Shirley R. Steinberg

This book is a collection of essays on the theme of how Islam and/or Arabs are portrayed in the U.S. in schools and media. It isn't surprising to know that for the most part the depictions are dangerously ignorant and prejudiced. For example, after 9/11 many Iranians were out in the streets holding candlelit vigils and shouting "condolences, America, condolences"... yet the media only reporting on the few Muslims that were openly celebrating the discussion. For another example, how many Americans know that the word Islam means peace, and that the Quran often speaks of peace?

Some of the authors tie the prejudice to colonialism's need to justify its repression of native cultures. Some of it goes back to the Crusades - which was a time, by the way, when in Islamic countries Muslims, Christians, and Jews were living peacefully together.

One chapter that was particularly good talked about the depiction of the Moors, and how many Westerners insist the Moors were white or Semitic, when clearly the historical accounts indicate they were dark-skinned Berbers. The Arabs always used the term Moor to apply to dark or black-skinned people.

I certainly don't agree with everything in the book, but overall it is a healthy corrective to a still-dominant paradigm that white European culture is always superior.… (altro)