Cartoonist: Bob Englehart
Publication: The Hartford Courant - September 4, 2010
Many of the cartoons we found frame Muslims in a negative way. This cartoon however, does the opposite, bringing to light the ignorance, intolerance, and apparent Islamophobia of the U.S., framing Muslims in a positive light. This cartoon is more of a reprimand to the American people for the Islamophobia they are showing. Hate is shown as gasoline and Fear is shown as a match. It is implied that fear will ignite the hatred that many Americans are showing and will destroy the US. Sarcasm shows that Americans are not really memorializing the people who lost their lives because they are acting on fear and hate. This particular cartoon frames the Muslim people in a positive light; a victim of the U.S. and their Islamophobia, or fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims.
John Esposito from Georgetown University says, “The risk is that islamophobia will become the kind of new form of discrimination, like anti-Semitism, like racism towards blacks” (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/09/02/am.feyerick.islamophobia.cnn?iref=allsearch).
So what is "Islamophobia"?
Definitions of Islamophobia range from “a prejudice against Muslims” (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=islamophobia) to “the fear of Muslims, hatred of Muslims” (http://www.translationdirectory.com/glossaries/glossary007_i.htm).
At The World Forum of Spiritual Culture, recently held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Feisal Abdul Rauf said, as reported by the Turkish Newspaper “Today’s Zaman," "Westerners’ lack of knowledge about Islam had led them to harbor prejudices and fears about the religion and explained that the source of prejudice against Islam in the West is not the Sept. 11 attacks but Islamophobia, which is caused by a lack of knowledge of Islam and provocative media articles” (http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-225445-102-islamophobia-nourished-by-ignorance-us-preacher-says.html).
Media coverage and framing in editorial cartoons may not be the only cause of Islamophobia in America, but it definitely reinforces the reality that many people believe: Muslims don't belong here.
Although this cartoon does not reinforce that particular reality, it is apparent that many Americans still find other ways to have their discriminatory beliefs reinforced. Examples of this are shown throughout the entire blog.
The video clip below is a disturbing example of the Islamophobia that exists in America today.
Posted by Sarah Jolley
