Hmmm, so how today should I fight racism, even when its not against me? I guess I can start with this blog.
Enter the term “Jihadist Scarf”. You know, the kind Rachel Ray has been affronted for, the common white and black checkered scarf that has been all the rage lately. Ray appeared in a Dunkin Donuts ad last week wearing a Hatta (Or Kafiyya depending on where you’re from) and was confronted by the media, who said she supported terrorists. She says she’s innocent, saying that these very same scarves were sold at Urban Outfitters last year, and they were until an Israeli group demanded that they pull them from the shelves or they would be threatened with both violence and boycotts. Now, they are demanding that Rachel Ray be pulled from Dunkin Donuts. I find it mildly humorous to say the least (and if Dunkin Donuts was even relatively decent I would make it a point to eat/drink there). I go to a pretty liberal college and know exactly what the scarves mean, and have been given one from both Palestine and Saudi Arabia as gifts for working with the two student groups. As far as I know the scarves are more of a sign of Arab solidarity, in particular Palestinians, in much the same way that Brazilians and Puerto Rican’s wear their flags. Besides, who would have guessed that DONUTS were central to American politics?
Do terrorists wear these scarves? Sure. But terrorists wear all kinds of clothes. Kim Jung wears a grey oversized cat suit, and Vladimir Putin apparently missed the sign that says No Shirt No Shoes No Service. Hey, even George Bush wears a cowboy hat. Seriously, do a Google image search of the word terrorist, and none of the top results (except ironically a doctored picture of Bush) have this particular scarf in the cache. So I find it somewhat hard to believe that this is a universal sign for terrorist, oh wait a minute here’s one… oh no he’s Brazilian, (wrong shade of brown).
Also lets not forget how Jihad has been transformed into a bad word in this country, without anyone actually knowing what it means (we really do need better education in the country, at least to teach people how to think for themselves and research information… insert prObama slogan here). A Jihad is a spiritual journey, it’s supposed to be a deeply personal one, full of introspection and self examination, not a bomb yielding maniac’s path to heaven. But things like facts don't matter anymore. The United States has created a very clear image of what they consider a “Jihadist” “the enemy”, “a terrorist”. These are big scary Arabs who want to kill us for our freedom (who incedently include Persians because we cant tell the difference… insert anti-Hillary slogan here), who live 500 years in the past, cast the first stone (literally) and even though they don’t own or know how to operate cell phones, can make bombs from them. And you know what’s even scarier???? OMG everybody be terrified, our enemy wears, wait for it… a scarf.
(they’re pretty comfortable I might add.)
I just find the situation frustrating. I like to rock my Hatta, it goes with everything and I don’t mind taking an educated stance on an issue. If you ask me why I wear it I can tell you (for a different post). But at least I know what it is and the message that I’m conveying. But now it feels like if I wear it, I might get shot, but wouldn’t that make the shooter a terrorist? Oh wait no because he’s shooting at me (who has no WMD) because I have on a scarf. Hold on I’m confused, who’s the enemy, the person with the gun or the scarf? Nevermind…
Will there ever be justice? I guess the only silver lining to this cloud is that all these hipsters in their SB Dunks, big glasses, skinny pants and terrorist scarves are going to wake up next week and freak their parents out when they go home for holiday. The irony of the situation is that none of these politicians’ kids who rock these things even know why daddy’s mad, and probably won’t care. That in itself is a victory. Gotta love the ignorant majority, because their Urban Outfitting shopping selves are the next generation, they don’t care about silly little things like “jihadist scarves”. They’re hot. And they match.
MAN do we have some work to do.
m.
Enter the term “Jihadist Scarf”. You know, the kind Rachel Ray has been affronted for, the common white and black checkered scarf that has been all the rage lately. Ray appeared in a Dunkin Donuts ad last week wearing a Hatta (Or Kafiyya depending on where you’re from) and was confronted by the media, who said she supported terrorists. She says she’s innocent, saying that these very same scarves were sold at Urban Outfitters last year, and they were until an Israeli group demanded that they pull them from the shelves or they would be threatened with both violence and boycotts. Now, they are demanding that Rachel Ray be pulled from Dunkin Donuts. I find it mildly humorous to say the least (and if Dunkin Donuts was even relatively decent I would make it a point to eat/drink there). I go to a pretty liberal college and know exactly what the scarves mean, and have been given one from both Palestine and Saudi Arabia as gifts for working with the two student groups. As far as I know the scarves are more of a sign of Arab solidarity, in particular Palestinians, in much the same way that Brazilians and Puerto Rican’s wear their flags. Besides, who would have guessed that DONUTS were central to American politics?
Do terrorists wear these scarves? Sure. But terrorists wear all kinds of clothes. Kim Jung wears a grey oversized cat suit, and Vladimir Putin apparently missed the sign that says No Shirt No Shoes No Service. Hey, even George Bush wears a cowboy hat. Seriously, do a Google image search of the word terrorist, and none of the top results (except ironically a doctored picture of Bush) have this particular scarf in the cache. So I find it somewhat hard to believe that this is a universal sign for terrorist, oh wait a minute here’s one… oh no he’s Brazilian, (wrong shade of brown).
Also lets not forget how Jihad has been transformed into a bad word in this country, without anyone actually knowing what it means (we really do need better education in the country, at least to teach people how to think for themselves and research information… insert prObama slogan here). A Jihad is a spiritual journey, it’s supposed to be a deeply personal one, full of introspection and self examination, not a bomb yielding maniac’s path to heaven. But things like facts don't matter anymore. The United States has created a very clear image of what they consider a “Jihadist” “the enemy”, “a terrorist”. These are big scary Arabs who want to kill us for our freedom (who incedently include Persians because we cant tell the difference… insert anti-Hillary slogan here), who live 500 years in the past, cast the first stone (literally) and even though they don’t own or know how to operate cell phones, can make bombs from them. And you know what’s even scarier???? OMG everybody be terrified, our enemy wears, wait for it… a scarf.
(they’re pretty comfortable I might add.)
I just find the situation frustrating. I like to rock my Hatta, it goes with everything and I don’t mind taking an educated stance on an issue. If you ask me why I wear it I can tell you (for a different post). But at least I know what it is and the message that I’m conveying. But now it feels like if I wear it, I might get shot, but wouldn’t that make the shooter a terrorist? Oh wait no because he’s shooting at me (who has no WMD) because I have on a scarf. Hold on I’m confused, who’s the enemy, the person with the gun or the scarf? Nevermind…
Will there ever be justice? I guess the only silver lining to this cloud is that all these hipsters in their SB Dunks, big glasses, skinny pants and terrorist scarves are going to wake up next week and freak their parents out when they go home for holiday. The irony of the situation is that none of these politicians’ kids who rock these things even know why daddy’s mad, and probably won’t care. That in itself is a victory. Gotta love the ignorant majority, because their Urban Outfitting shopping selves are the next generation, they don’t care about silly little things like “jihadist scarves”. They’re hot. And they match.
MAN do we have some work to do.
m.
5 comments:
Not only that, but, quoting Holly from Feministe:
"Rachael Ray is wearing in that picture, it doesn’t even remotely resemble the pattern traditionally associated with the keffiyeh, which resembles an interlocking net or a chain-link fence."
Ooops, didn't finish my damn comment. So basically she isn't wearing the keffiyeh associated with the PLO, not only that, but the PLO ISN'T EVEN CONSIDERED A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION by the U.S. In fact, Bush supports Abu Mazen, one of the leaders of the PA (the modern day version of the PLO). So she's not even sporting a pattern associated with the PLO (not "terrorist"), nor is she sporting a pattern supporting the DFLP ("terrorist") or Hamas ("terrorist"). OH STUPIDITY ALL AROUND!
Here lies the problem, it's not the fact that (ignorant) people made an issue to have the Rachael Ray Ad pulled, its the fact that INTELLIGENT people aren't stepping up to put it that BACK ON THE AIR.
As far as I'm concern (and not that I was a fan of them to begin with) I will not purchase anything from Duncan Donuts just for being THAT STUPID.
I know this isn't even an authentic hatta in the picture. But that wasn't the point. The point was it was named as such, and then declared terroist memorabilia. That's where the problem lies, not for the people who know better, it's for the people who don't.
unfortunately the title of this blog entry " ...is a Jihadist Militant" is not helping the situation.
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