In 1959 journalist John Howard Griffin published Black Like Me. The book revealed his experiences as a white man disguised as a black man in the segregated south.
In 1959, Griffin, a noted white journalist, decided to try an experiment. He felt that the only way to determine the truth about how African Americans were treated by whites, and to learn if there was discrimination, was to become one. After a series of medical treatments that darkened his skin, he began his travels in the Deep South. Made up primarily of his journal entries during that time, Black Like Me, read by Ray Childs, details the experiences he had while passing for black. He finds that the people who saw him as white days earlier would not give him the time of day. He suffered even more as he rode buses in New Orleans, discovering how whites would no longer sit next to him. Listeners will be fascinated by his bus trip to Mississippi during which the driver would not let any of the African Americans off at a rest stop and how some of the passengers decided to deal with this slight. A fascinating view of life before the heyday of the Civil Rights movement, showing the difficulties of being black in America.
Perhaps inspired by knowledge of this book, Morgan Spurlock (yes, THAT Morgan Spurlock) will document what it is like for a Christian man to live as a Muslim for 30 days. [via DNSI]The BBC reports:
Morgan Spurlock, the director of the cult fast-food documentary Super Size Me, has filmed a Christian living as a Muslim for 30 days for a new TV series. The show is part of his new TV series 30 Days, which puts people in unfamiliar situations for a month.
The shows sees the Christian dealing with “what’s it like to be a Muslim in America … who is seen every day as a threat to our freedom.”
The new series starts in the US on 15 June on the FX network.
Other episodes of the new show include a conservative man living with a gay flatmate, and a woman embarking on a binge-drinking spree as a warning to her daughter.
I want Spurlock to do an episode on what happens to a perfectly reasonable and well adjusted young man, who starts blogging for thirty days straight. Here is what I envision: He loses fifteen lbs., he has no time for anything, and the veins in his head start to bulge. Like this.
Spurlock said the Muslim episode was one of his favourites.
“We took a fundamentalist Christian from my home state of West Virginia, somebody who is very pro-war, pro-‘us versus them,’ that when you hear Muslim the only thing he thinks of is a guy standing on a mountain with an AK-47,” Spurlock said.
The man leaves his family to live in a Muslim household in Dearborn, Michigan, which has one of the largest Islamic populations in the US.
“He dresses as a Muslim, eats as a Muslim, he prays five time a day, he studies the Koran daily, he learns to speak Arabic.
“He works with an imam, a Muslim cleric, to learn the history of Islam, what are the five pillars, why are they important,” Spurlock said.
He said the effect on the man after the 30 days was “miraculous, it’s incredible”.
The name of the magazine which funded Griffin’s experiment? Sepia.
They should do the same for a Muslim fanatic and teach him how to live in peace and tolerance with infidels. Enough of the self-beating.
Economics undoubtedly drove many Muslim radicals into “infidel” lands.
Abhi, thanks for putting examples of some of the other episodes in; if it had just been presented as “a Christian learns to be Muslim” by the guy that ate McDonalds for 30 days, it would have felt really fetishizing.
Whats that got to do with the need for Muslim radicals to learn tolerance and peace? It would be a good exercise for them, teach them about plurality, democracy, respect for women. Surely you would not be against them learning of these things and having their eyes opened? Or is it just Americans who have to be subject to introspection and finger-wagging liberal cant?
I will only watch if the tv series deosn’t censor the Christian man’s circumscision. I’m also curious how, after the thirty day perido is over, do they intend to re-attach the foreskin?
Christian men get circumcized too. Not all, but many do.
Like G.I. Joe says “And now you know and knowing is half the battle”
http://foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2781
People of Arab descent living in the United States are doing far better than the average American. That is the surprising conclusion drawn from data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000 and released last March. The census found that U.S. residents who report having Arab ancestors are better educated and wealthier than average Americans.
But the United States is still an evil capitqalist haven of inequity right? I love watching people whine and complain while their fellow Americans quit bitching and prosper.
Not that the results are particularly incredible, but “report” may be the operative word there. And there’s plenty of old-school Jordanians, Lebanese and the like who are basically indiscernible from the rest of the midwest.
Don’t forget though that most Arab-Americans are Christians, not Muslims
slight OT but i don’t know a single Christian man who claims to be uncircumcised.
I saw that episode and it was actually very interesting to see the Christian guy getting along with the Muslim community. I have another episode, for a hardcore Muslim man to live in an evangelical priest Home for 30 days lets see how he will react.
You mean Texas? 🙂
“or a hardcore Muslim man to live in an evangelical priest “
Not to be nit-picky, but “priests” for Christians is generally applied to Catholics and possibly Eastern Orthodox churches. Evangelicals do not have priests, they have ministers.
i guess Texas will do the trick.
thanks for the clarification, priests applies to Catholics and possibly Eastern Orthodox churches, good catch.
the point is all the claims and suggestions of discriminations made on the episode does not represent the truth. Imagine a similar community with this size and history are in any middle eastern country see how their rights will be, specially after a terrorist attack like 9/11
So for the Muslim community to protest and demand for their rights they have to acknowledge and condemn the practices by their fellow Muslims around the world when they discriminate against the native people of the countries they occupied.
I wonder if a Muslim can do a “Hindu like me” shtick in Pakistan or Bangladesh? Or will the mullahs declare him an apostate and execute him?
I just wanted to say that I thought the documentary, ” Muslim for 30 days” was fantastic. As a Muslim I can understand the taunts and the stares that Non-Muslims occasionally bless us with. Ofcourse many people not only Muslims now know that Muslims couldnt have possibly being behind 9-11 ( and also the world is aware of the fact that the U.S president lied about WMD to kill innocent people…in my mind he is a terrorist and should be brought to justice). I think also its high time people stop thinking that we ( Muslims) want to dominate their countries and enforce the Islamic Law. We’re happy applying it to ourselves. Both sides should implement tolerance and respect to create a brighter future for our children. So in saying that, well done to the film-maker!
P.S The only thing that has kept me from hitting rock-bottom is my faith in Islam and even though people stare and laugh I know I am a woman of honour and dignity:) Its about time you all saw that too.
In response to the gentleman who said that “they should do the same for a Muslim fanatic and teach him how to live in peace and tolerance with infidels. Enough of the self-beating”
If a Muslim were to live with a Christian family he would still eat halal food, pray 5 times a day, when he goes to the bathroom he would still purify himself with water after using the bathroom, walk around the house with no shoes on, and still not drink alcohol because it is an intoxicant. It wasn’t muslim fanatics who savagely murdered, burned and maimed NonChristians during the time of the Spanish inquisition. It wasn’t the Muslims who went into Jerusalem and started the Crusades in 1096. Still to this day there are dozens of churches in Jerusalem and throughout Egypt that are operating in complete serenity surrounded by so called “intolerant, fanatical and hostile muslims”.
Yes, those peace-loving Arabs of Dearborn…
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/10/terrorcharges.ohio.ap/index.html
yes greg, if two muslims are guilty of money laundering for terrorism then all muslims in dearborn must hate america. btw not all arabs are muslims, not all muslims are arabs. but you’re probably too busy spewing hate to know the difference.
anyway, i saw the episode last night on netflix. i thought it was well-done, and i also thought it was great how the muslim woman (shazia, i think) acknowledged that too often muslims segregate themselves in areas like dearborn instead of integrating more with non-muslims and educating people about what islam is about. one thing i noticed was that it was pretty clear that the subject (dave or whatever his name was) was a nice, open-minded, good-hearted guy to begin with. and he said from the get-go that he was willing to learn about islam. i think i’d be more interested to see ann coulter placed in dearborn (or a hater like greg) for 30 days and see what happens.
Arabs are black people with straight hair. We cannot deny our African roots. Be at peace with Allah, to all.