Islamophobia And Cultural Racism
Recently there has been a perceptual shift in how Muslims are viewed globally; this ideological change has affected the world at large. Through historical events like 9/11, this negative ideology of Islam has altered social and political relationships between the Middle East and other nations, particularly the United States. The popularity of distinguishing between one’s own cultures and others around the world has established a hierarchy of acceptability, which negatively impacts cultures who are positioned as lower class. For instance, through other people endorsing Euro-American ideologies on the Islamic culture, this results to discrimination and prejudice against Muslims. Mehdi Semati’s discussion of the notion of cultural racism concerning his analysis of Islamophobia helps analyze the negative treatment of Muslims. Semati emphasizes this wrongful behaviour through his analysis of the ‘Muslim Other’, and the racial category of ‘brown’. I generally agree with Semati’s notion of cultural racism; however, there are some aspects of his argument that are questionable.
For example, it is understandable that he embraces his cultural and religious (Islamic) background, but at times this dominated his perspective. When using cultural racism to make sense of Islamophobia, an understanding of culture and the racial category of ‘brown’ can be advantageous. This being said, I challenge Semati’s argument because of his overgeneralization of the racial category of ‘brown’ and his choice to not define culture. This paper will critique Mehdi Semati’s analysis of Islamophobia by exploring the parameters of cultural racism, the significance of measuring Islamophobia, using the Muslim Other to understand Semati’s cultural bias, the advantages and disadvantages of Semati not defining culture, and the overgeneralization of the racial category ‘brown’. Semati uses Stuart Hall’s theory of race to expand his analysis of cultural racism in his larger discussion of Islamophobia. That being said, racism is no longer about biology; rather it has now shifted into the realm of culture (Semati, 2010). I agree with Semati’s notion of cultural racism; as nowadays people’s perceptions of each other are shaped by cultural racism, resulting to it becoming the determining factor to place an individual on a hierarchy of acceptance. Through this, certain cultures are seen to be superior to others (Semati, 2010). This is disadvantageous towards cultures at the bottom of the hierarchy, as they are more likely to suffer from discrimination and prejudice
. In fact, Hans Siebers and Marjolein Hj Dennissen (2015) research on cultural racism in the Netherlands supports this. Siebers and Dennissen’s (2015) research indicates that in work settings, Moroccan Muslim migrants feel discriminated against because they feel that other non-migrants depict them as being accountable for global disruption and violence, e.g. crime and terrorism. I have found this to be true in a personal case as well; throughout the end of the twentieth century the primary school (i.e. Heritage International School) my parents wanted me to attend did not accept children whose parents were not foreign missionaries. However, when the Ugandan government challenged the school in the 2000s, many other local citizens and I were able to attend primary school in 2003.
According to Semati (2010), Islamophobia is “…a way of thinking that conflates histories, politics, societies and cultures of the Middle East into a single unified and negative conception of Islam” (p.266-267). It is undeniable that Islamophobia is crucial in this argument; however, Semati avoids explaining ways one can tell if someone is Islamophobic. In contrary to Erik Bleich’s work on Islamophobia, Bleich explicitly explores ways to measure Islamophobia. Bleich (2012) describes that when people try to give evidence of Islamophobia, they usually suffer in three main ways. Bleich uses these measures to explore other ways of improving on Islamophobia. Through Bleich (2012) analyzing the ways someone can identify as Islamophobic, his readers can use these systematic measures to recognize the impact of Islamophobia in different locations, social groups, time periods, etc. If Mehdi Semati were to explore the measures of Islamophobia, his argument would be more congruent as the audience would be able to understand the different ways a person can be Islamophobic.
Additionally, through using these measures as a lens of exploring the politics behind the representation of Islam and Muslim, Semati would be successfully achieving his goal. In order for Mehdi Semati (2010) to explain the category of culture, he explains the Muslim Other in two forms. While Semati (2010) still includes these two forms, he immediately examines the limits in them and how neither one of them include politics. In this particular instance, I agree with Semati’s (2010) critique on the forms of the Muslim Other because this concept has been created and risen by politics.
Due to certain global events such as 9/11, it has fueled the mindset of powerful individuals. For example, disastrous events like this has led westerners to exploit their negative ideologies of Muslims; specifically, through Hollywood blockbusters and famous media narratives that repeatedly focus on 9/11 (Semati, 2010). Through the use of 9/11 as his primary example, his readers are able to understand how the socially constructed imagery of Islam is built from western terrorism and security concerns (Semati, 2010). Even though it is unethical that the contemporary western view on Islam is reliant on one primary event; Semati never explores the emotional motive (i.e. fear of an event like 9/11 occurring again) behind western reasoning for creating such stereotypical ideologies. Hence, it is understandable that Semati does not try to sympathize with the western viewpoint because his religion and culture has been wrongfully discriminated against. Semati (2010) finds his analysis of cultural racism of importance since he uses it to broaden his argument on Islamophobia. However, he never defines culture and uses quotation marks when referring to it. In order for Semati to emphasize how Muslims have been negatively affected, it is crucial to define culture.
This is because the mere difference between universal cultures is the factor that created this discrimination in the first place. His choice could have been purposeful as he could be expecting his audience to be knowledgeable on this topic. Additionally, he would have been trying to encourage different interpretations as can be advantageous for different readers to use their own personal interpretations to make sense of his argument. On the other hand, this can be unfavourable because when having different interpretations of basic keywords, this can result to diverse perceptions than what Semati would have intended for.
For example, Semati (2010) highlights that his main goal is to explore the political representation of Islam; however, some individuals might think he is focusing on the negative imagery of Islam which is not what he is aiming for. While Semati continues to discuss how Islamophobia is developing around the world, he explores the development of ‘brown’ as a racial category. Semati (2010) argues that ‘brown’ was once used to describe an exotic ‘other’; although, in the context of Islamophobia, he illustrates that ‘brown’ has become a signifier of the potential threat and terror by individuals from the Middle East. He supports this with examples of Middle Eastern men flying and being suspected to undergo acts of terror and viewed as a threat to the security of other passengers (Semati, 2010).
Due to the western belief that their culture is superior to the Islamic culture, Euro-Americans have intensified their ideologies surrounding this group resulting to a rise of cultural racism towards Muslims (Semati, 2010).
However, in relation to Robert. E Washington’s (1990) work on brown racism; he demonstrates that the racial category of ‘brown’ encompasses people of the third world consisting people who identify as Chinese, East Indians, Mestizos, etc. That being said, I disagree with Semati’s interpretation of ‘brown’ as a racial category because his overgeneralization of this racial category ignores other individuals who are not Middle Eastern. Through the critique of Semati’s notion of cultural racism, it is undeniable that historical events have marshalled an advancement to an already unjust bigotry, otherwise known as racism. Through the global expansion of cultural racism, there is increased conflict as individuals around the world are finding it more complicated to peacefully relate with one another.
Even though Semati was still able to demonstrate this through his analysis of Islamophobia, there are aspects to his argument that limit him from a deeper consciousness. From the discussion above, if Semati were to define culture and recognize the extensiveness ‘brown’ as a racial category compromises of, he would have been able to apprehend that other cultures have also been negatively discriminated against. For instance, it is known that Africa as a continent has suffered from injustice prejudice throughout time; but many people do not realize that cultural racism is a driving factor that worsened the discrimination against Africans today. I believe that if Semati were to include those remarks, he would be able to show how the global expansion of cultural racism is creating other forms of ‘phobia’ other than Islamophobia.
