Art History and Ethnic Discrimination of Muslims
The Studio Museum in Harlem provides diverse cultural repository which reflects the shifts, ruptures and spectrum African artist experiences. The museum has permanent collections grouped in shows which shows various aspects of discrimination in ancient America. A Constellation is one of the art exhibitions that twenty-six artists developed to express the theme of abstraction (Schwendener n.p.). It depicts the history and figure of the African diaspora. The other exhibition is “Black: Color, Material, Concept.” It strengthens the cultural conversation on “post-black.” Initially, artist Marc Andre coined the concept of post-black in the exhibition “Freestyle” to describe black cultural history. Many artists have used the concept of skilful weaving of art, activism and participation to show the context of discrimination in America.
The paintings of “A Constellation” comprises multiple artworks. The first two of the works shows a geometrically abstract painting which expresses the societal perspectives on discrimination (Schwendener n.p.). In other two figurative sculptures, “Variations on a Six-Sided Object” (1967) and “Mother and Child” (1993), the American art of the 20th century portrays the perspective of abstraction and figuration. They signify the African-American viewpoint on the movements as the artists articulated. It raised questions on the existence of black abstraction, and this marked the beginning of the exhibition of artwork that showed that black abstraction exists. In a recent painting by Stanley Whitney, he shows an artwork comprising of bodies marked as property and of racist violence (Wright and Studio 253). The description of the art demonstrates a distinct alienation of a particular group from the other group. It portrays some groups as superior to the other groups.
The entire “A Constellation” provide reverberations and responses that artists ask about the perspectives of societal discrimination. In 2015, Torkwase Dyson addressed the concerns of violence and the black body in his “Strange Fruit (Dignity in Hand)” abstract wall painting. The sculpture illustrates the effects of discrimination in America. The situational analysis shows that art has played a significant role in advancing ethnic discrimination in various places of work. For example, in the United States, Black American face discrimination because of how the ancient artists portrayed. These use of these artworks in various museums in the region showed the blacks as violent people. Elkins and Robert (124) denote that a similar case was inevitable after the 9/11 tragedy when artists portrayed Muslims as the cause of the war. The effect their artwork transcends from one generation to another, making it challenging to end discrimination against Muslims and Arabs in various places of work in the United States and other countries in the West.
In the recent past, America faced various tragic events that they believed the Muslim Americans played a significant role in their occurrences. One of the most remarkable tragics in American history is the event of September 11, 2001 (Archbold 190). Muslim Americans were the frontline in causing the event. As a result of that event, it has been a difficult time to be a Muslim in America. Over the other years, America and the world at large have continued to face other tragic global events which are expressed in arts (Elkins and Robert 136). The world has continuously believed that Muslims continue to trigger these events.
Consequently, Muslims face anti-Muslim rhetoric both in the United States and the world over. The Republicans hold that Muslims should face intense scrutiny as compared to the people of other religions. The rise in the anti-Muslim sentiment translates into racial and ethnic discrimination in the workplace. Workplaces in the United States face increasing cases of Muslim-based discrimination (Greenhouse n.p.). The focus of this paper is to evaluate the perspectives of racial and ethnic discrimination of Muslims at workplaces. Primarily, it reviews discrimination in the arts and film industry.
Art influence the hiring pattern of various minority groups. The rate of hiring Muslims is slow in various regions in the United States. In most regions, employers tend to find the religious affiliation of the applicants. Muslims are discriminated against when it comes to employment. Social network sites provide various details of the candidate. In the event of an application for a vacancy, Muslim candidates experience a lower callback rate than their Christian counterparts (Beydoun 32). The result is the same both at the national and local level. The situation is even a severe bias in counties with a higher percentage of Republican voters. A study conducted by Pew Research Centre showed that the rate of callback among Muslim candidates is four times lower than that of Christian candidates (Schonfeld and Liam 118). The Republican States experience a more profound disparity as compared to those States that the Democrats dominate. The study further found out that only 2% of Muslim candidates receive invitations to interview whereas up to 17% of Christian candidates received invitations (Greenhouse n.p.). The disparity is similar in all sectors, including art and film industry.
The representation of Muslims and Arabs in the United States is not a recent fabrication. It establishes its framework on art history. Morey et al. (112) opine that it traces back to ancient West conceptualization based on their first interaction with Arabs and Muslims. It began during the Middle Ages. In particular, the Crusade Wars, when the Arabs expanded their territories in Europe during the Third Millennium (Beydoun 49). The United States, like other Western countries, promote the same stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs. The contact that took place centuries ago formed the foundation for present discrimination against Muslims and Arabs. According to the United States, Arabs and Muslims remain as their enemies because they ascribe to terminologies which are against the growth of the Western countries.
Many places of work in the United States use social media details to classify the candidates based on their religion. The social media profile provides the employing companies with descriptions such as check-ins to various religious events and references to religious holidays (Greenhouse, n.p.). Muslims have continued to face significant discrimination since the employers believe that they may form part of the terrorist group. Many employers perceive Muslims as a chaotic group who plan for attacks. In this perspective, most employers sideline them in various places of work.
In the art and film industry, Muslims are targeted as either a villain or a victim. Muslims have been trying to enter various scopes of international platforms such as politics, fashion, academia, broadcasting and Hollywood (Lakhani n.p.). However, the perception of the Western countries towards both religious and nonreligious Muslims continues to deter them from rising beyond a given level. As the Muslims continue to break this chain, the impending aspects of their past behaviours determine how the Americans handle them (Beydoun 41). The American people had lost trust in the Muslims and, therefore, it remains a challenge to accept into their system willingly. The events of 9/11 tragedy led to the continuous discrimination of the Muslims (Archbold 190). In art and film, the Muslims major play roles related to tragic events of massive attacks.
The media plays a significant role in promoting artwork that promotes discrimination. Prejudice in the media creates a broad influence on societal attitudes toward Muslims and Arabs. Inevitably, most non-Muslim Americans do not usually come into contact with the Muslims and Arabs in several instances ((Schonfeld and Liam 120). The media such as art, newspapers, and film expose the community to the Americans in a specific way that shapes their perception of Arabs and Muslims. As of 2014, American Muslims only accounted for less than 1% of the overall American population. Only about 38% of Americans shad knowledge about the existence of Muslims and Arabs in the country (McIver 86). The media continues to play a critical role in perceiving Muslims and Arabs in a certain way. The negative media narrative promotes the rising patterns of discrimination of Muslims and Arabs in the United States.
Art continues to play a remarkable role in demonstrating various historical perspectives. It provides a direct impression of the various subjects of societal importance, such as discrimination. Different arts communicate distinct information regarding various happenings in society. In the history of artistic work, discrimination of various minority groups in the United States has attracted the attention of many artists (McIver 129). After the tragic events of 9/11 attack in the United States, many artists focused on paintings that demonstrated the Muslims as the leading supporter of the attack. The continuous use of art to illustrate their actions spurred enmity between the Muslims and native Americans. The Muslims continued to face discrimination from various places of work in the United States and other Western countries. Through the influence of the media, the use of arts continues to shape the perspective of discrimination significantly.
Works Cited
Archbold, Jason. “Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11.” Media International Australia, vol. 149, no. 1, 2013, pp. 190-190.
Beydoun, Khaled A. American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear. University of California Press, 2018.
Elkins, James, and Robert Williams. The Shaping of Art History: Meditations on a Discipline. Penn State Press, 2010.
Greenhouse, Steven. “Muslims Report Rising Discrimination at Work.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 24 Sept. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/business/24muslim.html.
Lakhani, Karim. “Workplace Discrimination Against Muslims.” On Labor, 20 Apr. 2017, onlabor.org/workplace-discrimination-against-muslims/.
McIver, Gillian. Art History for Filmmakers: The Art of Visual Storytelling. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.
Morey, Peter, et al. Contesting Islamophobia: Anti-Muslim Prejudice in Media, Culture and Politics. I.B. Tauris, 2019.
Schonfeld, Roger, and Liam Sweeney. “An Engine for Diversity: Studio Museum in Harlem.” Art, vol. 1, no. 2, 2018, pp. 118-123.
Schwendener, Martha. “At the Studio Museum in Harlem, 4 Shows Engage a Cultural Conversation.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 8 Jan. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/arts/design/at-the-studio-museum-in-harlem-4-shows-engage-a-cultural-conversation.html.
Wright, George C., and Studio M. In Harlem. “Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America.” The Journal of American History, vol. 77, no. 1, 1990, p. 253.