The Seattle Times
Friday, November 20, 1987, Letters
RACIAL STEREOTYPES: Sheiks May Have Money, But So May Republicans
In stating that he overheard a “nattily dressed American puff snootily that he had paid $400 to get two theater tickets” in London, Times theater critic Wayne Johnson (Nov. 1) does the readership a disservice in summing up the fact that unprepared travelers to London often must pay exorbitant prices by stating in continuation that “that might be an option open to sneaky inside traders and assorted sheikhs, but it’s out of the question for most of us.”
As the Times ran two articles recently on the growing anti-Arab and and Arab-American sentiment in the U.S., which has included violent attacks including killings, I would think that both Mr. Johnson and the Times would seek to avoid such jargon, however innocuous it may seem.
Stereotyping, racism, and other blaming is often insidious, and those engaging in it may not even realize it, much less the hurt they can cause. I have recently encountered discussions where the word Kike, and the expression “Jewing (someone) down” were freely used with no apparent concern for the fact that I was Jewish, which was known by the users.
While some or even many sheiks may have money, so do Republican fundraisers. The implication, however, is clear and simple: Sneaky goes hands in hand with sheik, thus perpetuating stereotypical ideas worthy of a different era.
Stereotyping begins at home, in the office place and at the factory. It can be a few easy steps from a mis-attribution in the print media to racist bumper stickers (which proliferated during the 1970s oil embargo against both Jewish and Arab Americans), sensationalized film making with a recent spate of racist sentiment – particularly against southeast Asians and Arabs – and a host of other injustices: cross burnings, job discrimination, broken windshields and vacated homes, and hopes.
Ken Akiva Segan
Seattle