Friday, October 07, 2005
Mainstream Journalists are Chicken Shit Conformists
By Florence Brown, Staff Writer
Until today, it was eerily quiet in the United States. We held our breaths after London, Madrid and Bali wondering the same unspoken and maybe subconscious question: why not us?
At the risk of sounding morbid, I was almost relieved that there was a scare today in New York. Not because I'd ever wish harm or fear on any American citizen, but because it broke up the stillness of our collective waiting, because it proved that we really are paying attention to national security.
The relative quiet from terrorist threats in the United States might be chalked up to a few serious and not so-serious factors. Maybe some superior being decided "Damn, y'all have had enough to deal with this year". Maybe our intelligence agencies are doing their jobs properly. Maybe our finger pointing, witch-hunting and hand wringing has paid off in a roundabout way.
Or has it?
If the terrorists' goal was to disrupt our way of life, then bravisimo, you bastards. At this very moment the NYPD is scouring New York City's subway system checking strollers, purses, and backpacks one by one while I'm sure many folks are thinking "Well screw that, I'm walking my happy ass to work". And if you're of Arab descent (which could mean anything from Moroccan to Egyptian to Iraqi as far as the authorities are concerned), you're in for quite a ride if you choose to take the subway to work this week.
The intelligence report read that between 12 and 20 people are rumored to meet today, some from Iraq and others already living in New York. So basically, if you wear hijab or a galabya today (which is more likely since this happens to be Ramadan), you're fucked. And my deepest sympathy goes to you.
But you won't hear the voices of people who get "a little" extra harassment today - not from the New York Times and certainly not on broadcast media. In journalists' attempts to be "fair and balanced", we'll avoid asking people the questions that need to be addressed. We'll talk to local officials about safety precautions and we'll ask Average Joe if he feels safer riding on the subway today, but we won't ask Palestinians or Persians how their commute went this morning because we want to believe we're doing the country a service by avoiding their discomfort.
Fuck that. Give me a mike and a camera, I'll ask. I'm so tired of knowing that my friends, classmates and colleagues of Arab descent are living their lives in fear, silently, because mainstream journalists are too chicken shit to begin a discourse about that fear. Independent media is probably covering it somewhere on some magazine or radio station, but is it even fringing the consciousness of the oh-so-socially-conscious members of Delta Delta Delta at the University of Texas? Not likely, unless Kanye West has made a rap about it it.
Figure it out, media, and when you do maybe I won't have to keep defending myself in my classes
Until today, it was eerily quiet in the United States. We held our breaths after London, Madrid and Bali wondering the same unspoken and maybe subconscious question: why not us?
At the risk of sounding morbid, I was almost relieved that there was a scare today in New York. Not because I'd ever wish harm or fear on any American citizen, but because it broke up the stillness of our collective waiting, because it proved that we really are paying attention to national security.
The relative quiet from terrorist threats in the United States might be chalked up to a few serious and not so-serious factors. Maybe some superior being decided "Damn, y'all have had enough to deal with this year". Maybe our intelligence agencies are doing their jobs properly. Maybe our finger pointing, witch-hunting and hand wringing has paid off in a roundabout way.
Or has it?
If the terrorists' goal was to disrupt our way of life, then bravisimo, you bastards. At this very moment the NYPD is scouring New York City's subway system checking strollers, purses, and backpacks one by one while I'm sure many folks are thinking "Well screw that, I'm walking my happy ass to work". And if you're of Arab descent (which could mean anything from Moroccan to Egyptian to Iraqi as far as the authorities are concerned), you're in for quite a ride if you choose to take the subway to work this week.
The intelligence report read that between 12 and 20 people are rumored to meet today, some from Iraq and others already living in New York. So basically, if you wear hijab or a galabya today (which is more likely since this happens to be Ramadan), you're fucked. And my deepest sympathy goes to you.
But you won't hear the voices of people who get "a little" extra harassment today - not from the New York Times and certainly not on broadcast media. In journalists' attempts to be "fair and balanced", we'll avoid asking people the questions that need to be addressed. We'll talk to local officials about safety precautions and we'll ask Average Joe if he feels safer riding on the subway today, but we won't ask Palestinians or Persians how their commute went this morning because we want to believe we're doing the country a service by avoiding their discomfort.
Fuck that. Give me a mike and a camera, I'll ask. I'm so tired of knowing that my friends, classmates and colleagues of Arab descent are living their lives in fear, silently, because mainstream journalists are too chicken shit to begin a discourse about that fear. Independent media is probably covering it somewhere on some magazine or radio station, but is it even fringing the consciousness of the oh-so-socially-conscious members of Delta Delta Delta at the University of Texas? Not likely, unless Kanye West has made a rap about it it.
Figure it out, media, and when you do maybe I won't have to keep defending myself in my classes
# posted by Phil Deez @ 1:38 PM 
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That's a really good point. There should be equal emphasis in the mainstream media on both normal "crisis" coverage as well as on the voices of those who will be victimized and targetted by it. I remember after 9/11, MTV did a man-on-the-street piece interviewing Middle Eastern New York residents on how their lives were affected and how they changed once they became "suspect" in those crimes. It was a short piece, but it was powerful enough to make the point that the only victims aren't middle-class white Americans - rather, everyone suffers when fingers are pointed.
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