Sympathetic multicultural portrayals can still legitimate racist policies

Evidence

Evelyn Alsultany observes that since the 1990s the emphasis on multiculturalism has led to a shift where the “Other is portrayed sympathetically in order to project the United States as an enlightened country that has entered a postracial era.” Her analysis of television portrayals of Arabs and Muslims demonstrates that there are more complex representations in the post-9/11 era. Yet, even while these complex depictions appear to go beyond stereotypes, they in fact “promote logics that legitimate racist policies and practices.” In our analysis of the show Homeland, Arun Kundnani and I have argued that the series offers a liberal and more palatable alternative to the popular 24, which was accused of being Islamophobic. Homeland overcomes the detectable racism of 24, through its liberal and multicultural approach. But in the end, it legitimates the national security state and its counterterrorism policies. In this sense, we argued that it “remains Islam-ophobic in its basic structure.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 374

Evelyn Alsultany observes that since the 1990s the emphasis on multiculturalism has led to a shift where the “Other is portrayed sympathetically in order to project the United States as an enlightened country that has entered a postracial era.” Her analysis of television portrayals of Arabs and Muslims demonstrates that there are more complex representations in the post-9/11 era. Yet, even while these complex depictions appear to go beyond stereotypes, they in fact “promote logics that legitimate racist policies and practices.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 386

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the liberal Islamophobia mechanism: complex sympathetic representations that nevertheless legitimate racist policies.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 374; Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 386
• XREF: connects to: Sympathetic media portrayals can mask ongoing racist policy — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race…, 92; Sympathetic multicultural TV portrayals can still legitimate racist counterterrorism policies.; Multicultural gestures can publicly mask ongoing racist policies. (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Multiculturalist representations of Arabs actually legitimize racism and torture #exemplifies (0.97) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 305
• Sympathetic multicultural TV portrayals can still legitimate racist counterterrorism policies. #exemplifies (0.95)
• Sympathetic media portrayals can mask ongoing racist policy #expands (0.92) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 92
• Multicultural gestures can publicly mask ongoing racist policies. #expands (0.90)
• Multicultural TV representation serves as cover for legitimizing racist state policies #expands (0.90)
• Liberal multicultural TV can legitimate the security state as much as overtly racist shows #expands (0.90)
• Seemingly anti-stereotypical TV portrayals legitimize racist policies #expands (0.88)
• Sympathetic media portrayals can help justify racism during crises. #expands (0.88)
• Multicultural tolerance can mask racism as respect for culture #expands (0.85)
• Sympathetic media portrayals can legitimize racism by denying it operates #expands (0.85) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 98
• Positive media portrayals of the enemy sustain racist policies by projecting benevolence #expands (0.85)
• Sympathetic minority depictions can reinforce rather than reduce racism. #expands (0.82)
• Multiculturalism reduces difference to exotic spectacle while evading racism #expands (0.82) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 245
• Racist policy adapts and progresses even as explicit racism recedes #corroborates (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 989
• Diverse human portrayals on television may still fail against entrenched prejudice #qualifies (0.75)