The Persistence of Living in a Hyper-Orientalist Post- 9/11 World
Yesterday, when the news broke of a terrorist attack in Norway, a close friend of mine was really confident that it was a group of Muslim terrorists. I would not blame him though, especially since his only news source is Fox News:
Thanks to Media Matters for recording the video; but I did watch the O’Reilly Factor at it’s late showing and saw Graham blame Muslims right away for the attacks. The transition from the Breaking News of the Norway tragedy to the “September 11th Mosque” was no accident. It was a continued effort on the part of the Military Conservative Right in this country to make Muslims the Oriental Other. What makes Military Right’s job that much easier is the media, especially the entertainment industry. Every time I see a young Middle Eastern/Asian-Pacific character, whether it be male or female, I can expect one of 3 things, sometimes 2 of the 3 : they are either the model minority, playing outstanding doctors and engineers, or perhaps geeks and nerds; they are overbearing parent, forcing their traditional views of arranged marriage upon their children; and lastly, they are the criminal terrorist–even though Hollywood is trying to stay away from this after the end of Fox’s series 24.
To use an analogy from entertainment, I turn to AMC’s Mad Men. Originally, I showed antipathy for the show; but after having watched several episodes, I am quite interested, even though Don Draper seems to remain my least favorite character. In the world of Mad Men, on the surface, everyone acts as if the world is okay, a sort of post-World War II white middle class triumph. Yet, underneath this harmonious exterior, there is something dreadfully wrong, at least with our protagonist, Don Draper, or was that Dick Whitman? When a crisis hits, either at work or home, Draper is always reliable to be either drinking an alcoholic beverage or smoking a cigar.
I would submit, that the media, in the event of a crisis such as a terror attack, has its own drug: that of individualism. It is this individuated outlook of the race problem that continues to let institutional racism get off scot free. As Roland Boer argued in his post, “They all cast the comments of a police spokesperson in such a light. While he emphasises that the attacks had no connections with Al Qaeda, the comments are framed in a way that leads to the conclusion that he had no connections with any organisation at all.”
The fact is that Anders Behring Breivik is not alone, especially in term of an international perspective. Whether it is the anti-immigration Minute Men in Arizona here in the United States or Greece’s Hellenic
Front, Western white neo-fascism is on the rise because of immigration, economics, and religion. I do not believe this is simply a liberal versus conservative controversy, a conversation that avoids any discussion of race and political rights. It is not enough to be a matter of talking and preaching tolerance. Tolerance can only go so far, for to tolerate some THING, is to bear a burden, as if it were some nuisance. For all the problems that multiculturalism gives us, it is still a work in progress because people and institutions are still works in progress when it comes to race and ethnicity.
Social democracies and democratic republics that wish to move forward in the 21st century mustbe intentionally anti-racist, exposing our own histories of ethnocentrism and nationalisms, and ameliorating that pain by keeping the lessons of those horrors in our cultural memories. Multiculturalism nor political correctness is THE problem, and an sociologist’s analysis,bitter smalltown people cling to their guns and religion of this incident would prove quite inadequate as well. What needs to happen is an infusion of love. What if love became a political virtue? What if there were political parties and movements, rather than being driven by what people hate, have platforms of what we as humanity love? Perhaps then we can ditch the Don Drapers’ of this world, and start living truthfully.
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Amen! great post and reminds me why I no longer watch cable news…and these realities also keep my support for uber-patriot Palin tempered and in perspective.
Interesting.
I suppose there is a distinction between “patriot” and “nationalist” in her case — She definitely is patriotic in the sense that she believes in the exceptionalism of America’s foundations, namely our founding principles (liberty, justice, equality etc…) –but she believes these principles to be universal and hopefully universally applied even beyond this nation and “culture.” I don’t think she’s a white supremacist obviously.
Unfortunately SOME (though I hope few) of her supporters are tinged with some baser motives and ideas (though they are non-violent) –> and that’s why my support for her is tempered–but my support for any person or political cause will ultimately be tempered as a result of my ultimate allegiance being to Christ and His kingdom.
I am skeptical towards unabashed, undiscerning political Zionism in particular.
Excellent post.
I think your thoughts line right up with what the head of state of Norway suggested in light of these events. He said, “I don’t think security can solve problems. We need to teach greater respect.”
Bloody brilliant, and I can’t conceive of a US president ever being willing to suggest such a thing…which is sad.
I do think it’s a little interesting that even in this post, you failed to correct the idea that this terrorist, or now “extremist” as those who play with words are calling him, was a Muslim.
By that I mean, I am surprised you didn’t bother mentioning that this man was in fact a Christian.
Any thoughts on this?
I have actually discussed this subject on other blogs:
http://stalinsmoustache.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/lone-madman-or-politically-motivated-attack-on-the-tragedy-in-norway/#comment-8278
My problem with the media’s coverage of this “extremist” is that they wanted him to look like an individual, on the fringe, when in reality, I think he is indicative of a larger movement, a new European Nationalism.
On his religion:
He is a Free Mason, and free masons are not Xian in my book.
http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2011/07/knights-templar-2083-by-anders-behring-breivik-the-freemason-fundamentalist/
Wonder why no one rushed to criticize free masonry……
Apologies, Rod…But you can’t say that his freemasonry doesn’t make him a christian, “in your book.”
I mean, you CAN. I’m not trying to hinder your free speech…but that statement is meaningless. You’re just redefining christianity to fit a meaning that basically says, “Like I am comfortable with.” You’re welcome to deny that, but I would ask you for a little clarity afterward. You could, for all intents and purposes, also claim, “Mormons/catholics/church of christ-ers/trekkies/D&D players are not christians in my book.” What you’re saying is “I am a christian, and I am not like these people, so they are not christian.”
I think the fact that a majority of christians are unwilling to own up to the fact that some people can be christians and still completely botch the message of christianity (according to those judging) is very telling. We can’t assume that someone is a christian the minute he does something good, and then as soon as he does something wrong retroactively decree that he was never truly a christian. This is the embodiment of hypocrisy while talking about other peoples’ hypocrisy.
Hey Tusk,
I don’t think that he is not Xian just because he committed an act of terror. I have read parts of his book, the European Declaration of Independence. Christianity to him is not a religion, but a unifying culture for all of Europe. It’s just like having hip hop or jazz or hard rock be the unifying culture for the US. Or how about, the America, one nation united under Emo?
I am taking his definition of what a Xian is, and lining it up with traditional Xianity, which is anyone who believes in the Resurrection of Christ, and his definition falls way short. That’s all I am doing. Not trying to avoid Xian violence in any way.
As for people discussing freemasonry, it could either be because freemasonry is considered silly and unworthy of discussion…
Or if anybody is going to discuss something silly…you could look to several of the sermons of far right christian pastors on the matter. Let google be your guide!
Ha!
Well, i mean the FMs do have a lot of influence, particularly at a former place of employment. But i wont go into it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So do christians.
The amount of influence a party has lends zero credence toward whether or not its claims are factual.
“I would submit, that the media, in the event of a crisis such as a terror attack, has its own drug: that of individualism. It is this individuated outlook of the race problem that continues to let institutional racism get off scot free. ”
Hmm…but in the case of the Tuscon massacre in which Congresswoman Giffords was shot, what would you say?
Palin said: “President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state, not with those who listen to talk radio, not with maps of swing districts used by both sides of the aisle, not with law-abiding citizens who respectfully exercise their First Amendment rights at campaign rallies, not with those who proudly voted in the last election.”
After condemning the terrorist, Glenn Beck is currently getting flack for comparing the Norweigian Labour Party youth camp to Hitler Youth activities..and there is a picture circulating around the web showing camp leaders holding Anti Israel and “Boycott Israel” signs just a few days before. Interesting…
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Another good one. Rod, there are huge questions and unstable feelings and a lot of anxieties now among attorneys who practice with compassion and love for the poor. I’m thinking of recent conversations over lunch with some bleeding-heart lawyers who do poverty advocacy and have poor clients (not just talk – real work). The problem with many rural poor in America is exactly this feeling of hell-bent powerlessness and non-representation. Many poor identify with extremism. I’m talking now about people who are both poor and marginally literate and think Fox News is God. My point here is that attorneys who practice on behalf of the poor are hearings lots – lots and lots – of comments from clients about how they want to blow something up. More comments now than before. My analysis is that this is not single-axial frustration. It’s multi: no jobs, no benefits, bankruptcies, meth and Mexican tar heroin (you probably know of that in Texas), no education – no hope. It’s hell. My hope – it’s just a hope – is the hope to harness that anger into constructive ends. In a single case first. I’m worthless on macro-political stuff. A functional anarchist, really. I’ll let you and Roland lead out on macro (but since I’m a proto-anarchist, don’t trust me
! I don’t have a clue about macro-political advocacy. It’s just that my shove-back to you (really more for me than you) is not to repress this anger, but instead, to redirect it. I think you already know this. Without redirection (for me in practice), I’m looking at poor and minority clients who are going to – prison. No easy answers here. Good post.
Jim
Thanks Jim!