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stuff white people do: mistake greeks for arabs, arabs for muslims, and muslims for terrorists

This is just a little something the wonderful Macon D of anti-racism blog stuff white people do allowed me to guest post over there…For those of you who may have missed it.

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Last week, a few days after the horrific events of Fort Hood, a Marine reservist in Florida mistook a visiting Greek Orthodox priest for a “terrorist” and beat him with a tire iron.  The reservist (who was indeed white) made all sorts of wild claims — that the priest yelled “Allahu Akbar,” that he made a lewd hand gesture. . . claims that have been widely refuted.

What really happened is this: The Greek priest, Father Alexios Marakis, was visiting Florida for the purpose of blessing another priest.  He got lost while driving, and pulled over to ask for help.  He was dressed in a robe and did not speak English very well, so the Marine, Jasen Bruce (who is sticking to his story and refuses to apologize) got freaked out and beat the crap out of him.

Because he looked like a terrorist.
Which really means he looked Muslim.
Which really means he looked “Arab.”
Which really means he looked different, and that scares white people.

I don’t know exactly what it is about white Americans. . . I can say, from anecdotal personal experience, that Europeans and other white people traveling throughout the Middle East and North Africa often make silly orientalist comments, and I’m fully aware of the idiotic British BNP (and other European right-wing parties) that would happily rid Europe of all Muslims. However, there seems to be a special kind of ignorance amongst white Americans when it comes to Muslims and Arabs.  It goes something like this:

1. They don’t know the difference between “Muslim” and “Arab.” Remember last year during one of McCain’s town hall meetings when a middle-aged white woman objected to Obama by saying, “but he’s-he’s-an ARAB!”?  It was obvious to many of us that what she really meant to object to was his religion — after all, it was part of the zany right-wing public debate at the time — but instead she just somehow got confused and cried “Arab.”  You know, because it doesn’t really matter right?  Which brings us to McCain’s response . . . “No, he’s not, ma’am, he’s a DECENT family man.” As if being an “Arab” disqualifies a man from being a decent family man.  Which leads to:

2.  They think “Muslim” and “good person” are mutually exclusive. McCain was quite aware that the woman meant to say “Muslim” and yet chose to defend Obama not just by saying “No, ma’am he’s not,” but also by feeling compelled to add “he’s a decent family man.”  The implication?  That one cannot be both an Arab (or Muslim, since that’s what we all know the woman meant) and a good man. I often hear comments about how obesity is the last acceptable prejudice in this country, but I’d like to argue that Islamophobia is far more widespread and accepted. Can you imagine if white people blatantly still said such horrible things about Black people? It’s completely unheard of in many parts of the United States for someone to say “nigger,” but “sandnigger”?  In many places in this country, that’s totally okay.

3. They don’t realize that most Muslims aren’t Arab. Going back to point #1, the imagery of what it means to be Muslim in the United States is so tied in with our images of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf (not even the Arab world on the whole!) that even on progressive blogs, you will often see people refer in blanket terms to Muslim women’s dress as “the burqa.”  What they don’t seem to realize is that the countries with the largest Muslim population are all in Asia (where, mind you, women don’t even wear the burqa), and not Arab at all!

4. They mistake non-Muslims and non-Arabs for Muslims and Arabs.  In the years since 9/11 (though before as well), many groups have become collateral damage in racist attacks against Arabs and Muslims in the U.S.  Iranians, Greeks, Sikhs, Hindus, and sometimes, anyone with a beard seems to be a target. 6 years ago, a Hindu was mistaken for a Muslim in Boston and beaten. . .and just last week, as noted above, it happened to a Greek priest.

5. They think “Middle Eastern” is a race.  Except on the census. While the region also known as the Middle East and North Africa is often referred to as “the Arab world,” the latter is somewhat of a misnomer and more accurately refers to a shared language (kind of like the way Latino is often used).  From Morocco to Saudi Arabia, there are Arabs, but there are also Amazigh (Berbers), Moors, Bedouins, and plenty of other native groups that prefer not to be referred to as “Arab.”  But when they come to the United States, it doesn’t matter anyway, as they’re expected to check the “White” box. . . imagine arriving from Mauritania, on the continent of Africa, and being told you can’t check the “African-American” box.  True story.

6. They assume that all Arabs are Muslim. I love this one. . . It never ceases to amaze me the blanket statements made about “that part of the world,” and “their practices.”  Nevermind the native Coptic, Maronite, and Orthodox Christian populations, the converts, the Jews, the Druze, the Zoroastrians, the Baha’i.  And if on the off chance you do meet someone who is aware of those other populations, they’re still likely to try to convince you that they’re those populations are all oppressed by the Muslims, anyway.  Which brings me to my last and most important point. . .

7. They pretend it’s not racism.  So, Islam is not a race, and to many, “Arab” isn’t either. . . It doesn’t matter: there is plenty of evidence of racism against all of the aforementioned groups. In fact, there’s significant evidence to suggest that systematic racism is practiced against Muslims and those with Muslim or Arab-sounding names (regardless of actual faith) in a number of places.  This BBC article discusses the racist practice of not hiring Arabs and Muslims based on name alone (in France). Though I’m not aware of any study, I’ve seen the same happen in the U.S. And the exclusion of North Africans from being qualified as “African-American” on the census and on scholarship applications (again, they’re supposed to check the “white” box) means they’re doubly discriminated against: Not really white, but not non-white enough to benefit from certain programs.

And that’s only the beginning — as we saw in a video Macon posted last week, Muslims (especially Muslim women who wear hijab) are often assumed not to be American, even when they were born here.  Arabs are pulled to the side for “random checks” nearly every time they fly.  And more often than not, when an Arab or Muslim does commit a crime, the entire Arab and Muslim communities are expected to speak out against it (ask yourself: would we expect the same every time a Christian or white person committed a crime?).

Here’s a thought: Perhaps if people, and the media, made more of an effort to know the difference between a Muslim, an Arab, a Persian, a Hindu. . . or better yet, a Moroccan, a Syrian, a Saudi, a Kuwaiti. . . Perhaps if everyone made more of an effort to see people as unique peoples from particular countries and cultures, or better yet — as individuals! — they would be less likely to commit atrocious acts against them based on assumptions.  Perhaps they would be less likely to expect Muslims as a group to speak for one individual Muslim, and perhaps they’d be more likely to understand that an entire mass of 325 million people who just happen to share a common language most certainly do not share a common perspective.

17 replies on “stuff white people do: mistake greeks for arabs, arabs for muslims, and muslims for terrorists”

Racism and prejudice are very deep-rooted in America. It’s most evident and becomes more magnified in the press during elections where minorities are involved or when acts of violence are committed by non-whites. It’s kinda bizarre to me considering that it’s the most multi-racial/multi-cultural country in the world. Add to that the level of prejudices that exist even within the minority groups among themselves, the picture can’t get any uglier for America in terms of humanities.

That’s a great feel-good post, but here’s a dose of reality:

The problem is actually Islam. Most of the people who wish death upon the United States and Israel are not, in fact, Arabs. They are non-Arab Muslims. So if we take the only common denominator (and factor in that killing in the name of Allah is a Muslim action, not an Arab one) then we are left with Islam.

Sure, you can point to as many exceptions as you like, but it comes down to this: The force behind the majority of terrorist attacks is a religious fervor that emanates from mosques, not synagogues, churches, shrines, or anything else. Sure, many do not share these outliers’ opinions, but I don’t see many Muslims working hard to quieten their bretheren during protests.

Equating statistics and observation with racism and prejudice is sad. This post is actually about ignorance, which leads to racism and prejudice, to be sure. But let’s not allow ourselves to be so blinded to the facts that we refuse to hold any minority group accountable for its actions.

David –

“Sure, many do not share these outliers’ opinions…”

So you admit that Muslim extremists don’t reflect Islam as a whole, yet you think we should blame Islam anyway?

I’m sorry because Muslims don’t stand up and defend them selves like they should.
I’m sorry because the Media around you has brain washed you.
I’m sorry that you are weak enough to believe that a whole group of people wish death upon anyone else.
I’m sorry because you’re a victim to the propaganda machine.
And I’m sorry that even after reading this article.. your brain decided to take only half the information in..
1) “AL Qaeda” is not an Islamic group. Nor does it have the right to speak in Islam’s name.
2) The majority of muslims don’t agree with “AL Qaeda’s” actions nor do they wish death upon anyone. Just like in Christianity “thou should not kill” is one of gods commandments in Islam
3) Islam & Christianity have A LOT in common.
4) Just like the fact that I can’t say that American’s wish death to ALL black people just because there is a minority group calling them selves the KKK kill in the name of Jesus. You can’t connect “AL Qaeda” to Islam.

I hope you go and do some proper reading, rather than watching Fox news.
good luck with your life.

Do you realize us Greeks are white? We may have some Turkish blood, but we consider ourselves to be as white as Italians, and Spaniards. I dare you to go to Greece and got up to a couple of young men and tell them they are not white. You will regret it.

This article is racist against white people. Trying to lump all whites into not being able to tell arabs from muslims etc.

So I was clueless when posed the question, are greeks arabs? So I did what I always do, I goggle d the question. Still don’t have a clue. Think there is no easy answer like yes or no. Instead I found information telling me that I should know better, somehow and that I was a racist to even ask the question. If I knew the answer I wouldn’t be asking the question. It is a little nuts not even to be able to ask the qyuestion. How am I supposed to find out. I cannot at present take a trip to the library to do the research. Maybe later I will be able to do that. I would have been nice just to get a simple answer instead of being attacked for being a racist because I din ‘ t know to begin with. Sorry I was interested in finding out more about your culture. Thought it was interesting but instead found it was just more haters. How sad Sometimes my latino friends and my Arab friends look so much alike, they look like brother and sisters with the same parents, so go figure that into your Arab hate talk. Even mlatinoy friends will say that they think the guy looks just like their uncle! I give up. The world is very deversified and interesting, but education starts with asking a question and caring enough to look for an answer ( and not being called a racist because you admitted your ignorance. I don’t know the differences in the american indian tribes either, though I am fascinated by their culture and want to find out more.in the southwest america there are a number of different tribes but you are not considered a racist if you ask a question to try and figure out the difference like who is Navajo and who is zuni? Then you find out they are both part of the same bigger tribe, they are the same.)

I am one-hundred percent sure white people are not the only people who mistake race. Blaming it solely on white people and accusing them of doing something you do not even know them for is wrong. What the title should actually be is something like, “What People Who Aren’t Arab Do.” If I wrote an article on the exact same subject but changed it from ‘white’ to ‘black’ there would be political outrage. There is an obvious double standard here between leftists and rightists.

Arabs are classified as white because many of them ARE white. It’s just a physical classification. Levantines are white people. If a cop doesn’t stop you as he sees your fair skin, you ha e white privilege lmao. It’s not that hard to understand.

And don’t know why you have to divide this by race, Orthodox Christians are close whever we are.

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