Here is a video clip by the American TV channel ABC that carried out a social experiment to identify and analyze the causes of religion based discrimination against Muslim Americans by the non-Muslim American public. It exhibits a behavior which is a mix of regret-mixed-punishment, humanistic support and at times politically correct indifference.
Many people, especially Muslims, may take it as a surprise. The primary reason being that such images break-down the “American Dream” image that most of the immigrants and other aspirants embrace based on the pro-American media projection that does not provide a wholesome picture including potential discriminatory behavior from certain domestic social segments.
The questions that arise from this observation are multi-dimensional:
1. Why now? Why did not this realization exist earlier amongst the media and the Muslim minority/immigrants?
2. No more an ‘Eastern Phenomenon’! We all thought (or were made to think) that such social drawbacks were exclusive to the Eastern and essentially non-Western part of the world. Well guess what!
3. Does this mean polarization?! Or better yet getting real, tolerant and appreciative of the goodness that both the East and the West can bring together.
An argument based explanation to the aforementioned observations can be put under two broad-categories:
Interactive Diversity: Too Close for Comfort
The answer to the above questions is pretty much related to society’s increasing exposure to diversity and the globalization of media. Such discriminatory behavior is not exclusive to any single society of the world. It is but a human aspect that is amplified as diverse cultures get too close to ignore; mostly through circumstantial happenings. When the diverse social practices come in close a range they trigger the previously dormant ‘diversity dynamics’. This essentially results in challenging, directly or indirectly, the lifestyle and philosophic approach of the host society.
Social history vouches that changing human behavioral attributes founded especially on religious beliefs are the most difficult to even engage with. Religion for both the practicing and non-practicing alike has been a ‘Untouchable & Unquestionable’ aspect of one’s private life. It is like a heavily guarded forbidden ‘treasure’ the inquiry of which only brings about a sense of vulnerability and fear of loss.
Media-Wise: Oh so THAT’s my Culture!
The other key catalyst has been the media that has brought about these diversity dynamics through amplified projection of the otherwise politically correct and very blurry social boundaries. The media earlier were isolated in the sense that either their broadcast was limited to a geographical territory of their origin or there was no real media competition in the satellite broadcasting scenario. Since lately the West dominated popular satellite media primarily lead by CNN and BBC has started to face considerable competition from Eastern satellite channels specifically from the middle east such as Al-Jazeera TV and the Asian/South Asian regions primarily comprising China, Pakistan & India. This proliferation of the media has amplified realization of the cultural & value-system differences that exist between the East and the West. These have further provided the Eastern representatives in the form of immigrants, workers and next generation a heightened sense of belonging to their roots and highlighted the contrasts with the host culture of the country of their residence. This form of ‘media advocacy’ motivates these immigrants to practice, project and share their root culture and religious beliefs more frequently and with much bolder visibility.
Huh! Huh? : I am one of them! Am I one of them?
This is exactly what’s been projected in the ABC social experiment video. The previously dormant Muslim practices and the now greater first-hand visibility of the root culture via Eastern (and specifically media of Muslim countries) media to the host country have suddenly created a certain level of ‘strangeness’ amongst the people. What once seemed familiar has now taken several new dimensions to which the general public does not have the answers and thus do not feel ‘confident’ dealing with it. In the wake of religion based tension and armed conflicts with intertwined political interests involving both the East and the West; the public remains overburdened by negative news. The need is to design on ground public activism and media talk-shows that address all such dimensions, answer questions and show both sides of the story for the global community to achieve mutual understanding. Through this mutual understanding would then arise appreciation for the positive contributions of every culture to the ‘Global Culture’. As it is with human history we did succeed in coining the term ‘Global Village’ without preparing the diverse peoples for what was coming ahead. It’s now time for consolation and consolidation.
Public Relations Pakistan 