Eth 125 Week 5

Eth 125 Week 5

ETH/125
wk 5 CheckPoint
Orientalism, Prejudice and Discrimination

I am one of those people that never considered there may be a difference between being Arab and Muslim. It is very simple, being Arab is your ethnicity (nationality) and if you are a Muslim that is your religion, not nationality. So that means, just because you are of Arab decent does not make you a Muslim and vice versa.   “Islam is the faith (like Christianity) and a Muslim is a believer of that religion (like a Christian” (Schaefer, 2006). “Orientalism” is the simplistic view of the people and history of the Orient, with no recognition of change overtime or the diversity within its many cultures. The way the West has looked at religion from the East, grouping everyone together, China has faiths like Buddhism and Hinduism which is so far from Christianity where as the Muslim religion is much closer to Christianity. If one were to take the time to understand that “Allah” means “God”, and even Arab Christians know him by no other name (Pasquier).   The fact that Americans do not acknowledge mosques as a place of religion the same as they would if it were a building with a steeple on it, instead they see it as a threat, is another example of Orientalism (Schaefer, 2006). In the wake of 9/11, the Department of Justice required all foreign born Muslim men to report to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to be photographed, fingerprinted, and interviewed, in the effort to locate domestic terrorists (Schaefer, 2006).
Individuals can promote tolerance and help reduce prejudice by starting first with themselves. By facing and understanding your own biases can you only start to begin helping others do the same. Understanding other religions and the differences that make us all unique (whether it is ethnicity, color or religion) can help bridge the gaps. The Southern Poverty Law Center has a great guide on the “10 Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide” on...