Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 23, 2008, edition 1 / Page 9
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FORUM The Dangerous DVD Julianne Malveaux Guest Columnist A dangerous little DVD was inserted into newspapers in 70 different cities last month. Titled. "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," it is a deliberately and cdistortedly frightening view of "radical Islam" that is designed to incite fear into the hearts and souls of Americans. Imagine these Americans now going to a Palin rally and hear ing Barack Obama's middle name spat out. These cannot be coincidences. To be sure, the Obsession film begins witl^ a disclaimer that the majority of Muslims are peaceful. But then, a series of frightening and violent images are highlighted as example of Islam's war against the west. The hour-long film makes it appear that Islamic forces attack the \\?st. without context. How many of these attacks, no matter how repre hensible, have we provoked? To be sure, the perpetrators of September 11, 2001. were beyond reprehensible. Instead of apprehending them, though, we decided to go to another country and start a war that is now costing us about a trillion dollars. Radical Islam does not have to attack the west We've done ourselves, and our econo my; damage enough with a war that has caused us to lose esteem, and allies, all over the world. While most of the world embraces a war against terrorism, the link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladin has yet to be estab lished. The Clarion Fund, which produced and distributed Obsession, spent millions of advertising dollars so that newspapers around the coun try would include their DVD as a paid insert. In Denver and Dayton, Portland and AS SEE by MORH N c 20 Ml ?as?8 one ot the most powerful, enpertly c ratted and undeniably important films I ve seen this year ..." "... required viewing for everyone. " Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Lansing, readers were treated to a DVD that sells for SI 2.95 on the Internet. It costs $4.95 to review the DVD online. And the Clarion Fund claims that 28 million were distributed. If the DVDs wholesale at $5 apiece, the Clarion Fund made a $ 140 million campaign contribution to those who would connect Obama w ith "radical Islam." Couldn't they just be push ing a cause? There is the adage, "timing is everything". You havg got to question the timing of this distribution in an election that appears to be closer than it ought to be if we simply went on the merits of the candidates. Obsession injects fear and apprehension into a campaign that is already full of irrationality and emo tion - from the women who were supposed to be swayed by the addition of Sarah Palin to the McCain ticket, to the people who hesitate to vote for Obama because he is of African descent. Now, there is the fear mon gering over radical Islam and a film designed to incite both fear and anger. At a time when we ought to be building bridges. Obsession builds bar riers between Muslims and others. A more useful film might compare sections of the Bible with sections of the Koran to understand how much all reli gions have in common. As I watched Obsession. I remem bered the taut post-9/11 days in the United States when many Muslims were seen as suspects in 9/11 incidents. ? In Washington, D.C., where 1 lived at the time, Muslim cab drivers seemed to take special care to display an American flag in or on their car to indicate their fealty with our country or to protect them selves from violence. Fearful and angry Americans beat ran dom Muslims, and accusations flew. Because of the secrecy that permeates that time, we are not sure whether innocent Muslims, accused of terrorism, were deported. We do know that our "intelligence" agen cies were granted increased power because of the "war on terrorism". All of us should be educat ed about the dangers that face our country. One of those dan gers is intolerance, i As the United States becomes increasingly diverse, we need to learn more about all of the cultures that make up this great nation. We need to learn more lan guages so we can be more competitive with other coun tries. And we need to learn about the range of Islamic thinking, in cultural context. Radical Islam has been partly shaped by aggression on the part of the United States. Timing is everything. These DVDs weren't given away six weeks before an elec tion except to attempt to influ ence the election. If you watch Obsession, do so with a grain of salt. If you object to the message, reach out to the Clarion Fund and let them know that while they have the right to distribute propaganda, everyone is not swayed by it. Juliahne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women . She may be reached at presof fice @ hennett .edu . Whining Conservative Hypocrites Peter Bailey Guest Columnist Conservatives and their neo-con cohorts in the jour nalistic and academic worlds get a real kick out of ridiculing those Black folks as whiners who insist thait this is not a post-racial society, that White supremacy, if not racism, is still persuasive throughout the land. Does this mean that we have hopelessly thrown up our hands as some Black folks charge? No, it means that we acknowledge racial reality, not racial illusions. As for the con servatives who call us whin ers. they are premier world class whining hypocrites who, in op-ed after op-ed, in book after book, on television and radio program after television and radio program, most often in the same media that they are criticizing, whine loudly about "liberal bias in the mainstream media." This has been going on for nearly 50 years. One would think that a group of propa gandists who are backed by numerous right-wing founda tions. think tanks, universities, corporations, organizations and individuals with many bil lions of dollars on hand, would have, by now, launched their own nationwide media empire. Instead of doing so, they weep and wail and moan and groan about how terrible they are treated by the "liberal" press. That's whining in its essence. ********** I wonder if those people throughout the country who have accused Senator Barack Obama of being naive and close to traitorous for saying that he would meet with the president of Iran with no pre conditions, are aware of an article published on page A3 in the September 21, 2008 Wall Street Journal. According to the article, Iran, a charter member of President Bush's "Evil Empire," has "since the 2008 2009 marketing year began on June 1 , bought more than one million tons of hard red winter wheat directly from the U.S. ... The purchases mean that at least 3% to 4% of domestic wheat exports for the market ing year will go to a country the U.S. hasn't done business with for more than a genera tion..." Somebody is making mucho dollars from this deal. Funny, I haven't heard or read a peep from those more patri otic than thou propagandists who would scream like hye nas if Senator Obama pro posed or even supported such a deal. After all. Iran is a mor tal enemy if, we are to believe Rush, Sean. Wall Street Journal editorial writers, and Fox News pundits. Once again they have demonstrated their shameless hypocrisy. By the way it is very revealing that the Journal published the arti cle, not on its front page, but on page 3. By any standard of newsworthiness that I am aware of, that should have been a leading article on the front page *********** October 31, 2008 should be a precious memory day for Black people in the U.S. It was on that date in 1919 that Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line launched its first ship, the Frederick Douglas, from Harlem's 125th Street Pier. Accounts say that thou sands of people gathered together for the launching and thousands more greeted the ship when it stopped in places like Cuba and Panama. The remarkable thing is that the money raised for that historic economic venture was provid ed by Black people. It was an incredible exam ple of what collective eco nomics can accomplish. We owe praise to Mr. Garvey, to those who worked with him and those Brothers and Sisters who contributed money to the cause A. Peter Bailey, a well known Civil Rights activist, can be reached at apeterb@ verizon .net The Chronicle, the Choice for African-American News, is located at 617 N. Liberty Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 336-722-8624 Fax - 336-723-9173 news?wschroniclt?om www.wschronicle.com The Chronicle was established by Ernest Pitt and Ndubisl Kgemonye in 1974, and is pub lished every Thursday by Winston - Saiem Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. The Chronicle is a proud member of : National Newspaper* Publishers Association ? North Carolina Press Association ? North Carolina Black Publishers Association ? Inland Press Association The CH RON IC LE ... ty hr'?^ / Home Delivery Subscription Order o YES. Please send me The Chronicle o 2 years: $40.95 o I year: JM.72 o 6 months: $20 48 ! ^ O VISA O Mastercard O American Express O Check enclosed Aivnuni Number Kxpiration Dtir Send to: The Chronicle. PO Bo* I6.V>. Winston-Salem. 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