more of the same

A woman stood up at a McCain town hall meeting, held at Lakeville South High School in a far suburb of Minneapolis, and told Mr. McCain that she could not trust Mr. Obama because he was an “Arab.”

Mr. McCain replied: “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.” At that, the crowd applauded.

- New York Times, October 10, 2008

So the good news is that McCain is backing away from the despicable tone his campaign has set in the past week. But the bad news is that in doing so he has chosen to juxtapose being a decent family man and citizen with being an Arab.

Was it an intentional slur? Probably not. But what does it say about the man that his subconscious misses the obvious negative stereotype in her question? McCain's answer brushes right past it, essentially accepting the premise that to call Obama an Arab is to associate him with terrorists.

There are between 350 and 422 million Arabs in the world, with 1.4 million people of Arab descent living in the United States. I guess it's safe to say the McCain/Palin ticket is not counting on this voting block, although half of registered Arab-Americans are Republicans. (1)

But is it really necessary that McCain continue the cultural warfare between Arabs and Muslims (note to McCain supporters - these terms are not interchangeable) and the mythical group some people like to call "regular Americans"?

Here are a few "regular Americans" McCain's supporters may be surprised to learn are Arab-Americans:

Jerry Seinfeld, (Syrian Mother, Jewish) Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning comedian

F. Murray Abraham, Hollywood actor and Oscar winner for the film "Amadeus" (Syrian father)

Jamie Farr, (Lebanese) Hollywood actor especially famous for his role as Klinger in the TV series "M*A*S*H"

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. (Syrian father)

Danny Thomas, (Lebanese) actor and his daughter Marlo Thomas, actress

George J. Mitchell, (Lebanese) U.S. Senator from Maine, Senate Majority Leader

John H. Sununu, (Lebanese/Palestinian) Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff under George H. W. Bush

Spencer Abraham, (Lebanese) Senator from Michigan and Secretary of Energy under George W. Bush

Helen Thomas, (Lebanese) reporter, columnist and White House correspondent

Sammy Hagar, (Lebanese), rock musician

Chris Kattan, (Iraqi Jewish father), comedian and actor, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live

Doug Flutie, (Lebanese) NFL Player


Here's one who happens not to be:

Barack Obama

Not that it matters.


(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_American