Cars ARE racist!

Since cars were invented in 1894, it developed in an astonishing way that it serves human where ever they go. As I have seen in my homeland Syria, Qatar and the United States of America, certain people from a certain social class and race tend to buy and drive a specific brand of a car. In Syria, people are most likely to buy cheap cars no matter what was the brand because of the high taxes, but some people tend to buy the Syrian or Persian made cars because it serves them better and they can easily sell it later. Of course a person who is in the high middle class would buy an expensive car such as Audi, Land Rover or BMW. If you have the money you can buy any car you want no matter how much were the taxes. As for government officials who do not pay taxes like others, a rise of racism in terms of social classes and positions creates hatred between the people of the society. However, people still continuing to live normally.

As in Qatar, it is different. They are no taxes on cars and it doesn't really matter, but a lot of people tend to have a taste of what car they purchase. Qataris prefers Toyota especially Land cruisers. On the other hand for residence, they have a different taste. Syrians likes Mercedes, Sudanese likes Toyota Corolla, Desi residences like Nissan Sunny and the list continues. It depends on what is your nationality or race to ride a car. With the different of social classes, there are still people who want to move up to the second level by taking a loan from the bank and buying their favorite car
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In sociology, race and ethnicity reproduces social classes and it is not fair sometimes. If we would go back when the USA was racist to an unacceptable level. If a cop sees a black person driving an expensive car, this black dude will be most likely pulled over and questioned about where he got that car. The perspective that was taken about this race’s behaviors throws a lot of questions. Back to Qatar, where the majority residences of Qatar are Desi, It would be shocking to see an Indian driving a Ferrari (with respect to all nationalities). People who live in Qatar are not used to it. It is normal to see an American man or European driving a fancy car because the expectations are that this race gets paid more than others. Racism is everywhere, and it creates different perspectives about others.

Bombers or Billionaires?

When I lived in Canada I witnessed many different kinds of stereotyping. It seems like after 9/11 there was an increase in negative sanctions towards people of darker skin tones. Despite the actual ethnicity of the person, as long as you had a brown complexion you were targeted.

In our last Sociology class we discussed how the American film industry has projected these extreme images of people who live in the Middle East in order to escalate a culture of fear. Although there were always distorted images of Arabs in American movies since the late 20th century, the impact of these images became even more profound on audiences after 9/11.

Although Canada was not affected by 9/11, airports worldwide tightened security measures as a result of the tragic event. In general, elementary and high school kids are mean. But somehow the incident of 9/11 justified their meanness. In the narrow minds of these kids, everyone of a brown skin tone was Pakistani. And they would bully these poor kids, telling them to go back to where they came from, and even asking them if they were related to the Taliban. North American children were highly susceptible to moral panic. Moral panic makes exaggerated media images and messages so much more believable.


Arabs in the film industry are normally portrayed as “bombers, belly dancers and billionaires,” the three B syndrome. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, these images were extremely dominant. Living in Qatar for the past five years only showed one trait to be quite accurate: billionaires. Although there is more to the Arab culture than money, it is quite a distinguished characteristic. If Americans showed other aspects of the Arab culture in their movies, like their food, how they love shisha and how they are actually quite normal, it would result in a major loss to the film industry and not support the American justification for intervening in the Middle East.




The movie The Kingdom, released in 2007, is about a terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Saudi Arabia and how American special agents go in and investigate. This movie depicts how Islamists are extremists and fanatics and justifies American resolve to be in the Middle East: Arabs are evil, and Americans are heroes. Arabs can be classified as folk devils, particularly for Americans. A folk devil is a term that’s applied to outsiders portrayed as responsible for creating social problems.



The film industry usually reflects American foreign policy. During the Cold War with Russia, many films depicted communists as evil and invoked a sense of fear, again contributing to this culture of fear. However after the Soviet Union collapsed, the U.S. changed its foreign policy to target the Middle East and coincidentally films reflected this change.

Stereotypes of Americans in Khlaiji Drama

We always hear about Arab image and stereotypes in American films. Before 9-11, Arabs were portrayed as thieves, murderers, and ignorant. After 9-11, the term terrorist was added to the list. According to L Susan Williams and Travis W. Linnemann, Arabs in the movies were subjects to what some call "the three B syndrome" being portrayed as "bombers, belly dancers, or billionaires." (193). And the list goes on and on.

Anyhow, when watching Arab (Khaliji) drama, I notice that they, too, have stereotypes about Americans. American men are usually portrayed as feminine, soft, and with schemes to take over the protagonists' business. American women are portrayed as promiscuous, gold-diggers, and blonde. The appearance of Americans in old khaliji drama was rare. A character or two would appear throughout the series. However, in contemporary dramas, we see more American characters appearing as regulars.

In the Khaliji drama Droub Alshak the young male protagonist falls in love with an American girl when he was studying abroad, he brings her home to meet the family, but receives negative sanctions from the rest of the society. The girl was portrayed as a gorgeous blonde. She speaks little Arabic, merely to explain to the family that she is not here for the money, but simply because she fell in love with the man. Later in the show, she brings her father to Kuwait. Because the family of the man refuses to marry their son without meeting the family of the girl. Her father was portrayed as an ignorant old man who tries to convince his daughter of getting a share of the khaliji family's business. However he fails and gets sent away at the end.

The stereotypes about the American women still exist nowadays. Men who marry American women are frowned upon because it serves the stereotype of gold diggers. Another stereotype for American girls is being promiscuous. Society thinks that "yellow" blonde girls are unfaithful to their husbands, and that he should stick to the women in his own society, because they're "flawless." Overall, Arab stereotypes of American people do exist, and always will. Cultures of fear exist everywhere, in American and Arab societies. But why do we create our fears from celluloid images?