The Shah of Arab Humor;
the Sheik of Middle East Jokes; the King of Arab American Comedy ...
(c) 2002 Ray Hanania, All Rights
Reserved
... just off the FBI's
10 Most Wanted List ... on leave from a stint at Camp X-Ray in Cuba ... the
man you hope isn't on your vacation flight ...
Ray Hanania
Why
Humor? Using comedy to shatter not reinforce stereotypes
By Ray Hanania
The tragedy of
September 11th has created an unusual environment where individual rights are
abrogated and abused, and where stereotyping has replaced good investigative
techniques to fight crime.
Terrorism does not
have an ethnic face? Why must we insist on putting an ethnic face on this
crime?
These are all serious issues. Bigotry.
Stereotyping. Racism. Discrimination. Terrorism striking at the heart of
America. The threat of more terrorism. And in the Middle East, the hopes of
peace have been shattered by the worst violence in decades. What looked like
the promise of peace has now turned into a guarantee of escalating tensions,
more violence and regional destabilization.
All of these factors have come together to
create one of the most unstable environments in our times. And one ethnic
group is the target of this growing animosity. Arab Americans.
As an Arab American, I have always felt that
I could somehow make a difference. Ever since college, I have tried to work
toward peace in the Middle East. I believe the most effective effort is in
communications. It has been the one element that has been absent from the Arab
community, and its absence has contributed to misunderstanding, and escalating
animosity.
The Middle East conflict is the focal point
of a storm of violence taking place throughout the world today and in America.
Although Osama Bin Laden's vicious terror strike against the World Trade
Center's Twin Towers is not related to the Middle East conflict, his origin as
a fanatic from Saudi Arabia has made this impossible to ignore.
In the past 25 years, I have spoken out
publicly against violence and for peace. I have debated pro-Israeli leaders
like Israel's former Foreign Minister Abba Eban (Kup's Show, nationally, in
1976) not to make points but to counter their domination of the American
viewpoint. You can't have peace until both sides are understood. And the Arab
American side has never been properly understood. I have blamed that on our
poorly trained spokesmen who have failed to understand the fundamentals of
basic communications. Their inability to communicate has contributed to the
American misunderstanding, has strengthened the pro-Israel argument and has
weakened the Arab position.
But after 25 years of writing columns,
perspectives and commentaries that have appeared in hundreds of newspapers
around the country and dozens in the Middle East, and having participated in
hundreds of public appearances across this country from Harvard to
Northwestern, I have come to realize that the situation is so bad that even a
logical argument cannot break through the years of accumulated anti-Arab
hatred and misunderstanding that a strong pro-Israel lobby and a poorly
equipped Arab lobby have created.
Till this day, Arab American organizations
and spokespeople fail to understand the most basic techniques of professional
communications. The people who take these roles are often trained in history,
politics or law, but have no formal training in public relations or media
strategy, both very important professions that require years of training. The
only common denominator they have is that they finally recognize the
importance of the media is impacting the events in the Middle East.
It's not enough to want to be a spokesman.
It's not enough to know the issues. You must be trained. And most of the Arab
American spokespeople today are untrained neophytes with a good understanding
of the facts, who have no real training in public relations or communications.
They sound good to the choir (Arab American audiences who cheer their positive
evolution) but they are having very little impact on Americans and the Western
public.
Why Comedy?
Comedy is the most effective means of
communicating, especially in a political environment.
The truth is, most people don't want to be
bothered with politics that they do not feel directly impacts on them, or that
contradicts the basic premises and understandings they already have.
I see the Arab spokesmen moving their mouths
and forming words, but all the Americans hear is "blah, blah, blah."
How do you change that?
By changing the fundamental premises that
Americans have of the Arab people. You cannot force Americans to just accept
our version of history or justice. We Arabs know that we have truth on our
side, but in the world of Americans and the West, perception is reality. Truth
is not as important as the manner in which you present it, and the audience
you are speaking to.
Americans also love comedy. They appreciate
comedy. While they will not let even the most polished Arab spokesman into
their mindset, they will allow comedy to enter.
Comedy can make a difference. This is the
serious side to comedy. It is effective satire, the sharpest of communications
knives that can cut through injustice and promote fairness. Laughter breaks
down hatreds and stereotypes, although many people incorrectly believe that
comedy propagates stereotypes.
The fact is that most Americans have
stereotypes about Arabs. And the stereotypes that comedy lampoons are
stereotypes that they already have. I believe that if I, as an Arab, can show
Americans that I can make fun of the stereotypes they have of my life as an
Arab, maybe I can show them that the stereotypes must not be that serious.
Maybe, the stereotypes are wrong. Laugh at them. Discard them.
The easiest way to reinforce a stereotype in
the mind of a person who has a stereotype of me, as an Arab, is to treat the
stereotype like it is a serious issue. The easiest way to undermine it, is to
show the person who has it, that the stereotype is not as serious as they
think. In fact, it is a joke.
In my comedy act, I lampoon and ridicule many
serious subjects such as the custom of wearing a Berqa (the full heavy cloth
covering many Arab women are forced to wear from youth); Honor Killings, the
practice that exists in the Middle East and also in other cultures and
countries of murdering a female relative, sibling or child who has committed
or is suspected of committing an act of adultery that has shamed the family.
These are all serious issues. I do not
support them. They are more than stereotypes. They are wrong practices.
Lampooning them is an effective way to undermine them and to help Americans,
who make judgments about how they view Arabs because of these practices,
recognize that many Arabs oppose these unfair traditions.
I have written in a serious way criticizing
the Berqa and Honor Killings. Yet, I feel that serious dissertation on them is
not enough. We have to insert them into the mainstream American consciousness
and comedy is that vehicle.
There is a serious and responsible side to
comedy and I hope that as I develop my stand-up comedy career, I can help
undermine those stereotypes that need and must be changed.
ZANIES
