Politics of Association and Media Making

It is undoubted that contemporary media making holds immense power over the socio-political climate of the world. Yet when the freedom of the media is curbed in developing countries, it’s a given that these countries do not have the unbounded freedom of expression and freedom of speech enjoyed by ‘developed’ countries like the United States. However, of late, this very freedom is put on stand by the politics that are put on display vis-a-vis non-mainstream media broadcasters like the cable news network Al-Jazeera English (AJE). The conservative voices in the America appear to label the station “as hav[ing] a tendency to promote terrorist acts” and “a jihadist recruiting front”.

The Unwelcomed Other In America

A review of the CNN Special Unwelcome Muslims Next Door by Imraan Siddiqi has been going round the internet. To read the review and watch the Special see here.

The only thing i can say to the 'terror' that the non-Muslim folks of the town (both whites and African Americans) are up in arms about is this: the true vandals and terrorist who are terrorising the folks of the town aren't the Muslims. Least it's missed, it has to be said out loud that terrorising others for any reason is in everyone including White/non-White Christian America.

GOP candidate and the face of Multiculturalism in American

I recently read the article about the GOP presidential candidate's comments about Islam, and the role of Muslims in America. The article is an important reminder of the true face of multiculturalism in American and the sheer lack of recognition accorded for its minorities especially Muslims. As Herman Cain says:

"The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent."

Black or White: Politics of Association

This article "Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District"

captures the continued struggle by the minority Black community to provide better education for their children:

"An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live."

The reality of recognition politics in America: Praying for prayer spaces

Here's a piece of news which exemplifies the reality of recognition politics as experienced by religious minorities in a culturally diverse landscape such as America. Is the issue urgent? Is the issue valid? Are there avenues for these minorities to champion their rights as the free citizen of the land to have their religious sensibilities preserved in public domain? These issues continue to colour the American multicultural multireligous terrain.

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/450552-praying-on-us-campus.html

“Victory Mosques” and the Politics of Misrepresentation

There has been a tremendous amount of media on the supposed ‘ground zero mosque’ issue these last months and the latest take the cake. It’s now called the “Victory mosque”, in line with other supposed mosques that were built by Muslims after they conquered a land.

Husain Abdullah and the Muslim Minority in Ramadan

Finally, a story about acceptance and accommodation for the Muslim minority in America, albeit an individual's story.

Islamaphobia in America and the Multiculturalism of Fear

This I must say is an ugly story but its ugliness, I’m afraid, is rooted in a kind of fear that continues to mar the sensibilities of the multi-religious, multi-ethnic landscape of America. The following are extracts for the news article in TPMMuckraker about how a church in Florida sets out to "commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks":

Recognition Politics and Mosques

Following the 9/11 attacks in the US, the world saw the unleashing of xenophobia towards all men and women of the Islamic faith with the now controversial phrasing of the "Axis of evil". With that one incident all Muslims are terrorist and everything about the religion of Islam has to be curbed in order to save guard the security of the population of the country and ultimately the world. The latest form of attacks come in the wake of plans to rebuild ground zero with the presence of a mosque and an Islamic center "a few blocks from the World Trade Center site".

Should the minority Muslims in America be allowed to have their place of worship (in a predominantly non-Muslim country) in close vicinity of a place that was destroyed by a fellow group of Muslims? Or should the collective Muslim minority in the country be punished for the transgression that saw the death of 2,752 people and the continued impact on the psyche of the Americans collectively?

Difference-friendly towards the Burqa

At the end of the 20th century in her 1996 public lecture for The Tanner Lectures on Human Values Series, titled Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics: Redistribution, Recognition, and Participation Professor Nancy Fraser said among others, "Today, however, we increasingly encounter a second type of social-justice claim in the “politics of recognition.” Here the goal, in its most plausible form, is a difference-friendly world, where assimilation to majority or dominant cultural norms is no longer the price of equal respect."

Today, nearly 15 years later, we are confronted with the treat to a 'difference-friendly world' in the guise of the Muslim women's attire.

A preamble.

This blog sets out to bring together issues and concerns within the discourse of multiculturalism and social texts which i define as texts that generate public interest including news, editorial, popular literature and other popular texts in the media such as songs, advertisements, videos and movies.  What aspects of multiculturalism can be used to facilitate the examination of these social texts? And more importantly, how does the social text that we read/watch/listen to colour our perception of the diverse world we live in? The coming weeks and month will present opportunities for me to draw on the discussion of multiculturalism from various parameters including ethnic studies, gender studies and cultural studies to facilitate how multiculturalism can be a useful tool to study social texts, and what these texts inform us of the state of our diverse world.