Bad Things Happen!
Muslims Involved!
The Colbert Report
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As was previously, briefly, covered, the initial reaction of the news media to the Oslo bombing, was to blame it on a Muslim terrorist. Colbert very succinctly sums up this attitude with the slogan at the top of the page. Bad Things Happen, Muslims Involved. This ridiculous statement illustrates the severe hypocrisy in the media, as well as the hypocrisy of other racists in general. It could not have been a man of Aryan descent, no it had to be a Muslim. This Anglo-Centric hypocrisy is present throughout the world, but is not limited to just Caucasians. We are going to take a moment to look through a few political cartoons and videos, some related to Muslims, others not, to discover if we can uncover the Truth behind some some rather hypocritical statements.
We begin with a video from The Daily Show, and an obvious example of hypocrisy.
Its easy to identify the hypocrite in this video. Bosch Fawstin rails against the dangers of Batman having a Muslim sidekick, while simultaneously creating a comic book character whose goal is to, essentially, kill Muslims. His comic frames muslims in an extremely negative, and inaccurate light. And his reason for not liking Nightrunner? He could be a Jihadist. Even when in the comic it expressly states that he is not. This is hypocrisy at its finest.
On to the cartoons.
Team Member Name: Jordan Durham
Publication: The Khaleej Times, UAE
Date:10/15/2009
Cartoonist: Paresh Nath
Cartoonist: Paresh Nath
U.S./International
Title of cartoon: Nuke-free Middle East
Title of cartoon: Nuke-free Middle East
Cartoon# 70087
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
Uncle Sam is forcing the NPT or Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which prevents nuclear weapons use, at the same time the Israelites are riding around on a nuclear missile
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues?
It is plan to see the hypocrisy evident in this cartoon. And it stands up to scrutiny. The United States of America is much more lenient when it comes to weaponry with Israel then when compared to the rest of the Middle East. And the reasoning behind such a political stand point it flawed. There is no "right" or "wrong" side in the situation in the middle east, but from the actions they have taken, the U.S. has made it clear whose side they are on.
Publication: The Arizona Star
Date: 11/17/2010
Cartoonist: David Fitzsimmons
Cartoonist: David Fitzsimmons
U.S./International
Title of cartoon: Religious Freedom
Title of cartoon: Religious Freedom
Cartoon# 85831
What action is taking place in the cartoon? The pilgrims have just arrived at America and are thanking God for allowing them to get to a place where they could escape religious persecution but at the same time they are going to go control other religions and persecute them
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
What action is taking place in the cartoon? The pilgrims have just arrived at America and are thanking God for allowing them to get to a place where they could escape religious persecution but at the same time they are going to go control other religions and persecute them
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues?
In this cartoon you very easily can see the hypocrisy that our nation was founded upon. Is it any wonder we have issues today with discrimination, when we live in a country that was built on it? The cartoon easily helps us see the historical precedent, as the pilgrims move from native americans, to atheists, to Muslims. For a country supposedly built on religious tolerance and freedom for all men, the U.S. has a terrible reputation for discrimination.
Team Member Name: Jordan Durham
Publication: The Washington Examiner
Date: 8/13/2010
Cartoonist: Nate Beeler
Cartoonist: Nate Beeler
U.S./International
Title of cartoon: Desecration
Title of cartoon: Desecration
Cartoon# 81794
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
The Cartoon depicts an American citizen who opposes the mosque being built on ground zero. The Cartoon shows the hypocrisy of the people who oppose the mosque are prohibiting and restraining other individuals freedom by claiming to love America and it freedom. The characters appear patriotic the woman is wearing an American flag and the mans T-Shirt has states “I Love America More than you and this $20 T-Shirt Proves it.” The T-Shirt also is a point of humor because it makes the statement that his $20 T-Shirt gives him the right to do what he pleases. It points out that those with money are frequently the first to restrict the rights of others. Also if you look at the sign that states NO Ground Zero Mosque, the writing is written over the constitution of the united states, illustrating the utter disregard these folks have for the phrase "liberty and justice for all."
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues? This cartoon has a plethora of nuance contained within its borders. The T-Shirt, the flag pants, the sign painted over the constitution all these things reinforce the image the artist is trying to get across. People like this, people who are so "patriotic", frequently ignore the values they apparently cherish, so as to keep others from having the opportunity to use them - i.e. free speech, freedom of worship, and the like. Hypocrites all.
Team Member Name: Jordan Durham
Publication: Cagle Cartoons
Date: 8/18/2010
Cartoonist: Bill Schorr
Cartoonist: Bill Schorr
U.S./International
Title of cartoon: Newt Gingrich Loves America
Title of cartoon: Newt Gingrich Loves America
Cartoon# 81957
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
Newt Gingrich, who on the outside, is telling the world he loves America. He says this as he lists to himself all the people that he hates. Interestingly enough, the list of people he hates is a very large chunk of the american populace.
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues?
In this cartoon, Newt Gingrich is obviously representative of a much larger subsection of the american people. Similar to the folks in the cartoon above, he states his love for the United States, but thinks of his hatred for everyone he disagrees with, a distinctly un-american attitude. It is usually very easy to identify people like this. Patriotic to an extreme, but hateful to the core. It is difficult to love America, but hate many of the people who helped make it great.
Publication: The Hartford Courant
Date:
Cartoonist: Bob Englehart
Cartoonist: Bob Englehart
U.S./International
Title of cartoon: Ground Zero Mosque
Title of cartoon: Ground Zero Mosque
Cartoon# 81960
What action is taking place in the cartoon? The republican party/tea party is singing the national anthem and in it he states "the land of the free (except for Muslims)".
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues (circle answer)
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes (Circle answer)
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues?
What action is taking place in the cartoon? The republican party/tea party is singing the national anthem and in it he states "the land of the free (except for Muslims)".
Tone of the cartoon:
1) Positive or negative framing of people of color and/or diversity issues (circle answer)
2) Challenges or reinforces racist attitudes (Circle answer)
What “reality” is constructed/framed about racial minorities and/or diversity issues?
Extremely similar to the others, the message here is about the hypocrisy present in certain groups. In this case, it is talking about the Tea Party in general, stating that, again, Americans are all about freedom... for some people anyway.
Lets quickly talk about Rep. Peter King. This cartoon does a fantastic job of making the point that anyone killed by Al Qaida was killed by godless heathens. Anyone killed by the IRA however... well it just doesn't count. According to King, the IRA are freedom fighters, Al Qaida, terrorists. Lets see what John Stewart has to say on the subject.
Well said.
We will now look at a few other cartoons that illustrate hypocrisy in other realms of existence.
Here the coin is reversed, and the author is speaking about the flippant way people will make judgement about ANYONE regardless of who they are. The man in the panel states that older white republicans are "probably racist", but what does he hate about the law? Profiling, something he has just done.
And again, same song, different chorus. This time around, we can see the hypocrisy of many religions members. Claiming tolerance and love, while condemning anyone who is different.
This one is my, (Adams) personal favorite, as the little details really make this cartoon stand out. As such, I will do a brief analysis. In the center, wielding a pen instead of a lance or sword, is the European press, dressed in the regalia of a knight of the crusades, fighting the good fight, magnanimous and righteous; And equipped, as it were, with a weapon more powerful then a sword ever could be, thanks to cultivation. On the one hand, they say they frown upon hate speech, and as such holocaust denial is punishable by law. On the other hand, freedom of speech is protected in the case of Islmaphobic cartoons. It is interesting to note that cartoons spewing hate about muslims is protected by law, and yet cartoons or opinions spewing hate about the Jewish population, or denying the holocaust is punishable by law. One form of hate is protected by free speech, and yet the other is not only denied protection, but is in fact condemned to the point of fines and jail time? A second interesting correlation is that the crusader is once again fulfilling his role of slaughtering Muslims, at least in principle. He is protecting peoples right to show hate against the Muslim population. Crusader indeed, once again waging a holy war. A small creature in the lower left corner then states "Somethings rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote from Shakespeares Hamlet Act 1 Scene 4, nicely sums up the state of the European press. Rotting from the inside.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Matthew 23:27)
Like Jesus stated, on the outside these crusaders appear to be white and holy, but inside are rotting away. This is an excellent example of the hypocrisy contained in media, as well as governments. Media frequently uses framing, and other media theories like agenda setting and gate keeping, to bring the events to light that they wish to be seen, while at the same time pushing aside issues of equal importance, but not in line with their ideology, all while wearing the outfit of a holy crusader of justice and peace. Hypocrisy.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that when it comes to racism, and prejudice in general, hypocrisy is at its core. Not only are the opinions given about other races generally inaccurate and unfair, but frequently those giving the opinion are guilty of the very thing they are accusing their fellow man of. Or at the very least holding up those they despise to a very harsh lens, while letting those they favor slide by without accountability for their actions. Once again, we have seen that Muslims are undeserving of the negative attention they have been given, attention typically heaped upon them by hypocrites.
This one is my, (Adams) personal favorite, as the little details really make this cartoon stand out. As such, I will do a brief analysis. In the center, wielding a pen instead of a lance or sword, is the European press, dressed in the regalia of a knight of the crusades, fighting the good fight, magnanimous and righteous; And equipped, as it were, with a weapon more powerful then a sword ever could be, thanks to cultivation. On the one hand, they say they frown upon hate speech, and as such holocaust denial is punishable by law. On the other hand, freedom of speech is protected in the case of Islmaphobic cartoons. It is interesting to note that cartoons spewing hate about muslims is protected by law, and yet cartoons or opinions spewing hate about the Jewish population, or denying the holocaust is punishable by law. One form of hate is protected by free speech, and yet the other is not only denied protection, but is in fact condemned to the point of fines and jail time? A second interesting correlation is that the crusader is once again fulfilling his role of slaughtering Muslims, at least in principle. He is protecting peoples right to show hate against the Muslim population. Crusader indeed, once again waging a holy war. A small creature in the lower left corner then states "Somethings rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote from Shakespeares Hamlet Act 1 Scene 4, nicely sums up the state of the European press. Rotting from the inside.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." (Matthew 23:27)
Like Jesus stated, on the outside these crusaders appear to be white and holy, but inside are rotting away. This is an excellent example of the hypocrisy contained in media, as well as governments. Media frequently uses framing, and other media theories like agenda setting and gate keeping, to bring the events to light that they wish to be seen, while at the same time pushing aside issues of equal importance, but not in line with their ideology, all while wearing the outfit of a holy crusader of justice and peace. Hypocrisy.
Conclusion
It is easy to see that when it comes to racism, and prejudice in general, hypocrisy is at its core. Not only are the opinions given about other races generally inaccurate and unfair, but frequently those giving the opinion are guilty of the very thing they are accusing their fellow man of. Or at the very least holding up those they despise to a very harsh lens, while letting those they favor slide by without accountability for their actions. Once again, we have seen that Muslims are undeserving of the negative attention they have been given, attention typically heaped upon them by hypocrites.
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