The entertainment industry's bogeyman is on the loose again. On the critically acclaimed TV show "24," American-Muslims and American-Arabs are being demonized.
It all started with the 2002 CBS movie The President's Man: A Line In the Sand, in which American Arabs and some Arabs who aren't citizens get together to nuke Texas.
Then Fox struck, cramming 13 episodes of "24" into its 2002-03 season. The show embellished The President's Man storyline, showing Arab-Americans and Arab terrorists out to nuke Los Angeles.
Now, "24" is rehashing the same biased plot - Muslim-Americans out to nuke our country, killing neighbors in the process. So far, the protagonist Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, has gunned down 100 Muslim-American "fanatics."
Fox isn't alone. "Family Law," "Judging Amy," "The District" and "The Practice" have had storylines that imply airlines should discriminate against us, we should be jailed without due process, that we burn down our own mosques and abuse our children.
"Third Watch" showed us making radioactive bombs and pitted us against the NYPD. "JAG," "Navy NCIS," "The Agency," "Sue Thomas F.B. Eye" and other shows have portrayed us as traitors and terrorists who run sleeper cells within mosques.
To their credit, programs such as "Boston Public," "Jack and Bobby," "7th Heaven" and "Strong Medicine" have reflected positive images of American- Arabs, which help to unite us. But overall, television writers and network producers are making their message clear: American-Arabs are dangerous terrorists and should be feared.
Until recently, we American-Arabs - all 3 million of us - were invisible on television screens. Only Danny Thomas ("Make Room for Daddy") and Jamie Farr ("M-A-S-H") portrayed likable Arab-American characters. Oh, to be invisible now.
Today, American-Arabs and American-Muslims have gone from being invisible to being all over the tube. We have been assaulted by more than 50 programs searing into viewers' hearts and minds with the notion that we are Osama's cohorts - despicable terrorist rag-heads.
Unfortunately, these powerful stereotypes injure innocent people and have a terrible impact on our society. Today, 44 percent of Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of American-Muslims, according to a recent Cornell University study. And nearly one-in-three Americans say the government should engage in racial profiling and federal agents should infiltrate American-Muslim organizations.
Since Sept. 11, some of our co-workers and neighbors look at us differently. The U.S. government has held more than 1,100 people of Middle Eastern descent without trial. Innocent Americans have been killed and more than 3,000 hate crimes have been reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Network leaders should meet with leaders of the American-Arab and Muslim communities, and they should commit to innovative family shows to reflect the positive aspects of all faiths. Producers could create characters modeled after real-life Arab-Americans, such as Ambassador Selwa Roosevelt, the father of modern cardiovascular surgery, Dr. Michael DeBakey or consumer advocate Ralph Nader or our nation's first jet ace, Col. James Jabara.
Writers and producers ought to show us as true Americans: devout fathers and mothers, military veterans, teens catching fly-balls and families walking on the beach.
Show us as we are.
-Jack Shaheen is the author of "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People," "Arab and Muslim Stereotypes in American Popular Culture" and "The TV Arab."
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed - include your full name, major and year in school.
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