Graduation Year

2012

Publication Date

Spring 4-19-2012

Abstract

I am a brown person. The color of my skin dictates much of how American society has and will interact with me. Whether it is to my advantage or my disadvantage, the cultural fabric of America will isolate who I am because of the color that I am. American culture has racial assumptions embedded within its grain, lending to the alienation and eventual discrimination of certain races. The idea of a marginalized race is no foreign concept in the Anglo American hegemony, but the ever morphing idea of the “other” is my point of inquiry. On September 11th 2001, the country’s attitude towards race changed drastically. The “other” quickly became the Muslim American male and the rooted assumptions quickly transformed to false declarations.

The goal of my research is to investigate the current condition of the American social climate for Muslim Americans in relation to the adverse response after September 11th 2001. I will read articles in the news and race theory to develop a better understanding of the current state of societal status and definition of the American Muslim. In order to reach this goal, I will contact members from the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, the Ku Klux Klan and Islamic studies professors from various universities in Chicago to find stories and voices that would provide a better understanding of the current racial ethos. Once the individuals are selected, I will interview them and transcribe 5 to 7 meetings. My research will culminate in an Ethnodrama, consisting of significant selections from interviews and sections of news articles combined in a 60-minute one-act play.

Disciplines

Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | Ethnic Studies | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Theatre and Performance Studies

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