Links – 2009-03-20
Compiled by Fatemeh Fakhraie and Latoya Peterson
A high school in Pennsylvania banned students from wearing the keffiyeh after an escalation of tensions between Jewish and Muslim students. After a few days, the high school rescinded the ban.
Speaking of clothing issues, Urban Outfitters has done it again with new levels of offensive appropriation: the Allah bracelet. Uh-huh.
Ghostface Killa releases a track in support of Rihanna and victims of domestic violence.
ABC has given the green light for a sitcom pilot based on Firoozeh Dumas’ book Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America.
GetReligion discusses Tyler Perry’s black female demographic.
Danish students will be getting some diversity in their literature classes: a new textbook will focus on literature that comes to Denmark from its immigrants’ countries of origin, including Somalia, Croatia, Iraq, etc.
Ali Eteraz looks at the Pakistani diaspora and its issues.
The Boston Globe looks at the dangers of losing “ethnic media.”
The Root also discusses the changing face of newsrooms in their “Broadsheetless in Seattle” piece.
For Tahirih Brown, an editor at the Seattle P-I for more than five years, newspapers have reduced their opportunities for non-white journalists.
“When I started in journalism in the early ’90s, the big change was diversity—making the newsroom look more like the community they were covering,” she said Tuesday night, at the raucous P-I farewell at Buckley’s, the paper’s unofficial watering hole. “And I feel that in the past couple of years, that’s kind of gone by the wayside. There are some stories that just aren’t going to ever get told because of a lack of diversity in newsrooms in general.”
KABOBfest takes a look at Arabs in Hollywood: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The discovery of the remains of Cleopatra’s sister sheds new light on their ethnicities.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:
the “Allah” bracelet is just another stupid thing for clueless white Americans to buy. Not much different from morons wearing an “Ohm” shirt or a shirt of a Hindu deity, or morons who wear Buddha bracelets.
I don’t find it offensive, I find it typically American: ignorant and pathetic.
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 10:16 am ¶
Gueragirl wrote:
on the topic of keffiyeh, in my school there is a group the Middles eastern kids( all boys) wear it but that mostly to “respond” (I don’t know how to word it about there status of a Muslim American in the U.S ( sort of an F— you to the American Media and Government treatment of the Middle east and terrorism)
I don’t know a lot of girls in my school that wear it, it mostly non Muslims or non Middle Easter’s that wear it.
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 10:19 am ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
Hold it…the Allah bracelet? ::eyerub:: Wait….::reads link again:: The Allah bracelet? First, those *^(*%$^% Slanties, and now this? Okay, I’ve reached my limit of sartorial racism for rest of the month.
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 10:22 am ¶
red wrote:
Um, particularly tasteful advertising blurb for the bracelet too…
Leather And Rope Bracelet
Overall Rating
(2 reviews)
Share this Product:
$4.99(Was $8.00)
Give ‘em enough rope. Rustic leather and rope bracelet with a slipknot closure. Imported. Spot clean.
* 6″l, .75″w
* Leather, rope
Do these people understand that words – in any language – have meaning?
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 11:58 am ¶
Jamerican Muslimah wrote:
Not feeling the Allah bracelet for the general public. Esp. since you’re not supposed to wear it in the bathroom and while doing other things…
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 1:10 pm ¶
Sobia wrote:
The Allah bracelet would be something I wouldn’t mind buying for myself, but I’m Muslim so I feel justified. Plus I can appreciate the significance behind it. However, Christian Arabs and Pakistanis also refer to God as Allah. So then who do I say I’m comfortable with wearing it? *scratching head* I’m a little confused on how to feel now. I just know that I really hate the idea of hipsters wearing it like they were wearing the kaffiyeh.
But something that did ROYALLY piss me off once – many years ago I was watching a show (I think it was a reality show of sorts) that took place in a high school classroom in the US (at least the one episode I watched). As I watched I was absolutely horrified and shocked to learn that one of the student’s name was Allah. Yeah…his name was the Arabic name of God. What kind of parents name their child that? I was so disturbed, offended, angered, and shocked. I can’t even say or write ‘Allah’ without the utmost reverence and respect and here this kid was named it. I still get goosepumps of shock and horror when I think about it. I don’t even know how people dared to refer to him with that name.
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 3:46 pm ¶
Heather wrote:
thanks for posting the salon article with the ghostface song! great links, passing them on
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 5:26 pm ¶
fullmoonoffaith wrote:
It was just a matter of time before the “Slanties” came out. 3…2…1…stupid.
Hopefully, the company’ll get enough backlash to take the bracelets off the shelves. Allah, please guide these misguided, moneygrubbin’ fools.
Posted 20 Mar 2009 at 6:46 pm ¶
Minotaar wrote:
I dont get the “Allah Bracelet”. I can see how it can resemble a crescent from a certain angle, but how is this necessarily a commodification of anything religious? Did UO make any suggestion it had anything to do with islam? From a certain angle a spoon can resemble a crescent too; obviously spoons arent commodifications of Islam. Can someone explain how the bracelet is offensive?
Mod Note – If you scroll down in the comments to the Kabobfest post, someone has noted that the symbol on the front of the bracelet translates to “Allah.” – LDP
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 1:16 am ¶
Minotaar wrote:
@red: the statement regarding the UO bracelet seems more offensive to african americans.. not against Islam..
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 1:19 am ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
I found the “Allah” bracelet really offensive because as a Muslim it cheapens and commodifies a personal belief I hold very dear to my heart. That is why I don’t believe that religious symbols in general should be cheapened and commodified because it’s offensive to those of us who really believe in them. What’s also offensive is that this brand seems to targetted towards white hipster liberals rather than to Muslims (I have seen jewelry worn by Muslims with Allah’s name on it). This brings in the whole question of appropriation which is that how could someone who doesn’t understand the context of appropriated items within their respective cultures/religions be able to appropriate it without coming off as offensive? The answer to me is that there really is no way to do that.
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 8:41 am ¶
red wrote:
@ minotaur – I didn’t think the “enough rope” line was racially offensive as such, because it wasn’t being applied to anyone. UO seem unaware of any connection between their braceklet and Islam, and there is no association that I can see between the bracelet and African Americans – if there was, the “enough rope” comment would be deeply and shockingly offensive.
But in any case the phrase “give ‘em enough rope” prompts the reader to complete the phrase “and they’ll hang themselves”. WTF? Is that supposed to be cool? Do you really want this kind of thing coming to mind if you are trying to sell a bracelet?
The phrase seems to have been put there because it has the word rope in it, and there is rope in the bracelet, without anyone thinking for two seconds about the meaning of the phrase, or what it brings to mind.
And – more notably, of course – no one bothered to think about the meaning of the Arabic word on the bracelet either.
It may be that subconsciously I got bad lynching vibes off the hanging reference because I was already looking at the bracelet with racism in mind…
But what I was thinking when I posted was that here is a reference to Allah, being commercialised and sold off – disregarding the feelings of Muslims – and done in a particularly tasteless way. That seemed to make it uglier somehow. Dunno if that makes sense…
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 8:45 am ¶
red wrote:
PS sorry Minotaar, didn’t mean to mis-spell your name above.
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 8:47 am ¶
Sobia wrote:
@minotaar & Latoya:
The bracelet has Allah written in Arabic. Its not the symbol for Allah, its the word ‘Allah’ written on it.
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 1:20 pm ¶
fatima wrote:
When I first read this I was pleased – a lot of Muslims wear Allah necklaces/bracelets and I thought it was nice that they would be inclusive. But then I realised it’s just sold without any realisation of what it is, seemingly. Uh oh.
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 3:53 pm ¶
Minotaar wrote:
Ok, so now that its been explained to me its pretty clear. But I need to say Kabobfest did a fucking poor job of explaining WHAT was so offensive and WHY.
“Really? With a generic description that makes no reference to the etched centerpiece, Urban Outfitters’ advertises a brown “leather and rope” الله bracelet for $8 on their website. First the Kuffiyah Kontroversy of 2006 and now this. I don’t understand the motivations of the buyers for UO in this case either. Shock Value or New Muslim Cool? Is it suppose to be inclusive, offensive, or ironically hip? Consumption culture’s attempt to dilute symbolic value and religious meaning through commodification? Has Muslim posturing become the new cool? Or, the last option: Are the “forces that be” at UO just oblivious???”
What IS the etched centerpiece? Its pretty hard to tell from the picture. its not like you zoomed it in, Kabobfest. Feel free to vent that UO fucked up. I agree – they did. but tell those of us who are uninformed why its so offensive so that we can SUPPORT you. Why cant Kabobfest say
A) This word means “Allah”.
B) Using that word on your kitschy jewelry is not acceptable.
It would inform us a little and it would help us understand your frustration. UGH! I hate it when people fail at communication.
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 5:31 pm ¶
red wrote:
@ Minotaar 16
I need to say Kabobfest did a fucking poor job of explaining WHAT was so offensive and WHY.
UGH! I hate it when people fail at communication.
Kabobfest may not be written just for you, Minotaar. Your comment seems very rude.
In any case, if you had read the comments on the Kabobfest post, you would have the answer to your question. Perhaps you failed to do that…
Posted 21 Mar 2009 at 6:09 pm ¶
Maus wrote:
“Speaking of clothing issues, Urban Outfitters has done it again with new levels of offensive appropriation: the Allah bracelet. Uh-huh.”
I believe UO is owned by a very conservative Christian, which adds to the oddness. I doubt he has that much say over the day to day decisions, though.
Posted 22 Mar 2009 at 5:52 pm ¶
Medusa wrote:
@ Maus- I believe you’re thinking of Forever 21. I’m annoyed at Urban Outfitters, but I can’t say I’m really surprised because they are excellent at reappropriating and offending.
Posted 23 Mar 2009 at 9:35 am ¶
Kathryn wrote:
“UO seem unaware of any connection between their braceklet and Islam”
It is highly unlikely (eg., not possible) that the company is not aware of what the product means and how it is very obviously connected to Islam. It is not acknowledged in the product description, but it’s impossible that it was designed, manufactured, marketed, shipped out to stores and placed online without someone in the company considering that.
The strangest thing about it is that there is no explanation for what it says. It doesn’t even say that it’s Arabic script! Even one of the product reviewers says they know it’s Arabic and means God thanks to *the other product review,* which implies they didn’t when they originally bought it.
If the product description just said that and made it part of the marketing, it would seem less like appropriation.
Posted 25 Mar 2009 at 1:28 am ¶