MS
.discrimination against Arab Americans prevalent
Every Arab residing in the and distant discrimination engi- even a passing stranger in com-
United States has ultimately neered by film and policy. parison to a person associated
faced this difficult ultimatum: However, intolerance revisited with trust, sanctity, and particu-
completely assimilate or be sub- my household once again recent- larly, education. There is a
ject to discrimination. ly, yet it was different in form, greater sense of personal viola-
Undoubtedly, Americans of Arab more disturbing and unexpected. tion and unforeseen infringe-
ancestry who have generally During a routine check-up, ment. It just hits harder when
achieved social acceptance, in my mother, who dresses in tradi- you don't see it coming.
light of the rampant and cruel tional Islamic-wear (completely I had to push my mom to
Teotyping magnified by the covered-up, besides her face) allow me to make this public.
tss media, selected to conform was verbally assaulted by her She values privacy, and as a sin-
to the "Great American Melting doctor who ridiculed not only gle parent, her responsibilities lie
Pot," DeCrevecourre envisioned her dress, but her accent as well, elsewhere. However, it is my
in the 19th century. Yet, those remarking, "you've been here for responsibility as her son, and as
who refuse to forfeit their culture, twenty years, why do you still an Arab-American, to address
background, and pride face social speak that way?" Undeniably these injustices. Arab-
ostracism and discrimination. noting her Arabic-influenced Americans, like any other ethnic
As a first-generation English. group, must be given the oppor-
American, I have experienced Distraught by the horrific tunity where both the Arab and
first-hand not only the blatant, experience, my mother came the American can coexist symbi-
but also the covert discrimina- scurrying home crying. This type otically, and society must facili-
that came along with of discrimination, which hits tate this by eradicating all forms
bodying two cultures (Arab close to home, is by no means a of negative stereotyping of both
and Islam) vilified by this coun- new phenomenon. Usually, these the Arab and Muslim communi-
try's mass media and govern- incidents are shrugged of as triv- ties.
ment (see American foreign pol- ial or non-malicious, but they are Complete assimilation, or
icy in the Middle East). painfully real to the victims and simply put, appeasement of
Further, growing up in met- their families. mainstream society and self-
ropolitan Detroit, the most thriv- The most disturbing element loathing, should not be the only
ing Arab community in the of this brand of intolerance is the expedient to social acceptance.
Western Hemisphere, the injus- source. The degree of narrow- -- this viewspoint was wr-it-
tices were more frequent and mindedness is not as tangibly ten by LSA Senioi
tine, superceding the indirect painful coning from a film, or KhaledAli Beulautn
0H EDIOR
Language in
editorial was
inaCcurate
To THE DAILY:
The June 28 editorial
*responsibility Online"
missed a subtle but very impor-
tant distinction.
Recurrent throughout the
editorial is the reference to
"obscenity" as the subject
both of the recently filed
American Civil Liberties
Union lawsuit and of the law'
it seeks to invalidate on con-
stitutional grounds.
In actuality, the subject is
material referred to as "sexu-
ally explicit." The distinction
is that obscene material is
already both clearly defined
and illegal to offer to minors,
whereas "sexually explicit" is
a vague term which arguably
covers First Amendment pro-
tected materials such as many
used in sexual health and
reproductive education, as
well as visual arts, poetry and
literature, theatre and music.
I feel that though this dis-
tinction may not be clear to
most readers, it is worth the
effort to make it so because of
the vital concerns this case
addresses and the mispercep-
tions potentially engendered
by use of the wrong wording
when the wording itself is
indeed the issue.
ERIC R. BASSEY
UNIVERSITY STAFF
Ttaesday, July 6, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 5
When the body is an unforeseen enemy
N ews that my 7-year-old cousin had been diag- have it made, for the hospital has this timeless,
nosed with bone cancer hit hard. No "Oh my draining aura about it - it could be & a.m. or 8
God" squeal, tears, or stunned silence for me. I p.m. there's no difference. Time nearly stands still,
screamed. It was January, and I had just gone ice passing at an excruciating slow rate. After just a
skating with Gabi over winter break. She practical- few hours playing mini dinosaurs vs. the Posh
ly skated faster than I could, laughing with glee Spice doll, I'm exhausted. Es'xhausted? 't not the
every time I wiped out. Out of nowhere, the body one going through chemo.
of this energetic tomboy would dramat- To give my aunt a break, I spend the
ically change. night at the hospital. At my cousin's
I think bodies are pretty fascinating request, I climb into her bed with her to
things. They are our life-long homes, sleep. To make it the bona fide girlie
something we can share, a source of slumber party she wants, I paint her nails.
obsession - and sometimes, they < " She whispers to me about the secret
betray us. colony of fairies that live under her bed. I
For whatever cruel, horribly unjust promise not to tell anyone and put my
reason, cancer chose to prey on a bright, arms around her to sleep. I felt immense-
athletic child with her entire life yet to ly maternal. I tried not to wince as she
live. It's a concept that I cannot com- mashed her small, knobby head against
pletely grasp, although I know it angers EMILY my chest; elbows digging into my stom-
me. I can't even imagine how confused ACHENBAUM ach.
Gabi must be. I felt pretty prepared to DiA' N !0y, 1-. It was then that I realized the differ-
see her at her east coast hospital last iln ls R l ences between our bodies were over-
week, my first visit in the sixth months . whelming. We are cousins by both blood
after her diagnosis. and spirit, but her body was not like mine, or even
The cancer in her leg had been removed; lucki- like hers - it was the body of a stranger.
ly, doctors did not have to remove her leg as well. Me, fleshy and curvy in all the right places and
She was wearing a brace and could move around some of the wrong ones.
with a walker. Whether she'll ever regain use of the Her, missing the wavy black hair, eyebrows and
leg again is doubtful. I imagine her being unable to eyelashes- all blown away by chemo.
ever run, which she loves, or being taunted by other Me, with pale skin, rosy cheeks, long fingers
school children, which is inevitable. The mere and longer legs. Textbook definition healthy.
thought makes me want to throttle anyone who Her, with rich brown skin - genetic compli-
ever makes fun of her body. ments of her Brazilian father - blotchy and peel-
She's not eating and won't unless I do and make ing. Bony "ET" fingers and not an ounce of mus-
it look fun. Yum, chocolate, I say, forcing another cle or extra flesh in sight. A distorted shell housing
rich brownie down my throat, blocking out a person I love.
thoughts of fat grams for the greater good - help- I hope she will be able to make peace with her
ing to prevent Gabi from losing even more weight, body. She certainly reminded me to be more grate-
It makes me feel spoiled, and vain. ful of mine.
And I thought my summer had been a little - Emily Acenbaum can be reached over
slow in empty Ann Arbor, but it seems I actually e-mail at emilylsa@umich.edu.
Political correctness: our two-sided friend
Iti's a relatively new phenomenon that people when? Then I searched for a clearer example:
have to wonder whether they've made a bad Jacob Oslick, Managing Editor of the Michigan
decision by laughing at a joke. Review, the Daily's esteemed conservative counter-
I found myself doing this recently when The part, a self-described 'Traditional Jew,' wrote an
Man Show premiered on Comedy interesting piece in the Review's summer
Central. It wasn't at all funny until a par- orientation issue. Oslick recalled a per-
ticular segment where the two hosts of sonal experience at summer orientation
The Man Shos set up a booth at what when he was berated for intolerance when
looked like a county fair and tried to he suggested that Hanukah was not a
solicit signatures from women to "stop r major religious holiday for Jews. Like
the suffrage of women." As one might Oslick, I also experienced something sim-
expect, thanks to lawmakers like John ilarly isolating at my own orientation and
Engler, the quality of public education I'm glad he exposed the inherent stupidi-
around the United States has plummeted ty of these "tolerance" activities the
and plenty of women were tricked into University has been sponsoring.
signing. NICK Clearly the insidious evil side of polit-
Does laughing at this sort of thing WOOMER ical correctness has been on the prowl -
(even if it is a joke with a point) make me M itattempted to silence Oslick at orienta-
a misogynist? I unassuredly assured tion and now it was making me feel guilty
myself that it didn't and forgot about the about what my gut told me was genuinely
whole situation. But this weekend, I was confront- funny. "Politically correct" does not necessarily
ed with a similar moral dilemma when another have to be a label people avoid, so long as it is not
Comedy Central-related product caught my mind strictly defined as something that offends no one.
- the new South Park movie, which I think wins Positive political correctness regulates thought in
the award for the single most irreverent movie the sense that it removes ingrained dehumanizing
made thus far. Nothing appeared to be taboo to the and illogical generalizations and labels from groups
filmmakers, not even jokes about children being of people that have resulted in what most honest
traumatized by pre-birth memories of hangers... people would admit are destructive.
And yet I found myself laughing so hard I cried. There is however, a big difference between what
So, I asked myself this weekend, am I a terrible is offensive and what is destructive, and this is
person, a bit hypocritical perhaps? I still don't think where individuals (and the University) ought to be
so. Both South Park, and The Man Show (at least in drawing the distinction. There is no evidence that in
some respects) are non-malicious, ingenious com- any of the three cases, any person was dehuman-
binations of the basest and most sophisticated ized: In all of the cases in question, it was ideas that
forms of humor and provide important commen- were attacked. The idea of women being ignorant
tary onjust how far society has evolved- the con- was attacked, the idea of the banning of abortion
elusion? Not very far. was attacked, and the idea that Hanukah is an
Offensive? Crass? Certainly. Socially destruc- important Jewish holiday was attacked. Alas, I am
tive? Definitely not. So where then, are we sup- vindicated.
posed to draw the line? I still wasn't sure. Of course - Nick Woomer can be reached over e-mail at
there are times when it's okay to offend people, but noomnier@tnich.edt.
*FRAK Lo 0%ER & RY SMU'O RVL TOS
r 1 r;-
- .
SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO
adaltetters@umich.edu.