MUSLIM OPT-OUT?

Laura Ingraham - Fox News Correspondent

And....that is the headline I read on the Fox News website! The headline refers to TSA's new screening procedures enforced in all airports and the concerns raised by the Muslim community who are speaking out about the new polices. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations claims the new procedures are an invasion of a Muslim woman's personal space when it comes to patting them down in certain areas, including the groin. The headline is followed by a "lovely" picture of a Muslim woman wearing the hijab (head covering). The issue I have with the picture is the generalization and perception that all Muslim women wear hijabs. As a Muslim woman myself, I do not wear the hijab and half of the Muslim women I know do not wear hijabs. The media classifies Muslims as a homogeneous group with the men who have beards and wear traditional clothing and women who wear hijabs or burkas. Along with the physical image of what a Muslim looks like, comes the negative connotations of the word hijab which is associated with oppression.  These generalizations reinforce stereotypes in the West about Muslim women and embed a one-dimensional perception of the "other".

What I found even more disrespectful and biased is not only the headline but the video that is supposed to "clear up" the misleading headline. The journalist, if you want to call her that, is Laura Ingraham who is abrasive, obnoxious, and very disrespectful to Zahra Billoo who is a spokeswoman for CAIR. You may think I'm being a bit harsh but these representations of, not only Muslim groups, but other marginalized groups has a great impact on how the West perceives the "other", which creates hate and racism. But what do you expect? It's FOX News and they are known to be a very right wing/conservative news station. However, you'd be surprised how many people actually watch and believe Fox News.

Ingraham begins the newscast by stating that "Americans" are fed up with the screening procedures then she continues and says that in a "surprising twist" the most spoken complaints come from the Muslim community who are seeking "special treatment". Are Muslim people not considered Americans if they live in America and have an American passport? This terminology is what creates a divide among groups, they could use a hyphenated term Muslim-Americans etc. Furthermore, other words such as complaints, special treatment, and surprising twist attach negative connotations. 

Zahra Billoo came on Fox News to present her side of the story regarding the TSA's new screening policy but she was not given a fair chance. Ingraham interrupted her several times, offended her headscarf, and spoke down to her as if she was not even interested in what Mrs. Billoo had to say and only wanted to push her agenda forward. Ingraham goes even further and ridicules the whole situation and clearly does not understand the cultural and religious implications behind the concerns of the Muslim communities. For example, when discussing the concerns of some of the Muslim women who would like the option to pat down their own body, Ingraham says "That's kind of like a self-exam right? I'm going to feel myself on my groin". This statement is just ridiculous and is patronizing Mrs. Billoo and the current issue at hand. 

Zahra Billoo - Spokeswoman

  Mrs. Billoo mentions several times that they are not seeking treatment  and it is TSA policy to follow these guidelines and respect Muslim women. But, Ingraham jumps in and says "well that's a stupid policy". How professional and thought-provoking right? Mrs. Ingraham also makes an attempt to make all Muslims look like hypocrites and is clearly asking questions to make Mrs.Billoo come across in a negative light. Ingraham states that CAIR didn't want the airport profiling people based on ethnicity and now they are profiling everyone and now the Muslim community wants to be excused from the screening. Mrs. Billoo states that other groups are speaking out against these new procedures as well, not only Muslim groups, such as flight attendants, unions, doctors, nurses. However, the media chooses to focus on the Muslim community, which is supposed to represent every single Muslim in the eyes of the Western media. 

The most prejudice and discriminatory aspect of the interview was when Ingraham ignorantly asks "When you go through screening and you are in your full hijab and your, you know, your robe -- I'm not sure what you call the thing around your neck". Ingraham is clearly ignorant and blatantly rude to Mrs. Billoo. Referring to her neck scarf as a "thing" represents Mrs. Billoo as an alien from another planet, which further feeds into the notion of the "other".

 

 

Ingraham repetitively asks Mrs. Billoo "how do you pat yourself down?" and "how about your groin area"? and lastly, Ingraham has something else up her sleeve when she brings up the "Sharia law" to Mrs. Billoo, stating that patting yourself down is against Sharia law where Mrs. Billoo responds to "no it's against a personal sense of privacy". Once again, Ingrahm brings up that Muslims want special treatment. Ingraham is just repeating herself throughout the whole interview and the interview goes nowhere except in circles. Ingraham raises her voice several times and cannot discuss the matter without yelling her questions at Mrs Billoo.

Frankly, this kind of "reporting" should not even be allowed on television and it saddens me that this kind of discrimination on a news channel does not outrage enough people to stop it. But it's just not Fox News that discriminates against a particular group but other news channels do as well but they are not blatantly open about it as Fox News.

Below is the video on Fox News....judge for yourself.