Essay On Arab American Stereotypes

Following the attacks of 9/11, Arab actors have been heavily type cast into playing a similar type of role in television. This is usually the role of the villain and in within the crime genre, often a terrorist. The shows often attribute characteristics to these Arab characters such as; unreasonable, stupid, primitive, sex crazed, aggressive and violent***. All of these characteristics contribute to an unflattering depiction of the Arab characters and often translates to how the audience of these shows view the Arab Americans in their everyday lives. Following the events of 9/11 these misrepresentations of Arab Americans as threats became an increasingly common issue, as the war on terror became a popular theme in television shows. This was …show more content…
The repetition of the trauma of 9/11 appearing weekly through means of television shows, kept the embellished threat of Arab Americans fresh in the minds of the American audience. In recent years, the television shows who depicted Arab Americans as villainous terrorists in the past, have attempted to counteract these negative stereotypes that they previously contributed to, by using specific strategies. One of the strategies that show writers use is the insertion of patriotic Arab American characters in their shows, with the intention of stripping the unpatriotic reputation that they originally labeled Arab Americans with. These shows often show this type of character aiding the American government in stopping a terrorist attack caused by other Arabs. This is one of the most common strategies that tv writers have begun to use to counteract accusations of stereotyping. However, with these strategies came consequences as they sometimes had the opposite of the intended result, and can reinforce and maintain the negative stereotypes. In regards to this strategy, it