PSA Reflection
As a group, three others in my class and myself created a PSA. It's not specific to Bosnian refugees, but it does talk about stereotypes about Muslims and how they can be harmful. While making the PSA I learned a couple of things. The most important I think, being that the problem we have in America isn't just the population's attitude towards Muslims. It's the politics, the fear that many have in their hearts, and the misinformation. The process we had to go through to write the PSA helped me to better edit my papers that I had previously written about Bosnian refugees.
It was also very helpful to work in a group and see the views of others researching a similar topic. We all came to basically the same conclusion, and developed a theme for our PSA: don't be racist. It seems a bit simple and maybe not that hard hitting, but racism is a big problem. If people were to just swallow their pride and open their eyes to see that people are all human and for all intensive purposes the same, there would be a lot less wars and a lot less hatred.
Hatred shouldn't be completely done away with though. There are legitimate reasons to not like people or agree with what they do, but hating an entire culture is too much. Determining how you feel about someone should be on a case-by-case basis, not by grouping people into good and bad categories. The PSA helped me see our collective opinion on the matter clearer. We all just want people to become informed and learn to accept differences in the people they meet, especially if they had a predisposition against those people.
It was also very helpful to work in a group and see the views of others researching a similar topic. We all came to basically the same conclusion, and developed a theme for our PSA: don't be racist. It seems a bit simple and maybe not that hard hitting, but racism is a big problem. If people were to just swallow their pride and open their eyes to see that people are all human and for all intensive purposes the same, there would be a lot less wars and a lot less hatred.
Hatred shouldn't be completely done away with though. There are legitimate reasons to not like people or agree with what they do, but hating an entire culture is too much. Determining how you feel about someone should be on a case-by-case basis, not by grouping people into good and bad categories. The PSA helped me see our collective opinion on the matter clearer. We all just want people to become informed and learn to accept differences in the people they meet, especially if they had a predisposition against those people.
PSA script
Stereotypes:
Many Americans view Muslims negatively. They face hatred everyday with people constantly staring at them, or making racist comments behind their backs. But for what reason? They may dress in a different way or practice a different religion, but why does that turn them into targets for slander? The answer is in stereotypes.
After 911, many Americans started to view Muslims under a different light. So many hateful comments revolve around a single stigma: all muslims are terrorists; they only want to kill everyone different than them, especially Christians. The fear of terrorism and the resulting stigma from it then branch out to Americans viewing Muslims as evil and war hungry. They view the way women are treated in Islam as oppressing. Government in the Middle East is also viewed negatively, and many people jump to the conclusion that all Muslims don’t believe in democracy.
The solution to the problem is more than just refraining from making rude comments; it’s becoming educated and eliminating the negative thoughts all together. In the end, they’re just stereotypes.
Terrorism:
Although it is obvious that Middle Eastern people are not terrorists, they are often treated as such by the American people. Contrary to popular belief, terrorism is not condoned by Islam, and the vast majority of Muslims view terrorism as immoral on religious and humanitarian grounds. We as a society need to remember that most people hurt by Islamic extremists are Muslims living in the Middle East. These people are not our enemies; they are the victims of our enemies. They are affected more by terrorism than anyone else, which is often the reason they immigrate to America. Instead of making their lives more difficult with racism, we should strive for change here and abroad.
Oppression:
A common stereotype of Muslim people is that their women are oppressed. From an outsider’s perspective it looks like they are forced to cover their bodies as a sign of their inferiority, however this is not true. Many women are not forced to cover, they choose to. Women wear the coverings as a form of liberation. Some women choose to wear a full face veil, others choose to just cover their hair, and others choose to not cover at all. Women cover because they feel it is a sign of their faith or because it frees them. By covering their bodies, women require others to get to know them for who they are, not by what they look like.
Government:
Americans need to know that the wants of the Middle Eastern citizens differ from the wants of their government officials. The media exaggerates the country's problems as if the majority of people agree with what’s going on when, in reality, they don’t. America should not be so hesitant to help Middle Eastern citizens receive quality education, a stable economic system, and democracy. We need to understand how the majority of citizens feel about the situations and help according to their needs - we should not give unwanted help because this could create further problems in the area.
Many Americans view Muslims negatively. They face hatred everyday with people constantly staring at them, or making racist comments behind their backs. But for what reason? They may dress in a different way or practice a different religion, but why does that turn them into targets for slander? The answer is in stereotypes.
After 911, many Americans started to view Muslims under a different light. So many hateful comments revolve around a single stigma: all muslims are terrorists; they only want to kill everyone different than them, especially Christians. The fear of terrorism and the resulting stigma from it then branch out to Americans viewing Muslims as evil and war hungry. They view the way women are treated in Islam as oppressing. Government in the Middle East is also viewed negatively, and many people jump to the conclusion that all Muslims don’t believe in democracy.
The solution to the problem is more than just refraining from making rude comments; it’s becoming educated and eliminating the negative thoughts all together. In the end, they’re just stereotypes.
Terrorism:
Although it is obvious that Middle Eastern people are not terrorists, they are often treated as such by the American people. Contrary to popular belief, terrorism is not condoned by Islam, and the vast majority of Muslims view terrorism as immoral on religious and humanitarian grounds. We as a society need to remember that most people hurt by Islamic extremists are Muslims living in the Middle East. These people are not our enemies; they are the victims of our enemies. They are affected more by terrorism than anyone else, which is often the reason they immigrate to America. Instead of making their lives more difficult with racism, we should strive for change here and abroad.
Oppression:
A common stereotype of Muslim people is that their women are oppressed. From an outsider’s perspective it looks like they are forced to cover their bodies as a sign of their inferiority, however this is not true. Many women are not forced to cover, they choose to. Women wear the coverings as a form of liberation. Some women choose to wear a full face veil, others choose to just cover their hair, and others choose to not cover at all. Women cover because they feel it is a sign of their faith or because it frees them. By covering their bodies, women require others to get to know them for who they are, not by what they look like.
Government:
Americans need to know that the wants of the Middle Eastern citizens differ from the wants of their government officials. The media exaggerates the country's problems as if the majority of people agree with what’s going on when, in reality, they don’t. America should not be so hesitant to help Middle Eastern citizens receive quality education, a stable economic system, and democracy. We need to understand how the majority of citizens feel about the situations and help according to their needs - we should not give unwanted help because this could create further problems in the area.