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Muslim-Americans in Mainstream America
So the three of us took a chance. We decided to try to bridge the chasm of ignorance between Muslims in America and their neighbors. We knew it was a simple prescription but one that would not be easy to apply. In June 1994, we used a modest donation as a starting budget to open the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, D.C. Ibrahim and I were the two first committed but uncertain staff members. As we prepared our bare, two-room office, we heard of the latest in a long line of insulting Hollywood potboilers. The humiliation was familiar to American Muslims and Arabs: "Delta Force," "Rambo," "Terrorist on Trial...". Here came another public degradation for Muslim families. "I've seen a preview for an upcoming Schwarzenegger movie with Arabs in it — as terrorists, of course," someone told us. We took on the seemingly futile task of contacting 20th Century Fox to object to the negative stereotyping of Muslims suggested by the images in the movie's trailer: sweaty, swarthy, kuffiyeh-clad Arabs firing wildly into the air; enormous bombs wrapped in the American flag. CAIR's first action alert, explaining the danger of the stereotypes in "True Lies," reached only a couple of dozen fax machines. But it was a start. When we called 20th Century Fox, our concerns about stereotyping in the movie fell on deaf ears. For the first time, CAIR took its case to the community. At the film's Washington, D.C., premiere, we held an "informational picketing." The dozen people who stood outside the theater handing out information about Muslim objections to the film did not know that they were turning over a new leaf for Muslims in America. They were joined by Muslims in different cities in a coordinated national effort. The modest but organized effort of Muslims nationwide generated enough media interest that 20th Century Fox felt compelled to call CAIR and offer a disclaimer on the film. This minor victory planted a badly needed seed of hope in Muslim hearts. HUMOR YES, BIGOTRY NO It was the photo of the Islamically-dressed woman on the greeting card that caught the eye of the mother and her sons browsing in the Hallmark store in Reston, Virginia. The mother picked up the card and opened it. Inside she read: “So you‘re feeling like Shi‘ite. Don't Mecca big deal out of it." The reference was to the holy city of Mekka, the site of pilgrimage for all observant Muslims. But it was the reference to excrement, playing on the spelling of the name of Shi'ite Muslims, that was particularly insulting. "This has got to stop," she resolved, and she became the first of many Muslim community members to contact CAIR about an offensive anti-Muslim product. We at CAIR responded by picking up the phone to request that the card’s manufacturer, Recycled Paper Greetings, recall the offensive card and offer an apology. I remember that no one bothered to return our calls. When RPG finally deigned to contact us, they informed us that we had no sense of humor. "If we allow that kind of disrespect to go unchallenged," we reasoned, "then more companies, and thousands of consumers, will continue making degrading others into a profitable business." A one-page action alert bearing a picture of the card was faxed to our list of less than 100 supporters and interested institutions. Some of the recipients circulated the alert in their mosques. Within two weeks, Illinois-based RPG received over 800 complaints, an overwhelming number if one considers that the company typically receives about 300 complaints per year. Despite the strong response from Muslim community members, RPG was disinterested. They made it clear that they had no intention of withdrawing the card. Chicago newspapers picked up on the controversy when local Muslims, joining those in Virginia, Kansas, Minneapolis and elsewhere, began picketing greeting card stores which stocked the card. Muslim children joined their parents in the protests, carrying signs emblazoned with, "HUMOR YES! BIGOTRY NO!" Not only Muslims were offended. A Lutheran minister became one of CAIR's earliest Christian allies when he joined in protesting RPG's lack of response by writing to them, "If the calls of our Muslim brothers and sisters fall on deaf ears, we are going to ask our church membership to boycott RPG products." Others join-ed him. When RPG stonewalled, CAIR called for donations to distribute bumper stickers asking all people of conscience to boycott RPG. The community responded and promised to keep up the pressure. Finally, after three months, RPG’s president called CAIR to say he was ready to sign an agreement which included an apology for the insulting nature of the card and its recall from stores. Those who had participated in this national campaign received this news with joy and relief. Their efforts had borne fruit. It also served to encourage those who had stood by watching skeptically to join in future efforts. The following month, a Texas businessman who had seen the results of the campaign against RPG called CAIR to complain about a software ad placed in a business magazine by Timeslips Corporation, the world‘s number maker of time and billing software products. In the ad photo, worshippers prostrated in Muslim prayer toward a box of software. CAIR contacted Timeslips and was told by their marketing manager that the ad was already paid for, that it would appear eleven more times, and that the company had no intention of dropping it. Then Timeslips found that the news clippings CAIR faxed them about the successful RPG campaign focused their thinking. Half an hour after the faxes were sent, a company representative called, ready to talk. Initially, he offered to brush the prayer rugs out of the photo ad, but in the end he decided to cancel the contract altogether. It was the impact of the three-month-long RPG campaign that brought this one to a successful conclusion after only a few days.
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