Introduction
Meetings during the presidential campaign can be rather challenging since both anyone from the audience and opponents can ask uncomfortable questions in order to challenge the speaker and make one feel uncomfortable. However, it is possible to cope with any complicated issue by means of a thorough analysis of the problem. Scrutinizing the challenging aspects allows for finding solutions and turning the audience to one’s side by using clear arguments and persuasive speech. The policy briefing will analyze the problem that emerged during the last meeting and suggest the most suitable ways of speaking about it at future meetings based on research.
The Main Problems Specified
There can be several reasons why Middle Easterners could “hate Americans and their freedoms,” as stated by the questioner. Firstly, these people may feel inequality due to their immigrant status. Secondly, they may not be used to so much freedom of expression because of their cultural heritage. Middle East societies are known to be rather diversified (Bates and Rassam 90). According to some scholars, Western policy-makers tend to neglect this diversity and try to protect themselves against others (Said 192).
This is one of the core problems explaining the attitude of Middle Easterners toward U.S. freedoms. Another issue is the perceived sense of threat related to the Muslim nations (Keshavarz 1). The lack of understanding of the extent to which this threat is potential or real leads to an increase in the gap between Americans and Muslims. As a result, Middle Easterners do not feel themselves safe and valuable enough to consider their position equal and to respect U.S. people and freedoms.
How Scholars Have Addressed the Issues
The two identified problems have been reflected in scholarly literature from different angles. According to Abu-Nimer and Hilal, the issues faced by Muslims in the USA, which are further reflected in their attitude toward Americans, are associated with prejudices (624). Hence, in order to combat the neglect of Middle Easterners’ diversity, it is necessary to fight against stereotypes. The latter, according to researchers, are related to the human psyche (Abu-Nimer and Hilal 624). One of the most viable causes of prejudice toward Muslims is the lack of constructive interreligious dialogue (Abu-Nimer and Hilal 625). Therefore, many Americans are afraid of Middle Easterners with no valid reason, based solely on the group instinct. In their turn, Muslims react with unfriendliness and sometimes even hatred.
The opinion concerning stereotypes and prejudices is supported in other scholarly studies. Specifically, Braunstein acknowledges the lack of religious and ethnic group membership among U.S. citizens (186). Instead, the author argues that the USA is rather a civic than an ethnic nation (Braunstein 186). Thus, anyone can join the nation irrespective of their religion, ethnicity, or race. However, the cost of such accommodation will differ greatly, depending on each of these aspects (Braunstein 187). Muslims feel this pressure rather vividly, so it is natural that they find inequalities based on ethnicity and religion unfair.
From this unfairness, the hatred toward U.S. freedoms emerges: Middle Easterners cannot understand why the rights that are so loudly propagated in theory are, in fact, given only to some citizens and denied to others.
Another article contradicts the opinion expressed by the first two researches. Mogahed and Chouhoud, who have investigated Muslims’ perceptions of their position in U.S. society, argue that Middle Easterners are quite satisfied with the country’s trajectory (3). At the same time, however, scholars agree with Abu-Nimer and Hilal, as well as Braunstein, in that the question of religion is an acute one in modern American society.
Specifically, Mogahed and Chouhoud report that the issues of bullying and religious discrimination prevail in Middle Easterners’ responses to the questions of their social well-being (4). Therefore, whereas Mogahed and Chouhoud note some positive aspects concerning Muslims’ position in U.S. society, all three articles agree that religious and ethnic background has a serious adverse effect on Middle easterners’ accommodation.
Recommendations to the Senator on How to Speak About the Topic
Based on research findings, it is evident that in order to mitigate the hatred from Middle Easterners, the senator has to address the issues that bother them most of all. Such sound bites as “Religion does not constitute a citizen” and “It does not matter where you come from: it matters what you are doing right here and right now” might be useful. By inserting these phrases in her speeches, the senator will make it clear to Middle Easterners that their interests also matter, and their religion is not what describes their roles as U.S. citizens.
Conclusion
The USA is a multinational country, and this factor frequently gives birth to conflicts within its territory. Still, by careful inspecting of the main issues faced by diverse populations, political leaders can eliminate the development and complication of disagreements. Muslims are perceived by Americans as the nation bearing a hidden threat and as the ethnicity so different that its interests cannot be included in the agenda. However, by explaining to Middle Easterners that their ethnic group is valuable to U.S. society, and by paying tribute to their interests, one can count upon their support.
Works Cited
Abu-Nimer, Mohammed, and Maha Hilal. “Combatting Global Stereotypes of Islam and Muslims: Strategies and Interventions for Mutual Understanding.” The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies: Social, Economic, Political and Ideological Challenges, edited by Habib Tiliouine and Richard J. Estes, Springer, 2016, pp. 623-641.
Bates, Daniel G., and Amal Rassam. Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 2001.
Braunstein, Ruth. “Muslims as Outsiders, Enemies, and Others: The 2016 Presidential Election and the Politics of Religious Exclusion.” Politics of Meaning/Meaning of Politics: Cultural Sociology of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, edited by Jason L. Mast and Jeffrey C. Alexander, Palgrave MacMillan, 2018, pp. 185-206.
Keshavarz, Fatemeh. Jasmine and Stars: Reading More than Lolita in Tehran. The University of North Carolina Press, 2007.
Mogahed, Dalia, and Youssef Chouhoud. American Muslim Poll 2017: Muslims at the Crossroads. 2017. Web.
Said, Edward W. “The Clash of Ignorance.” Geopolitics: An Introductory Reader, edited by Jason Dittmer and Joanne Sharp, Routledge, 2014, pp. 191-194.