Donald trump became president but Obama was right, the sun still came up the next morning. However it was a different type of a sunny day, with a whirlwind of policies and orders that rolled out over the course of the next week. As I scrambled to review the Canadian immigration policy, some hope was revived by the heartening American response with an outpouring of support and outrage against the policies. In the words of the Trump himself, “it was tremendous.” However, the situation begged a deeper analysis on the root cause of these policies.
It is easy to reflect on the election season and appreciate the animosity towards Muslims for one and the overall divisive politics. It is also very easy to blame it all on now President Trump. For me that is a rather simplistic perception. There has always been a seething tension beneath the surface of political correctness.
The animosity I refer to has been subliminal but obvious. Lets start with Hollywood, there was a great show of support during the Oscars but when was the last time a Muslim was portrayed as NOT a terrorist? I would say Muslim condemnation has been an important resource for Hollywood storylines and you can’t even blame them. Apparently, it seems so difficult to find anything that the wider audience could relate to in a Muslim individual. Maybe we are just very normal people leading mundane lives.
Moving on to the media, which has suddenly become front and center with the ban and in standing up for the truth. Over the years however it has been inclined to justify every act of violence perpetrated by a Muslim as justified by Islam, which it is not just to be clear. The use of the exclamation, “Allah-u-akbar” as a battle cry and premonition of death is another sensationalist tactic that appeals to an audience. Now reporting the fact that millions of Muslims say “Allah-u-akbar” several times a day without any deaths is hardly news. I said it right now and notice how you keep reading and stay alive, but again that’s not exactly news.
For some Muslims, one can rant about being called a terrorist or having high screening rates at the airport but in all honesty that may just be the price of being different. I would much rather focus on the far greater number of people that have supported me and helped me over the years despite the obvious differences. However these little acts of isolation do become a concern if they lead to something larger, starting with the travel bans and potentially leading to internment camps.
I think there is a lot of good that was borne out of these tense few weeks, we saw the spirit of acceptance of the American people and it reminded me why I have been so addicted to living here. It also revived my hope in freedom and helped me discover a newfound love for SNL. I don’t have solutions for any of these issues, because Hollywood and the media have to cater to the larger audience and I don’t know how to be mainstream. The greater good therefore would be if out of this chaos we get the storyline that helps to humanize Muslims and suddenly we become mainstream.
Now as I dream about waking up to Alec Baldwin as President, I can only pray (since I can do that in public now) that we are able to move forward with renewed perspectives about each other.