Class date: September 15, 2020
Class summarizer: Leslie Avecillas
This discussion was focused on the effect of colonialism and how it led to orientalism and the stereotypes that people hold about Muslims and Islam. We began by unpacking the idea of colonialism. We all agreed that it has very real, long-lasting, and harmful effects on communities worldwide. It was also noted that colonialism is very romanticized in the US, where the focus is not on how the country came to be but rather the perceived benefits of colonization. Another effect of colonialism is that people in the same colonized region are not treated the same. For example, in Israel, Tel Aviv is very ‘western’ and its residents are allowed to travel but in Palestinian territories that Israel governs, those residents do not have equal rights.
This talk leads into the origins and effect of orientalism. It is effectively the lumping together of everyone in the Middle east, north Africa, and the rest of the eastern hemisphere of the world and equates all of these cultures as inferior and exotic. It includes Central and South America as well as the Balkan regions (which have very different ethnic and religious groups and were historically ruled by many different empires). It was mentioned that while orientalism mostly is about people of color, it still includes white people and white privilege does not protect you the same way if you are Muslim.
Along with the treatment of Muslims, the Bosnian Genocide was brought up in discussion and we allc ame to the consensus that it was a genocide based on religion. This genocide was compared to the one in Rwanda. The Rwandan genocide might have received more media attention because it happened in and African coutnry where people ‘look different’ and it would not upset the public vastly, which is also probably why it has a movie about. Additionally, people are under the perspective that these things must happen in Africa a lot, which is why when the explosion in Beirut happened, people were unsurprised and unmoved. The Bosnian Genocide on the other hand killed people who look the people in power, and it might have been a conscious choice of the media and our governments to keep it far away from our minds.
We also talked about the racism component of colonialism and how people were more comfortable with the killing of Black people in Africa, similarly to how Black on Black crime is supposedly a thing in America. Colonialism also caused much of the racism that later lead to genocide, such as the British colonization that divides people into castes to this day and how Belgium divided people into a class based on how light their skin was. Colonialism has the effect of making people angry and in India, Muslims and Hindus banded together to riot against a common enemy but allegiances fall apart and the country is still divided as well.
We then moved on to orientalism in the US and how a popular form it takes is pop culture. In the movie Aladdin, it was mentioned that it had very sensual music, how the characters come from far away lands, how the attractive characters all had western features and accents, how the castle looks like the Taj Mahal (which is in India). It all perpetuates a stereotype and the movie was produced in 1992, not 1942.
We were asked about our thoughts of the Fordson movie. Someone mentioned that the first half was more informational while the second half felt like a feel-good movie. We connected how during the World Cup, Algeria, a muslim team, had to choose between following their religion during Ramadan and being in top shape to be able to perform safely. Similarly, the students in the movie had to fast during games and practices and we talked about how this was blatant disregard for a religion and its needs.
Finally, we talked about the cartoons that were published. Professor Albert mentioned that beforehand, everyone was trying to hold their islamophobia in but when reactions to the cartoons became violent, suddenly people let out a big breath and were able to safely say all the islamaphobic things they had believed all along.
By
5 thoughts on “Colonialism, Orientalism, Islamophobia”
William
more on the Bosnian Genocide, I felt that another reason why it might have been ignored or brushed under the mat is because of where it was located in Europe. So many nations would not want this atrocity to happen in a “developed continent” such as Europe,
Hassan Jaber
I think the idea and stereotypes behind Aladdin are often overlooked or even unnoticed. The types of stereotypes that fill this movie often reflect the stereotypes that people have on “far away people”.
Aya Kanan
We spoke about Aladdin in terms of the original 1992 animation. But when looking at the 2019 live action version, you can still find some problematic casting that again goes to show that these “far away lands” are all encompassing of anyone who seems to be brown. Jasmine is played by Naomi Scott, who is of Indian descent. Aladdin is played by Mena Massoud who is Egyptian. The genie is played by Will Smith who is African American, and the Sultan is played by Navid Negahban, who is Iranian.
This shows that South Asians, Africans and African Americans, Persians, and West Asians are all lumped together in a category that is all encompassing, when in reality they all come from different backgrounds and cultures.
Joely
Regarding the discussion about Aladdin, I have found throughout a lot of my education/childhood taking in popular culture, Islam is heavily mysticized. I think this all can be explained by xenophobia and general racism. Mysticizing Islam is a great way to “other” Muslims as a people. Once they are seen as other, then it is so easy to simply generalize them as a people as whatever the media/politics needs them to be to explain the narrative they’re pushing.
Jeremy Silverstein
I love the final observation, which points to the social nature of prejudice. Those who hesitate to express prejudice as individuals may relish the opportunity to do so within a collective, perhaps waiting upon a catalyst–cartoons, for instance–following which that prejudice may be framed as commentary rather than a preexisting sentiment.