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CheckPoint: Characteristics of Orientalism, Prejudice, and Discrimination

• Due Date: Day 4 [Individual] forum
• Post a 200-300-word response to these questions:
o Explain the difference between Muslims and Arabs.
o According to current (within the past two years) research and news reports, what are some of
the changes the United States has made to policies concerning the treatment of Muslim and
Arabic members of society?
o List two to three characteristics of Orientalism. How may Orientalism and prejudice contribute
to hate crimes against these groups?
o What can individuals do to promote tolerance and reduce prejudice in their towns and cities?
For ideas, go to http://www.tolerance.org, http://www.splcenter.org,
http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-07-08/news/making-enemies/

Arabs are people whose lineage comes from the Arabian Peninsula or are people that
speak Arabic. Muslims could be anybody that practices Islam as their form of religion.

From what I have found the United States has not done anything good in the way of their
policies concerning treatment of Muslims and Arabs. One report states that the FBI would
be allowed to use race and ethnicity when opening an investigation. (Abdus Sattar
Ghazali, July 2008, http://www.opednews.com/articles/American-Muslims-alarmed-a-by-
Abdus-Sattar-Ghaza-080703-362.html) It also basically states that everyone is a suspect
until proven guilty which isn’t new; that is the way it is anymore with our government.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali also wrote about homegrown terrorism in May 2008 on the
www.amperspective.com website. He says that the New York police department’s report
in August 2007 would lead to negative stereotyping and unwarranted suspicions of the
Muslim community.

Latent Orientalism is the unconscious, untouchable certainty about what the Orient is. Its
basic content is static and unanimous. The Orient is seen as separate, eccentric, backward,
silently different, sensual, and passive. It has a tendency towards despotism and away
from progress. It displays feminine penetrability and supine malleability. Its progress and
value are judged in terms of, and in comparison to, the West, so it is always the Other, the
conquerable, and the inferior. Manifest Orientalism is what is spoken and acted upon. It
includes information and changes in knowledge about the Orient as well as policy
decisions founded in Orientalist thinking. It is the expression in words and actions of
Latent Orientalism.

I am not really sure how orientalism contributes to hate crimes but with prejudice it is
because people are ignorant and do not want to learn about something new. People want
to be in their own little bubble and not look at what the world has given them. The world
has actually given people all over the world a chance to get to know each other in terms
of different religions or cultures.
I think one way to promote tolerance and reduce prejudice in my town is to get to know
someone of another religion or ethnicity and listen to what they have to say about their
culture or the way they were brought up.