Video Analysis: A TED Talk By Dalia Mogahed

For this paper, I have chosen to interview an acquaintance of mine who is a devote Muslim and follower of Islam. For the sake of this assignment I will be referring to him under the pseudonym of Jack. I spoke with Jack about some wide-ranging topics discussing things such as, media, bias, stereotypes, and really in general what being a follower of Islam is like in this divided country right now. In our country, today it’s pretty apparent there is a type of fear of Muslims, so much so that 7 heavy populated Muslim countries are not permitted from entering the United States of America. I never had conversations as personal as this with Jack and I feel as if I gained a lot of insight into the types of things minorities, and especially Muslims

Mogahed is an Egyptian-American that started her career as an engineer. She’s a Muslim that decided to wear her head covering by the age of seventeen. In the Ted Talk “What Do You Think When You Look At Me?”, Dalia Mogahed discusses the predicaments and accusations Muslims have encountered, including her personal experiences. Through the use of all three rhetorical appeals, pathos being the dominant appeal, Mogahed skillfully conveys her message to the audience that 1.6 billion Muslims shouldn’t be shunned because of the actions of a minority.

Despite the new discoveries in medicine whether it is a new vaccine or antibiotic, the most basic components for disease prevention and death in humans depends on a good nutrition and access to clean water. The RX for Survival: Back to the Basics video depicts how both an inadequate nutrition and malnutrition can impaired a child’s physically and developmentally. It is estimated that over 100 million children in the world are undernourished and causing the death of more than “one third” of the children (WHO). Furthermore, the consumption of contaminated water, which carries disease organism, exacerbates the mortality rate among children.

In this tedtalk, Melissa Boigon, who studies Islam and its relationship to the Arab-Israeli conflict, talks about how Islamophobia has become more of a fear of Arabs over the last 10 years. She thinks that has to do with the connotation to terrorists groups such as Al-Qaeda, and the way middle east conflict is portrayed in The United States today. She also discusses how American Entertainment portrays Arabs, saying that it's propaganda in the form of entertainment.

Muslims are one of the most marginalized people in the U.S for their beliefs and their religion but after 9/11 discrimination and hate crimes against them had become even worse.Throughout the U.S people have been “Anti-Islam” and believed that the Muslim’s religion is absurd, want muslims to change their beliefs or, leave the country.According to “Anti-Islman Discourse in the United States in the Decade After 9/11:The Role of Social Conservatives and Cultural Politics”by David D.Belt on page 211-212, talks about how a post on Charisma News with an article title “Why I am Absolutely Islamophobic” was urging at the fact that Muslim-Americans needed to be deported as soon as possible ,or go under sterilization.Also Belt talks about one of Bush’s family friend being,Franklin Graham saying that he thinks the muslim’s religion is “very evil “and “wicked”.One last example a man named Gabriel had said Islam is the real enemy of America and that we supposedly “we will be doomed in war if we don’t realize it”. People are so brainwashed it honestly insane and very ignorant at the things people think about Muslims, its barbaric.They believe what Muslims believe in and their religion is wrong and they should switch to “Christianity” because it is the “American way “ or have them deported because the do not belong there and are “terrorist”.

There are several instances in which Muslim Americans are discriminated against. The term "Muslim" used as a slur is "still acceptable in many parts of the country" and the fear that "Muslims are moving in and taking over" contribute to the prejudice and discrimination Muslims face. Such negative views, first observed in Khan's short narrative, are shown to be prevalent. These anti-Muslim sentiments discourage them from being politically invested because they are "concerned that public support from Muslims would hurt the candidate." Statistics further show the glaringly obvious absence of Muslim political activity compared to other religious groups, with only "51 percent of young Muslims are registered" as opposed to "78 percent of Protestants under 30 are registered." Muslim Americans are also severely underrepresented: "Currently, in the Senate, there are (...) no Muslim senators. In the House of Representatives, Keith Ellison, the first Muslim congressman in history, was elected in 2006 and was joined by the second, Andre Carsen, in 2008. By comparison, there are currently 33 Jewish and 14 Mormon Representatives." This data confirms the veracity of Khan's claims, that American political life is missing a Muslim presence, effectively convincing the reader of her truthfulness and position. The author is not making unfounded allegations, there is actual proof to support them, and facts cannot be

Even today some American people have a strong biased towards Iranian and Muslim people based on their stereotypes as terrorist. The change in view point started in the 70s as Fawaz A. Gerges, Academic Journalist, states in his journal Islam and Muslims in the Mind of America that, “The 1978-1979 Iranian revolution and ensuing hostage crisis shocked many U.S. officials into viewing Islam as a threat to Western interest” (Gerges 70). The media also played a large part of the ways that Americans viewed Iranian and Muslim people. Cissy Shelton recollects her memories of media coverage by stating “The Iranians were always shown on TV as very angry there was always demonstrations they always were saying death to America they totally wanted nothing to do with America” (citation). She also argues that the coverage show on the television was also a reason why people have issues with Islamic people today: “And I think that’s why we have problems today with the Middle East”

Muslim Americans are people whose religious belief is Islam, but they were born in America. Before September 11, 2001, Muslim Americans were rarely a discussion or a problem. However after September 11, 2001, Muslim Americans were the main topic. Even though Islam is a religious belief, people are fearful of anything associated with it. Some people discriminate against people who resemble those who are practice the religion. Even though it is not relevant to race, the difference between racism; and religious discrimination is often unclear to people. People believe that terrorists are Muslim activists, but that’s wrong because not all terrorists are Muslims.

After watching the video Precious Knowledge, the first example of ethnic studies being threatened/ facing elimination is that senate is passing bills like 2881 that act against diversity and programs that support and culture beyond what is sought to be “fit” in the American educational system. Programs that promote ethnic studies gives students the pride and knowledge of where they have come from and therefore they feel more engaged in the classroom. Leaders like Tom Horne have the right to their own opinion but are being oppressive by not embracing the culture of different ethnic groups. By not attending these classes and trying to relate to these diverse communities; he is creating a dystopia to the American youth. Political leaders should

There is quite a bit of Americans (not just Republicans) who are attacking Muslims. Because of the Republicans speaking about it, it has been a big topic. I agree with the author that it’s blasphemy to speak about this religion in such a negative way, especially because it has nothing to do with anything going on in America right now. Though of course, there are candidates who will talk about a popular opinion like this, knowing it will earn them more voters. Eventually, this will dull over, and Donald Trump will make everyone make mean comments on illegal immigrants again. For now, Muslims are the target, and it is

Islam is a monotheistic religion, centered around the teachings of the Qu’ran and serving Allah (meaning God in Arabic). However, this Abrahamic religion has been harshly discriminated against in the United States for years. Most prominently throughout the last twelve years, post September 11th, 2001. Unfortunately, issues such as socialization through the media, power distribution, religious ignorance, stereotyping and visible differences have contributed to the ill attitudes towards Muslims. This paper will examine how Americans have been socialized in islamophobia within the United States.

Rabia Chaudry, in her “Somewhere on the Internet, Muslim Women are being Shamed” article, disagrees with Sana’s article and doesn’t see how the “#Mipsterz” video is harmful to Muslim culture. She feels that these young Muslim women are being overanalyzed and “brutally examined” to the point that it’s promoting the downfall of the Muslim community. While Sana, in her “Somewhere in America, Muslim Women Are ‘Cool”’ article, essentially states that obsessing over trying to appear more American is awful, Rabia Chaudry states that it’s awful for people to accuse them of being too American. She feels that there is currently a big problem within the Muslim community: that it is acceptable to publicly humiliate Muslim girls whenever it could be judged that they are not following Islam correctly. She encourages these women to stay proud Muslims even though other Muslims are shaming them.

Americans are saying that Islam goes against Americas way of life, thus disowning the Muslim culture. By simply rejecting the Muslim people, America is going against its fundamental ideal of unity that goes beyond any race, religion, and background. With many diverse cultures and religions in America, it is unrealistic to ostracize Islamists and deny them the right to live in a free country. Though time has elapsed since 9/11, Americans still view Muslims as a group that can never fully

The connection between Islam and terrorism was not intensified until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that pushed the Islamic faith into the national and international spotlight (Smith, 2013). As Smith (2013) articulated, “Many Americans who had never given Islam a second thought before 9/11 now had to figure out how to make sense of these events and relate to the faith tradition that ostensibly inspired them” (p. 1). One way in which people made sense of these events was through the media channels that influenced their overall opinions by shaping a framework of censored ideas (Yusof, Hassan, Hassan & Osman, 2013). In a survey conducted by Pew Forum (2012), 32% of people reported that their opinions of Muslims were greatly influenced by the media’s portrayal of Islam that depicted violent pictorials and fundamentalist Muslims. Such constant negative depiction is likely to lead to the inevitable—prejudice and hate crime. For instance, in 2002 alone there were approximately 481 hate crimes that were carried out against Muslims (Smith, 2013). Ever since the 9/11 attacks Muslim people have been the target of “suspicion, harassment and discrimination” (Talal, n.d., p. 9).

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).