The second major theme revolves around the subject of race. When evaluating race within both of these movies, there are a few complications that need clarification. Technically there is only one interracial relationship in both films. In Amreeka, an interracial relationship occurs between two high schoolers, Salma and James. Salma is “white,” while James is black. The reason I use quotations is because according to the U.S. census bureau, both families are considered white. “White” as defined by the census is anyone of European, North African, or Middle Eastern origin; therefore, making most of the characters white. Nevertheless, while these people are racially “white” on paper, they lack the social prestige and privilege of “white”
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Back when these films were created and even today, race is tied heavily with religious categories. In Not Without My Daughter, the writers have no problems associating race and religion. In fact, they embrace these characteristics as a way to demean and critique Middle Eastern culture. However, with the release of the film Amreeka, the movie industry changed the way it treated these people. The terrorist attacks of September 11th created an entirely new style of persecution of Middle Easterners never seen before. The racial category of the attackers as well as the media’s constant associations of brown people as being terrorists led to almost 500 Muslim hate crime related incidents in 2001 (Ingraham 1). These rates, which have dropped tremendously from 2001, are still five times higher than years prior to September 11th (Ingraham 1). The film Amreeka does an important job tying race to religion. Taking place right after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Muna’s family is often associated with Islamic terrorists and the regime of Saddam Hussein. Nabeel begins losing patients because of his racial origin, the family receives hate mail regarding their race, and Fadi is subjected to harassment from his fellow classmates about being a terrorist. The most important factor of all these incidents is that the family is not even Muslim. Although they are Christian, they
Back when these films were created and even today, race is tied heavily with religious categories. In Not Without My Daughter, the writers have no problems associating race and religion. In fact, they embrace these characteristics as a way to demean and critique Middle Eastern culture. However, with the release of the film Amreeka, the movie industry changed the way it treated these people. The terrorist attacks of September 11th created an entirely new style of persecution of Middle Easterners never seen before. The racial category of the attackers as well as the media’s constant associations of brown people as being terrorists led to almost 500 Muslim hate crime related incidents in 2001 (Ingraham 1). These rates, which have dropped tremendously from 2001, are still five times higher than years prior to September 11th (Ingraham 1). The film Amreeka does an important job tying race to religion. Taking place right after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Muna’s family is often associated with Islamic terrorists and the regime of Saddam Hussein. Nabeel begins losing patients because of his racial origin, the family receives hate mail regarding their race, and Fadi is subjected to harassment from his fellow classmates about being a terrorist. The most important factor of all these incidents is that the family is not even Muslim. Although they are Christian, they