Do Media Represent Realistic Images of Arabs?

Whenever we deal with issues of stereotypes and whether they do or do not influence our perceptions of people in society, we broach the uncomfortable area of human biases and prejudice. Questioning the images we see in media is one of the most important features of understanding media's relationship to society. There is evidence that U.S. media have improved in terms of portrayals of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, and images of gays and lesbians are starting to improve; but as these selections show, accurate representations of Arabs in the mainstream media still have a long way to go.

Journalist Gal Beckerman discusses how Arab bloggers from the Middle East are challenging popular stereotypes of Arab and Middle Eastern culture. Because these bloggers are writing about their lives, the global public can read about their situations and understand them as individuals, rather than racial or ethnic group members. In contrast, Jack Shaheen discusses how Arabs have been the most maligned stereotype in popular culture, and how the images, post 9/11, that conflate "Arab" and "Muslim," have fueled misperceptions about victims and combatants while we are engaged in the war in Iraq. He discusses how Hollywood's images influence politicians and citizens and contribute to public opinion.

It has been said that despite recent sensitivity to multiculturalism and a growing call for respect for people of other races and ethnicity's, the image of the Arab still represents evil. But the conflation of the people of the Middle East with "the enemy" is an example of how powerful stereotypes can be.

This issue brings up more than the question of the power of stereotyping in the media; it makes us ask whether the images in media really matter to us, and whether different types of media can communicate more effectively than others, depending on the content. Anytime we are challenged to question our own beliefs, and how those beliefs may be influenced by the media, we get one step closer to understanding the complexity of media images, media forms, and how we, individually and collectively, understand our place and role in society.

I personally think that the media does not represent a realistic view of Arabs. Arabs remain the most negative and harmful group in our U.S. history. 9/11 was such a devastating event  that will never be forgotten. I think that no matter what the media or Arabs themselves has to say, Americans will never be able to forgive or forget that time in history. There were so many personal and emotional feelings attached to that devastation that will never be able to escape.