A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| some embarassing truths |
|---|
| jaihoon |
| 07/20/02 at 15:20:24 |
| Ignorance ain’t bliss [ SUNDAY, JULY 21, 2002 12:40:13 AM ] AMERICA CALLING / NIKHAT KAZMI timesofindia.com India. Ah! Bombay Dreams...Bollywood...Lagaan... A.R. Rahman. Pakistan. Yeah! Musharraf aka Busharraf aka our man in Islamabad. This is the stock response you get from the average American when he learns you are from India. While Broadway already bears posters of Bombay Dreams, the All American Indophile tells you he liked Lagaan but wants to know why there were so many songs, so much cricket in the Oscar nominee. As for Pakistan, it’s easy to place, post-September 11 since the media catapulted it as the frontline state in America’s war against terror. But that’s that. The average American IQ conveniently transmutes the subcontinent into easy-to-digest synonyms and then blacks out. Americans are an ignorant lot when it comes to looking beyond their nose. Beyond the Big Mac, French Fries, Oprah (Winfrey), Britney (Spears) and Arnie (Schwarzennegar). And this isn’t an Un-American view. Instead, the indictment comes straight from within — a core finding of the National Commission on Asia in the Schools which published its finding recently. "Our nation faces an international crisis....Yet, vast numbers of US citizens — particularly young Americans — remain dangerously uninformed about international matters," indicts the report. "They lack even the rudimentary knowledge of world affairs and cultures beyond our borders that is necessary to lead America in today’s global environment," the survey reports. The lacuna is particularly gla ring in the case of Asia, it says. Some embarrassing truths after a general knowledge survey comprising 16 questions: • More than 80 per cent of Americans did not know that India, with a population that is four times greater than that of the US, is the world’s largest democracy. • Almost 30 per cent could not name the ocean that separates North America from Asia. • Nearly 70 per cent did not know who Mao Zedong was. • Despite the painful legacy of the US military involvement in Vietnam, half the adults and two-thirds of the students incorrectly identified Vietnam as an island. Some respondents even thought Vietnam wasn’t a country; just a war. Tracing the origin of this ‘ignorance’ to the American school system, Vivien Stewart, vice president, education, Asia Society, tells you that teachers devote less than five per cent of the overall class time to Asian content in American schools. Moreover, the textbooks are brimming over with deficiencies when it comes to Asian content. By and large, Asian cultures are portrayed as universally exotic or impoverished and frozen in time until European contact. For example, in a high school textbook’s unit on South Asia, the short write-up on India states: "India is the largest country in South Asia. The British ruled much of the region until 1947." Needless to say, a reference that seems to say there isn’t any Indian history before the Raj. Post-September 11, America is awash with the need to know Asia and it’s multi-hued drama. Officials in the South Asia office of the US State Department insist that America’s war on terror will not be complete unless all the Tora-Boraesque hide-outs in Asia are smoked out. "We have realised that our political and economic interests lie in Central and South Asia," proffers a spokesperson, even as he insists that "it is lazy thinking to look for a tilt in America’s relationship with India and Pakistan. We have independent interests with both." Richard Boucher, secretary of state for foreign affairs, envisages a three-pronged role for America in Asia: securing borders, building stable democracies and protecting human rights. But America also realises that the flip side of the terror war must be a desire to build bridges and connect with nations that have begun to view the superpower with distrust and suspicion. Yo Yo Ma, noted cellist, tells you that America can no longer afford NOT to know Asia. "We have to undertake all kinds of steps — political, economic, artistic — to ensure that the six degrees of separation between us is reduced to two degrees," he says. Statistics from the survey too articulate a similar desire. Almost 82 per cent adults and 74 per cent students felt there is a connection between Asia and America’s future while 70 per cent students and 90 per cent adults felt it was expedient to study Asia — language, literature, art, music, history and politics — in school. It is specifically for this purpose that American schools and colleges are planning to majorly introduce Asia in their syllabi and to increase the flow of students to and from Asian countries. "We have realised that investing in foreign student exchange is an exchange in homeland security," explains Patricia S. Harrison, assistant secretary of education and culture. Small wonder then, America today is willing to annually fund a $12 billion student exchange industry. And why not. For not only does America’s trade with Asia more than double that with Europe, exceeding $870 billion annually, the 12 million Americans of Asian descent also constitute one of the fastest-growing and most affluent demographic groups. Welcome to Asia. |
| Re: some embarassing truths |
|---|
| Ameeraana |
| 07/21/02 at 05:11:59 |
| I work for an airline at the ticket counter and after September 11th, one day someone came to me and said, "Look over there, there are Arabians in the line". My first thought -- what does it matter that they are Arab? I was going to mention it and then when I looked at the family, I had to inform her, "They are not Arabian, they are Indian." She just had a blank look on her face as if thinking "Aren't they all the same?" so I also mentioned that "They are not the same". She just said "oh", and walked away.... I heard it so many more times for a while until I finally told a supervisor that it bothered me to hear such racist comments (you know when they have to mention someone is Arab, its automatically they are saying they are suspicious) and that they need to make it stop. So, during briefing that week, everyday, she tried. The comments did stop because she informed that racist attitudes will not be tolerated in the workplace. Even one of my friends spoke of being afraid of Arabs and I asked her if she was afraid of Anglo-Americans when Timothy Mcvay and the Oklahoma City Bombing happened. Ever since then she now says she isn't afraid anymore and realizes how she was wrong... There needs to be more education from when our children are young about the cultures and countries of the world. |
| Re: some embarassing truths |
|---|
| theOriginal |
| 07/22/02 at 10:04:20 |
| [slm] Gotta love that article. Here in Cana-DUH, we used to have this GREAT show on TV. It was called "Talking to Americans." (Fellow Canadians, this ringabell?) One episode that vividly sticks out in my mind was when Americans from ALL parts of the US were asked to "Congratulate Canada on breaking their age-old tradition of sending their elderly people to the polar ice caps to perish." I think I must have laughed for days after that. Especially since the Governor of Georgia (!!!) didn't clue in either. Oh I got one more story. I went to a mosque in Auburn, Alabama Needless to say, it's a fairly small town, and everyone knows each other. So I stood out quite a bit. A sister came and asked me where I was from and what I was doing here. After my answer, she stood there puzzled for a long time. Finally, she spoke, "You have really good English for living in Canada..." (Apology in effect to any Americans out there. This was not meant to be an insult...perhaps some of you can eliminate my perception of y'all south of the border.) [wlm] SF. |
| Re: some embarassing truths |
|---|
| Zahra |
| 07/23/02 at 18:13:14 |
| [slm]Didnt George Bush say ''that great country Africa''!As a South African I'm amazed by people wanting to know if lions are roaming the streets or if Joburg's roads are lined with gold1 :D ;D |
| Re: some embarassing truths |
|---|
| Ms._Bey |
| 07/24/02 at 16:46:52 |
| [slm] Good point about Timothy McVeigh. America is always trying to equate the term "terrorist" with Muslims. >:( Ever hear of a Christian "Terrorist"? Timothy McVeigh. And what about all those times 'Big Brother' America is going into other countries - uninvited - to solve that country's "problems" for them? Aren't they terrorizing the natives? ??? |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |