth is that people in the Middle East, or at least what I can speak to in the UAE, aren't that different from us. They sleep in beds, they watch the Simpsons, American soap operas, and American Idol, they refer to every brown fizzy drink as pepsi, and they eat french fries with everything! You can dress in a suit and tie for work, blue jeans to go to the mall, or go with traditional dress, whichever suits you. And the malls here put those in the west to shame! They're huge, with everything from the Gap and Prada, to Zara, and other local shops. I don't get the assumption that everyone in the Middle East lives in some third world squalor, or that that they possess inferior intelligence, or are inherently dangerous. These generalizations and stereotypes are flat out false, and dangerous. I actually had to convince someone today that all Arabs don't live in tents, just the very poor or Bedouin. Really, I did.
Dubai could have just as easily been Palm Springs, CA, and the American University of Sharjah is home to some of the most intelligent, down to earth, inspiring individuals I've met, all coming from different Arab nations. I'm not sure what the answer is or why such popular misconceptions exist, or even when they started. But education seems to be the key. I don't know about mainstream America, but I never had a Middle East history lesson (that made it past Mesopatamia and the Fertile Crescent) and it was never included in my high school geography class. Ask most Americans what the number one foreign policy issue is right now and they'll probably say Iraq, so maybe the U.S. needs to start educating its citizens about a key part of the world, and stop propagating myths that damage our ability to understand and work with the Arab world.
posted by Kara | 9:16 PM
1 Comments:
I'm impressed with your site, very nice graphics!
»
Post a Comment
<< Home