Basicofislam
sister
:salam2:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently issued a warning for parents to be on the lookout for a book that is circulating among middle schoolers. The Terrorist, by award-winning author Caroline Cooney, is apparently on many schools' "recommended reading" lists.
The book is not new. Published by Scholastic Press in 1997, it can be found in many public and school libraries. So what's all the fuss about now?
Muslims are sensitive to issues of free speech and censorship. The concern is merely that such a book is being targetted to middle-school youth, and often recommended by librarians and teachers. The book is filled with innaccurate and offensive stereotyping that is not appropriate for the school market.
Not one to complain about something I know nothing about, I borrowed The Terrorist from my local library and read it myself. I can see why children enjoy it - a murder mystery set around an exotic international school in London. However, there were places throughout the book that made my stomach quiver. A key example:
[15-year-old Muslim girl speaking of her upcoming arranged marriage]
'The man chosen for me is a general in his fifties. I will be his third wife. His is a traditional household. I will be forced to wear a black robe like my servant, and have my face covered by a solid veil with eye slits. I will not be permitted to leave my house. I will not be allowed books to read or television to watch or a radio to listen to. Laura, you are too American to know what such a marriage means. It is living death.... My money would be his, and I would never be permitted to touch it. I would obey my husband, always, no matter how painful or cruel or wrong. I would have no purpose except to give birth to sons. If I had daughters, he would punish me and quickly get me pregnant again.'
Laura felt as if Jehran occupied another planet, a place without gravity or sunrise....
In marriage, Jehran would dress like a vampire. A black shroud with eye slits. Nobody except her husband would ever see her skin. The husband who was forty years older. Who already had wives. The wives were alive. They lived there. Laura did not like to think of the logistics of their bedrooms....
Islam.
You thought that religion was a pact between you and God, but it wasn't. Religion was a group, and sometimes even a government. In some countries, religion was a government by the tough and the cruel. Men who hated women. Men who wanted women literally locked in their clothes and their houses.... [quoted from The Terrorist, pages 107-111]
Now, Scholastic Press contends that the book is a work of fiction, and that such stereotypes are portrayed as the views of one character. The problem with that is that Laura, the girl making these perceptions, is the hero of the book. Jehran, the Muslim girl, uses the naive little American girl as a pawn in her terrorist plot. There's no arranged marriage - it's just a cover up for her more clandestine activities.
Another character, Mr. Hollober, is the Current Events teacher at the international school. While one would think that this character would give a balanced view, he too furthers the stereotypes:
'If a girl from an observant Moslem family were to fall in love with a Christian,' said Mr. Hollober, 'or flirt, or expose her face or limbs or hair in front of men except her father and brothers, she would taint her family's honor. She would be punished because honor of the family matters more than she does.'
'What kind of punishment?' said Tiffany.
Mr. Hollober said the family might shoot her.
'Come on,' said Tiffany, not believing a word of that.
Mr. Hollober insisted he was telling the truth. 'Girls who tempt men are criminals. Girls who disobey their fathers and brothers are criminals. And criminals in Islamic countries pay with their lives.' [pages 118-119]
After this exchange, the main character summed up the underlying theme throughout the book:
They were wrong when they said if you went overseas, you would better understand other nations and people and religions. The more Laura heard, the less she understood. The less she wanted to understand. She usually wanted to give American lessons so people would see that the American way was best. [page 120]
The bottom line -
This book is filled with outrageous stereotypes, with nothing to balance or confront them. On the contrary, the main character observes that, "When you live abroad, you found out that some stereotypes were true" [page 55]. The examples listed above are just a few out of dozens of such passages.
This book is not appropriate for middle school youth, except as part of a thought-out curriculum on stereotypes and perceptions of others. At a time when our youth are so vulnerable to violence, hatred, and low self-esteem, adults cannot merely drop such a book in a child's lap without follow-up discussion.
There are Muslim children sitting right alongside children of other faiths, as our schools become increasingly diverse. What might seem funny or entertaining is neither if done at the expense of any group of people.
My recommendation: That concerned parents should be in close contact, now and always, with their children and their local schools. Find out if this and other books are in the school library, on the recommended reading list, or assigned in class. Get involved. Offer alternatives.
What do you think? Should the book be recalled? Should concerned parents simply discuss it with their local schools? Or are Muslims overreacting? We're talking about it in the Forum.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently issued a warning for parents to be on the lookout for a book that is circulating among middle schoolers. The Terrorist, by award-winning author Caroline Cooney, is apparently on many schools' "recommended reading" lists.
The book is not new. Published by Scholastic Press in 1997, it can be found in many public and school libraries. So what's all the fuss about now?
Muslims are sensitive to issues of free speech and censorship. The concern is merely that such a book is being targetted to middle-school youth, and often recommended by librarians and teachers. The book is filled with innaccurate and offensive stereotyping that is not appropriate for the school market.
Not one to complain about something I know nothing about, I borrowed The Terrorist from my local library and read it myself. I can see why children enjoy it - a murder mystery set around an exotic international school in London. However, there were places throughout the book that made my stomach quiver. A key example:
[15-year-old Muslim girl speaking of her upcoming arranged marriage]
'The man chosen for me is a general in his fifties. I will be his third wife. His is a traditional household. I will be forced to wear a black robe like my servant, and have my face covered by a solid veil with eye slits. I will not be permitted to leave my house. I will not be allowed books to read or television to watch or a radio to listen to. Laura, you are too American to know what such a marriage means. It is living death.... My money would be his, and I would never be permitted to touch it. I would obey my husband, always, no matter how painful or cruel or wrong. I would have no purpose except to give birth to sons. If I had daughters, he would punish me and quickly get me pregnant again.'
Laura felt as if Jehran occupied another planet, a place without gravity or sunrise....
In marriage, Jehran would dress like a vampire. A black shroud with eye slits. Nobody except her husband would ever see her skin. The husband who was forty years older. Who already had wives. The wives were alive. They lived there. Laura did not like to think of the logistics of their bedrooms....
Islam.
You thought that religion was a pact between you and God, but it wasn't. Religion was a group, and sometimes even a government. In some countries, religion was a government by the tough and the cruel. Men who hated women. Men who wanted women literally locked in their clothes and their houses.... [quoted from The Terrorist, pages 107-111]
Now, Scholastic Press contends that the book is a work of fiction, and that such stereotypes are portrayed as the views of one character. The problem with that is that Laura, the girl making these perceptions, is the hero of the book. Jehran, the Muslim girl, uses the naive little American girl as a pawn in her terrorist plot. There's no arranged marriage - it's just a cover up for her more clandestine activities.
Another character, Mr. Hollober, is the Current Events teacher at the international school. While one would think that this character would give a balanced view, he too furthers the stereotypes:
'If a girl from an observant Moslem family were to fall in love with a Christian,' said Mr. Hollober, 'or flirt, or expose her face or limbs or hair in front of men except her father and brothers, she would taint her family's honor. She would be punished because honor of the family matters more than she does.'
'What kind of punishment?' said Tiffany.
Mr. Hollober said the family might shoot her.
'Come on,' said Tiffany, not believing a word of that.
Mr. Hollober insisted he was telling the truth. 'Girls who tempt men are criminals. Girls who disobey their fathers and brothers are criminals. And criminals in Islamic countries pay with their lives.' [pages 118-119]
After this exchange, the main character summed up the underlying theme throughout the book:
They were wrong when they said if you went overseas, you would better understand other nations and people and religions. The more Laura heard, the less she understood. The less she wanted to understand. She usually wanted to give American lessons so people would see that the American way was best. [page 120]
The bottom line -
This book is filled with outrageous stereotypes, with nothing to balance or confront them. On the contrary, the main character observes that, "When you live abroad, you found out that some stereotypes were true" [page 55]. The examples listed above are just a few out of dozens of such passages.
This book is not appropriate for middle school youth, except as part of a thought-out curriculum on stereotypes and perceptions of others. At a time when our youth are so vulnerable to violence, hatred, and low self-esteem, adults cannot merely drop such a book in a child's lap without follow-up discussion.
There are Muslim children sitting right alongside children of other faiths, as our schools become increasingly diverse. What might seem funny or entertaining is neither if done at the expense of any group of people.
My recommendation: That concerned parents should be in close contact, now and always, with their children and their local schools. Find out if this and other books are in the school library, on the recommended reading list, or assigned in class. Get involved. Offer alternatives.
What do you think? Should the book be recalled? Should concerned parents simply discuss it with their local schools? Or are Muslims overreacting? We're talking about it in the Forum.