MENA-One Visa Journey For the Book

[sandinista! 1,816]

men in their 20s and 30s changing their ways of thinking as they grow older...

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thank you each and everyone of you for posting your advice. I find each piece of advice insightful and helps me to look at myself. I have considered the point made about my own bigotry and possibly there is a grain of truth in it. Here I am married to an Alhusain (Husainy) erh Waleed.

I recalled when I was 12 years old watching the first Iraq war and telling myself I would never marry a muslim and never marry someone name Hussain or Alhusain because of all I'd learned about Saddam Hussain and how he used weapons of mass destruction against his own people the Kurds. At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful that muslims must be hateful people and since them I have learned only what the media shows me. So I have to ask myself what part of this is the medias fault for showing a 12 year old the facts to hate muslims in Iraq and maybe all of the MENA and what part of it is my own bias because of the continued spread of this kind of discrimination. My discrimination at that age was only supported by the continuing reports of acts of violence coming from this region for reasons I did not understand. I have linked those acts in a prior post. There are far more than I posted to support my bias and as I said how much of it is seriously my own bias and how much of it is seriously supported by my media and my own culture? What is the truth here? That has been my whole goal in sorting this out here. I am willing to let go of my bias if I am educated on how to do that since apparently after 20 years in my own culture I am not entirely ride of that. Maybe some of you can help me and I am willing and open to that

I used to tell my own parents they were prejudice and bias and they would deny it and swear up and down and left and right that they weren't. But I took sociology classes and I know that the way that a middle class white american female[ sees things is not the same way that a poverty level black female from harlem sees thing. So in some ways I am certain I hold some prejudice or bias or bigotry that others may claim that I do not and even I may think that I do not but some may see it that way.

So please educae and enlighten me. I am comforted by Jenn's comment that asks how many of us harbor that irrational thought that our spouse may be a terrorist. She is right in that it is passing and not a real concern. I am also comforted that it's a 99.9% chance that it is likely. I have to laugh at my myself that I even considered this if that is really the satistics. However I has to put it out there for those that think it but won't admit it. Common it is a real concern that some of us are faced with. Especially when we read those very real and very scary transcripts between Al Quedea members about the message to marry marry us foreign women to get into our country using us to perform their terror acts. We didn't create this scary terror thought of acts but these transcripts are real and sorry if we have to gernalize to a specific region but the chain of events over the course of several decades has suddenly gotten our American attention that "uh hey maybe we have some enemies in the world that we're not entirely concious of." I certrainly became concious of it when Nick Berg got his head lop off in front of me on CNN one morning during my early morning gym workout. That's all I'm saying here.

Yes I laugh at myself for thinking my husband may be any of those things I think about but the era we live in can not leave me denying I don't think about and consider those things that I face in my culture and ask myself "what in the hell am I doing?" That all no more and no less.

Edited March 26, 2008 by Olivia*

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

This is the edit because I ran out of edit time:

Thank you each and everyone of you for posting your advice. I find each piece of advice insightful and it helps me to look at myself. I have considered the point made about my own bigotry and possibly there is a grain of truth in it. Here I am married to an Alhusain (Husainy) erh Waleed.

I recalled when I was 12 years old watching the first Iraq war and telling myself I would never marry a muslim and never marry someone named Hussain or Alhusain because of all I'd learned about Saddam Hussain and how he used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, the Kurds.

At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful. I gernerlized that the Muslims must be hateful people and since then I have learned only what the media shows me. Of course that perception has changend from the ages of 12 to 28. So now I have to ask myself what part of that is the medias fault for showing a 12 year old the facts to hate muslims in Iraq and maybe all of the MENA and what part of it is my own bias because of the continued spread of this kind of discrimination.

My discrimination at that age was only supported by the continuing reports or acts of violence coming from this region for reasons I did not understand. I have linked those acts in a prior post. There are far more than I posted to support my bias and as I said how much of it is seriously my own bias and how much of it is seriously supported by my media and my own culture? What is the truth here? That has been my whole goal in sorting this out here. I am willing to let go of my bias if I am educated on how to do that since apparently after 29 years in my own culture I am not entirely ride of that. Maybe some of you can help me and I am willing and open to that.

I did travel abroad several times and become exposed to several different types of media beyond the western one which did help to open my mind and eyes even wider.

I used to tell my own parents they were prejudice and bias and they would deny it and swear up and down and left and right that they weren't. But I have taken sociology classes and I know that the way that a middle class white american female sees things is not the same way that a poverty level black female from harlem sees thing. So in some ways I am certain I hold some prejudice or bias or bigotry that others may claim that I do not and even I may think that I do not but some may see it that way.

So please educate and enlighten me.

I am comforted by Jenn's comment that asks how many of us harbor that irrational thought that our spouse may be a terrorist. She is right in that it is passing thought and not a real concern. I am also comforted by that statisitic it's a 99.9% chance that it is unlikely any of our spouses are terrorists. I have to laugh at my myself that I even considered that if that is really the satistics.

However I had to put it out there for those that think it but won't admit it. It is a real concern that some of us have been faced with even if irrational. At least I have gotten supporting pm's saying such. Especially when we read those very real and very scary transcripts between Al Quedea members about the message to marry forgien women to get into our country using us to perform their terror acts. We didn't create this scary terror thought of acts but these transcripts are real.

Sorry if we have to gernalize to a specific region but the chain of events over the course of several decades has suddenly gotten our American attention that "uh hey maybe we have some enemies in the world that we're not entirely concious of." I certrainly became concious of it when Nick Berg got his head lop off in front of me on CNN one morning during my early morning gym workout. That's all I'm saying here.

Yes I laugh at myself for thinking my husband may be any of those things I think about but the era we live in can not leave me denying I don't think about and consider those things that I face in my culture and ask myself "what in the hell am I doing?" That all no more and no less.

Edited March 26, 2008 by Olivia*

[Ban Hammer 13,552]

At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful.

actually, mustard gas is a chemical agent, not a biological one.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

Thank you each and everyone of you for posting your advice. I find each piece of advice insightful and helps me to look at myself. I have considered the point made about my own bigotry and possibly there is a grain of truth in it. Here I am married to an Alhusain (Husainy) erh Waleed.

I recalled when I was 12 years old watching the first Iraq war and telling myself I would never marry a muslim and never marry someone name Hussain or Alhusain because of all I'd learned about Saddam Hussain and how he used weapons of mass destruction against his own people the Kurds. At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful that muslims must be hateful people and since them I have learned only what the media shows me. So I have to ask myself what part of this is the medias fault for showing a 12 year old the facts to hate muslims in Iraq and maybe all of the MENA and what part of it is my own bias because of the continued spread of this kind of discrimination. My discrimination at that age was only supported by the continuing reports of acts of violence coming from this region for reasons I did not understand. I have linked those acts in a prior post. There are far more than I posted to support my bias and as I said how much of it is seriously my own bias and how much of it is seriously supported by my media and my own culture? What is the truth here? That has been my whole goal in sorting this out here. I am willing to let go of my bias if I am educated on how to do that since apparently after 20 years in my own culture I am not entirely ride of that. Maybe some of you can help me and I am willing and open to that

I used to tell my own parents they were prejudice and bias and they would deny it and swear up and down and left and right that they weren't. But I took sociology classes and I know that the way that a middle class white american female[ sees things is not the same way that a poverty level black female from harlem sees thing. So in some ways I am certain I hold some prejudice or bias or bigotry that others may claim that I do not and even I may think that I do not but some may see it that way.

So please educae and enlighten me. I am comforted by Jenn's comment that asks how many of us harbor that irrational thought that our spouse may be a terrorist. She is right in that it is passing and not a real concern. I am also comforted that it's a 99.9% chance that it is likely. I have to laugh at my myself that I even considered this if that is really the satistics. However I has to put it out there for those that think it but won't admit it. Common it is a real concern that some of us are faced with. Especially when we read those very real and very scary transcripts between Al Quedea members about the message to marry marry us foreign women to get into our country using us to perform their terror acts. We didn't create this scary terror thought of acts but these transcripts are real and sorry if we have to gernalize to a specific region but the chain of events over the course of several decades has suddenly gotten our American attention that "uh hey maybe we have some enemies in the world that we're not entirely concious of." I certrainly became concious of it when Nick Berg got his head lop off in front of me on CNN one morning during my early morning gym workout. That's all I'm saying here.

Yes I laugh at myself for thinking my husband may be any of those things I think about but the era we live in can not leave me denying I don't think about and consider those things that I face in my culture and ask myself "what in the hell am I doing?" That all no more and no less.

At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful.

actually, mustard gas is a chemical agent, not a biological one.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful.

actually, mustard gas is a chemical agent, not a biological one.

[aisha kandisha 0]

So please educate and enlighten me.

Oliva,

Ask and you shall receive.

You may want to read "Reel Bad Arabs" by Jack Shaheen or some of his other works. He has written extensively about how media depictions of Arab/Muslims have shaped American thought. I think Reel Bad Arabs is on DVD now too.

There are also two websites that address some of these issues, in particular the first although the second has some publications meant to combat stereotypes:

ADC.org - this one has local chapters

The Arab American Institute This is a PDF file Arab Americans making a difference - many of these people you will know by name but may not even know are Arab.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

At 12 I couldn't understand why someone would use biological weapons like mustard gas against their people to harm them and I thought it was so aweful.

actually, mustard gas is a chemical agent, not a biological one.

Thx for the clarification. I was researching just now what exacatlly was used and I found this: "The condition of the dead Kurds' bodies however, indicated they had been killed with a blood agent — that is, a cyanide-based gas — which Iran was known to use. The Iraqis, who are thought to have used mustard gas in the battle, are not known to have possessed blood agents at the time." Source

So please educate and enlighten me.

Oliva,

Ask and you shall receive.

You may want to read "Reel Bad Arabs" by Jack Shaheen or some of his other works. He has written extensively about how media depictions of Arab/Muslims have shaped American thought. I think Reel Bad Arabs is on DVD now too.

There are also two websites that address some of these issues, in particular the first although the second has some publications meant to combat stereotypes:

ADC.org - this one has local chapters

The Arab American Institute This is a PDF file Arab Americans making a difference - many of these people you will know by name but may not even know are Arab.

Thx that's really awesome!

Edited March 27, 2008 by Olivia*

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Famous Arabs

Khalil Gibran – Author of the "The Prophet."

Paula Abdul – Singer/dancer

Elias Corey – 1990 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry

Shannon Elizabeth – Actress in "American Pie"

Doug Flutie – 1984 Heisman Trophy Winner

Jeff George – First overall pick of the 1990 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Also played for the Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.

Dr. Michael De Bakey – Pioneer heart surgeon

Danny Thomas – Actor and founder of St. Jude Hospital

Marlo Thomas – Actress

Helen Thomas – Former Dean of White House Press Corps

Bobby Rahal – Indy 500 Race Car Champion

Darrell Issa and Nick Rahall – United States Congressmen

Casey Kasem – Radio personality

Lucie Salhany – First woman to head a TV Network (FOX)

Jaime Farr – Actor from M*A*S*H

Kathy Najimy – Award winning actress

Christa McAuliffe – Teacher & space shuttle astronaut

Joseph Abboud – Fashion/Clothing Designer

Reem Acra – Bridal designer

Karim Rashid – designer

Shakira – singer

Selma Hayek – actor

Tony Shalhoub – actor

Frederic Fekkai – hairstylist

Norma Kamali – designer

F. Murray Abraham – Academy Award for Best Actor for Amadeus (1984)

Michael Nouri – Movie and Television Actor with dozens of credits, including The young and the Restless and Flashdance

Bill George – Former linebacker for the Chicago Bears and who was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame

Joe Robbie – Former owner of the Miami Dolphins

Candy Lightner – Founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

Paul Orfalea – Founder of Kinko's

Waleed & Malik Ali – Founders of MPI, the world's largest home-video distributor of documentaries

Paul Anka – One of America's first pop teen idols

Farouk El-Baz – A scientist who worked with NASA training astronauts in lunar observations. He also helped plan all the Apollo landings and later pioneered the use of space photography to study the earth.

Edward Said – Well-known intellectual, highly respected for his work in literary and post-colonial theory

John L. Zogby - pollster

James Zogby - founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute.

Edited March 27, 2008 by Virtual wife

[Imua 0]

Isn't Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, Arab as well?