All Arabs are Muslims Stereotype

Introduction 

Stereotypes of the Arabs and Muslims is an issue that has been present in various forms such as through media, politicians and even in the films in the American culture. The stereotyping of the Arabs and the Muslims has always been in existence for the past many years, but with its manifestation in the media, literature, theatre and other creative expressions, the issue has gotten to a point where it is a major concern to everyone. The first common stereotype perception that people hold is that all Arabs are Muslims ( Caruso, 2008 ). However, I can clarify that Arabs are people who speak the Arab as their native language while Muslims are people who practice Islam as a religion. Not all Muslims are Arabs, and a large number of Arabs are not Muslims contrary to people’s perception. To confirm this, the recent statistics show that more than a billion people in the world practice Islam religion, but only 15% of Muslims worldwide are Arabs ( Hussein, 2010 ). Therefore, the typical stereotype and perception that all Arabs are Muslims is misleading and should be changed because it has led to severe psychological torture to this community who continue to feel like they are wrongly targeted for their religion. 

Causes of Arabs Stereotyping 

While the stereotyping of other people and their culture is not something new, the existence of the channels through which stereotyping is manifested has made the issue go too much beyond control. As Edward Said describes, globalization has been one of the causes of Muslim stereotyping as it adds new dimensions of the orientalism imagination, making it worse than it was in the 19th century ( Jhally, 1998 ). Orientalism involves the representation of other cultures as being exotic, uncivilized and even as being backwardness. While viewing all Arabs as Muslims, the classical 19th-century orientalism usually view the Muslims as essentially traditional culture and static society. The Muslims community has continued to be victimized, being seen as people who are violent and unwelcoming. However, this view has always portrayed the Muslims in the bad light because in the real sense, many Muslims are warm, welcoming and people who love peace. 

The other major cause of the ever-rising stereotype about the Arabs and Muslims in the United States and the rest of the world is the issue of terrorism. Ever since the 9/11 terror attack in the United States, the Muslims and all the Arabs in the United States have come under strict scrutiny as fear amongst people increases ( Shaheen, 2012 ). All Muslims are being looked down upon as people who engage in terrorism and majority of the non-Muslims have are being victimized. While not all Arabs are Muslims, the people with Arabic identity living in the US have all been looked down upon as there is an essential rise in Islamophobia. The war on terror has led to prejudice against the Muslims, a move that has always hurt the community and affected the lives of innocent Muslims. Not all Muslims are terrorists even though there is a continued association of the Islam religion with terrorism. The continued war on terror with the ISIS still set Americans in the same direction of stereotyping Muslims and Arabs as people who love violence ( Sides & Gross, 2013 ). It is ideologically wrong to stereotype and victimize all the Arabs and Muslims due to terror attacks because ideally, the majority of Muslims are people who love peace. 

The other group to blame for the wrong portrayal of the Arabs and Muslims in the media. The media has always portrayed the Muslims in the United States and the United Kingdom in a negative way. Media plays a crucial role in informing people, and whatever they write, people will trust and hold the same view. Media mainly focus on the Muslims as people who are violent and their reporting has always perpetuated stereotypes. The media has failed to reflect the diversity and aspirations of all the Muslims and Arabs and instead continue to portray the whole Islam religion as bad people. Because of its central role as a social institution, the inaccurate and stereotype reporting of the Muslims continue to create Islamophobia amongst the community ( Alsultany, 2013 ). Because of this biased coverage, the Muslim community has unfairly continued to suffer from the community prejudice and isolation. People only see a Muslim from the negative side while giving a blind eye to their significant contribution to the community. 

The other thing that I think has always led to the increasing rates of stereotyping against the Muslim community are the politicians. Political leaders are people who are very influential in the community and what they say can have a serious impact. Due to the war against the terror, a section of politicians and social media have always reactivated the stereotypes against the Muslims. Some politicians have called for the ban of all Arabs from entering into the country, and such statement only acts as an unfair target to the Muslims. The Muslims feel that they have all through been targeted and prejudiced due to their faith for matters they are innocent about. According to the research by the Social Psychological Association, when public figures and the media endorse certain negative stereotypes and prejudice, it can lead to serious discriminatory actions which can spark attacks to the targeted community ( Semaan, 2014 ). 

Solution/Change needed 

I think that the Muslims have all along been unfairly targeted and prejudiced in a way that has subjected them to psychological torture. It is high time that people stand up as a community to end such negative stereotype and promote religious and ethnic diversity within our communities. Because terror is one of the leading causes of this issue, a change can be realized by mobilizing the government and the non-Muslim communities to be in more effective relations with the Muslims communities to ensure prosperity, security, and freedom for all ( French, 2013 ). The war on terror will not be won by labeling Muslims as terrorists, but by forming a strong relationship between all the communities irrespective of the religious affiliation. 

Another change can be done on the part of the media by doing more to focus on the positive highlights of the individuals and to call for the resistance to oppression and negative stereotypes. Instead of covering the Muslims negatively, the media can utilize a more balanced perspective that can minimize Islamophobia and promote a positive view of all ( French, 2013 ). At the same time, politicians and other key figures need to refrain from uttering statements that seen to be discriminative against a certain community. They should instead be the leading figures in uniting people and promoting peace amongst all religions. 

Educating people to be tolerant of other religious practices and to promote religious diversity can help change the whole issue and create a solution to the problem. By utilizing the social media and other channels, politicians, Hollywood actors, journalists, and Christian leaders should lead in preaching and teaching the members of the community on the need to hold a positive view of each other and to avoid any negative stereotype ( French, 2013 ). Through the collaboration with all the influential people and institutions in our society, together there can be a positive change towards the issue of negative prejudice against the Muslim community. 

Conclusion 

I think the issue of stereotyping against the Muslims has hurt the community for a long time as they fall the victims of unfair victimization. The key influential people and institutions must, therefore, stand out to be the change agents to end this issue. The media, religious leaders, political figures and the government must collaborate and work together to preach the need for unity and diversity in the community. 

References 

Jr, J. (2008). Film Review: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.  International Journal of Multicultural Education ,  10 (2). 

Shaheen, J. G. (2012).  Guilty: Hollywood's verdict on Arabs after 9/11 . Interlink Publishing. 

Hussein, L. J. (2010). Reel Bad Arabs-How Hollywood Vilifies a People.  Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies ,  40 (1), 118-120. 

Jhally, S. (1998). Edward Said on orientalism.  Media Education Foundation [Online/film] Available: http://www. mediaed. org . 

Sides, J., & Gross, K. (2013). Stereotypes of Muslims and Support for the War on Terror.  The Journal of Politics ,  75 (3), 583-598. 

Alsultany, E. (2013). Arabs and Muslims in the media after 9/11: Representational strategies for a" postrace" era.  American Quarterly ,  65 (1), 161-169. 

Semaan, G. (2014). Arab Americans: Stereotypes, Conflict, History, Cultural Identity and Post 9/11.  Intercultural Communication Studies ,  23 (2). 

French, A. R., Franz, T. M., Phelan, L. L., & Blaine, B. E. (2013). Reducing Muslim/Arab stereotypes through evaluative conditioning.  The Journal of social psychology ,  153 (1), 6-9.