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Muslims Aren't Dangerous

2015-09-18 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:19 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

Prompted by the arrest of Ahmed Mohamed over his homemade clock, Hank argues that Americans' fear of Muslims is our problem, built on ignorance and fear-driven media, and that we should fight it in our own heads.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Ahmed Mohamed, 14, arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school; not shocking because many Americans fear Muslims

  • ★★★ Hank, like many others, is shocked that a 14-year-old in a NASA shirt who brought a clock he built to school to show his engineering teacher was arrested and taken to juvenile detention. — 00:00:01
  • ★★★ On the other hand Hank finds it not shocking, because Ahmed Mohamed is Muslim and many people in America are afraid of Muslims. — 00:00:11 · United States

00:00:20 — Why not a video defending Muslims: the actual problem is our own bias and fear-mongering, which we can deal with

  • ★★★ Hank won't argue that the vast majority of Muslims are good people: statistics showing it are easy to find, and defending Muslims would ignore the actual problem, our bias and fear-mongering. — 00:00:20
  • ★★ Hank says our own problems are much easier to deal with than other people's, especially imagined ones. — 00:00:46
  • ★ Recognising your own problems isn't comfortable, which Hank jokes is why this video won't go super viral. (playful) — 00:00:54

00:01:09 — Why Americans fall into the fear trap: few Muslims in the US, news shows only the scariest; where Muslims live; outrage TV; isolation

  • ★★ Hank admits that he himself sometimes falls into this fear trap, like many Americans. — 00:01:09 · United States
  • ★★ Though Muslims have been in America since America existed, they are a minority of less than 1%, so most Americans don't know much about Muslims or Islam. — 00:01:16 · United States
  • ★★★ Americans hear about Muslims regularly on the news but only the scariest ones; with only that input you get a messed-up idea, an easy but huge mistake because we know nothing. — 00:01:27 · sensationalism
  • ★★★ Hank would have guessed 80-85% of Muslims live in the Middle East; it is about 20%, 60% live in Asia, and Indonesia has the largest Muslim population. — 00:01:44
  • ★★★ Ignorant of such a basic fact, Hank asks, how could we be qualified to make sweeping generalizations about a broad and diverse group of people? — 00:02:00
  • ★★★ Negative ideas are reinforced in people motivated by fear and outrage, who watch TV figures that professionally cultivate outrage and fear because it's good for ratings. — 00:02:08 · sensationalism
  • ★★★ That fear prevents conversations and leads the majority to isolate Muslims from their communities, for example by arresting a kid for bringing a clock to class. — 00:02:18

00:02:29 — Ignorance to fear to hatred; how other countries see Americans; which box we want; fight the fear in our heads; sign-off

  • ★★★ Fear builds on itself until ignorance becomes fear and then hatred, and once you hate someone, they know it. — 00:02:29
  • ★★ Muslims in America know the hatred and discrimination, Muslims abroad know extreme American views, and Hank bets other countries mostly hear about the scariest Americans. (hedged) — 00:02:37 · United States, sensationalism
  • ★★★ Since other countries will put Americans in a little box, Hank asks whether we want the 'hates Muslims' box or the 'values religious freedom and provides opportunities' box. — 00:02:55 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank thinks we should and can fight that fear, and the only place to do it is in our own heads. (hedged) — 00:03:09

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank says that googling 'Muslims Aren't Dangerous' turned up article after article about how dangerous Muslims are, which he found sad, discouraging and angering. — video description · Google
  • ★★★ Hank writes that the vast majority of people are good, that the debate rests wholly on the idea that this is not true of Muslims, and that many in America have come to believe it, which terrifies him because it rests only on fear and prejudice. — video description · United States

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Ahmed Mohamed · Islam · Islamophobia · United States

Also: Asia · freedom of religion · Indonesia · Middle East · moral outrage · NASA · sensationalism · stereotype

Only in the description or credits: Google

Also centred on Islam: On Iran, Islam, and Amazingly Stupid Comments · Is Obama a Muslim? Examine the Evidence! · On Religion (Redux)

Later videos replying to this one

  • 2015-09-24 · Continents are Dumb (Hank) — corrects — “in response to my last video, because I said something that didn't make any sense” (00:00:01)