Kudos to Josh Marshall and CNN who now have video from in front of Gayle Quinnell, the Minnesota woman who at a McCain event last Friday said she was scared of Barack Obama because “he’s an Arab.”
Earlier video (and audio) of her was taken only from the back and there was uncertainty whether she said, “because he’s an Arab terrorist.”
She did not use the T-word. She based her fear only on the claim (quite unfounded, as it happens) that “he’s an Arab.”
McCain, you recall, immediately grabbed the mic from Quinnell and said, “No, ma’am, no ma’am. He’s a decent family man.”
Like an “Arab” can’t be a decent family man?
This is personal for me. Two of my children are ethnically half Arab and fwiw bear Arab names. In September 2001 my daughter Leila was living in Michigan. After 9/11 she became quite alarmed at the amount of anti-Arab venom that was pouring out of many radio stations around there.
What kind of sick assumptions is McCain operating on when, on hearing the word “Arab”, he says, “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man?”
A little more understandable if what he had heard was “Arab terrorist.” But he can’t have heard that because Quinnell didn’t say it.
Jim Zogby, the Lebanese-American head of the Arab-American Institute was one of those quick to respond to McCain’s slur. Also, the Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini yesterday published this opinion piece in the WaPo, noting the ethnic/religious incitement involved in the constant evocation by McCain supporters of Obama’s middle name, which happens to be very similar to Hosseini’s family name.
Fwiw, Hosseini is most likely himself a Muslim, but not Arab, while Zogby is Arab but not Muslim.
We need a clear apology from John McCain to everyone of Arab heritage and everyone who cares about maintaining a decent texture in American society.
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16 thoughts on “McCain was slurring Arabs”
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I watched several different versions of that video over and over again, listening very, very carefully, and at no time did she even suggest the word terrorist.
Sadly, Arabs and Muslims have been demonized for years. You only have to see Disney’s “Aladdin” (1992) to see the prevailing stereotype, which no mainstream groups ever called them on.
After years of cultivation, McCain is capitalizing on the racist narrative that the media has allowed to grow unchallenged.
Even so, McCain’s cynicism is appalling, particularly since he adopted a daughter from Bangladesh, presumably of Mulsim parentage. But his cynicism is no more appalling than that of Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter but is silent about gay bashing.
McCain’s cynicism IS more appalling than Cheney’s because McCain has engaged in, incited, and used Arab and Muslim bashing to get what he wants. As far as I know Cheney does not engage in or encourage gay bashing, or use it to his advantage. Furthermore, McCain has incited and used hatred of Muslims and Arabs in a way that is potentially very dangerous.
The problem is much deeper than McCain slurring Arabs.
The US was attacked by Arabs on 9/11 and is now conducting a “war on terror” aka “the long war” against Arabs in Iraq, which the government states is the central front of said “wot”. The US has also been fighting Arabs, by proxy, in various other places like Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia and has been since long before 9/11. Also antipathy toward Arabs is a central tenet of The Lobby which has promoted anti-Arab sentiments and to which US politicians regularly swear obeisance.
When a nation engages in warfare, a necessary component to maintain domestic support for the war is (naturally) to demonize the enemy. The US has always done this when warring against the Germans, Japanese, Vietnamese– whomever. Thus Arabs are currently demonized. A great empire with an aggressive military always needs an enemy and the Arabs are the enemy du jour.
So the slurring of Arabs is only a symptom of the central problem which is war, and the solution is to end the wars and also stop kissing up to The Lobby which promotes them.
Marissa Moss on HuffPost writes an article making DonH’s point, and taking it a little farther. Bangladesh is not only 90% Islamic, it is extremely likely that McCain’s adopted daughter has close relatives named Hussein.
Unlike the vicious people who made phone calls in SC to spread the word about McCain’s “black baby,” his supporter was not told that there is a “‘special place in hell’ for her when she claimed she was scared of Obama because she heard he was an Arab — he simply said ‘no, ma’am’ and waxed poetic for a moment about his opponent’s decency and status as ‘citizen,’ a family man.”
McCain is being absolved of racism; often cited is his adopted daughter. But if your actions, and failure to act, and words are racist, doesn’t that make you a racist?
You’re incorrectly conflating Muslims with Arabs. Now both have been demonized, but they’re not the same.
I don’t think WE are conflating Arabs with Muslims. It is Republicans and mainstream media narrative that conflate the two, and it is done primarily on the basis of skin color. Clearly, neither Obama nor McCain’s adopted daughter are Arab. Obama had a Muslim father, and McCain’s adopted daughter probably did too. But it was a McCain volunteer who called Obama an Arab terrorist.
“it is done primarily on the basis of skin color.”
I don’t think so, not really.
“it was a McCain volunteer who called Obama an Arab terrorist.”
For the record, she did not call him an Arab terrorist, she called him an Arab, period.
If you look hard enough you will see what you want to see. McCain did not say it, he responded by saying a positive statement about Obama. Period. Who has a positive thing to say about that?
He’s a decent family man.
Read all the comments (critisism) above about a positive statement.The original comment is from an idiot.
I hate the race bating as much as anyone, but please people, can we get a grip?
The man cut off this ignorant fool of a woman and said what needed to be said. End of story. Helena and friends, please stop looking for racism under every nook and cranny.
You can’t prove a negative, but no matter how eloquently or forcefully he might have chosen to rebuke her, the reverse race-bating crowd would have gleefully parsed McCain’s words for evidence of the “R” word. Yes, I am going to stop saying the word itself, because by saying it I may offend someone who is offended that “R” still exists in this day and age!
This country has become a nation of soft, greedy, dumbed down, overly sensitive nancy-boys (and girls). Oops – sorry for offending anyone named Nancy! May I suggest a special Justice Dept. Task force to investigate me.
I think I will whistle Dixie at the polling place on election night while I cast my vote for Obama.
Is it just me?
Or has anyone else noticed a significant absence from the most recent newspaper pictures of John and Cindy Mccain campaigning together?
John R and John C,
Come on! Given the McCain campaign’s transparent attempts to plant the idea that Obama is not a “real” American, has “terrorist” connections, doesn’t think like a proper American, and their emphasis of his very Arabic middle name, it is more than reasonable to read McCain’s “no ma’am, he is a decent family man citizens” the way most people appear to have read it.
I don’t know about newspaper pictures, but Cindy has been pretty prominently displayed in some recent videos of campaign appearances.
Shirin,
You said “the McCain campaign”. Exactly…his campaign has used every dirty trick in the book, and ultimately he is responsible for the actions of his staff. But I do believe McCain does have a shred of decency left and I take his statement at face value. After all, this is the guy who normalized relations with the country that spawned his former “gook” captors.
Both the left and the right need to stop the phony outrage over trivial issues and start focusing on the real problems.
Shirin,
You said “the McCain campaign”. Exactly…his campaign has used every dirty trick in the book, and ultimately he is responsible for the actions of his staff. But I do believe McCain does have a shred of decency left and I take his statement at face value. After all, this is the guy who normalized relations with the country that spawned his former “gook” captors.
Both the left and the right need to stop the phony outrage over trivial issues and start focusing on the real problems.
McCain is in charge of his campaign, and he has the right to veto any tactic, including the portrayal of his opponent. Make no mistake, he has approved the smear campaign that has been conducted on his behalf, including the lame attempts to connect him with terrorists, and the statements that Obama “is different from real Americans, like us”.
As for a shred of decency, I wouldn’t know, but he came across tonight, as usual, like an angry, snide, hate-filled old man.