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41 Conn. L. Rev. 781 (2008-2009)
The Last Minstrel Show - Racial Profiling, the War on Terrorism and the Mass Media

handle is hein.journals/conlr41 and id is 787 raw text is: CONNECTICUT
LAW REVIEW
VOLUME 41                 FEBRUARY 2009                 NUMBER 3
Article
The Last Minstrel Show?
Racial Profiling, the War on Terrorism
and the Mass Media
JOHN TEHRANIAN
This Article examines and critiques media portraits of the Middle East
and Middle-Eastern Americans by tracing the alarming impact of this last
minstrel show on public policy and the war on terrorism The Article
begins  by  analyzing  racial profiling's problematic  discourse  of
legitimation, deracinating its unsound roots and charting the intricate
relationship between representation and reality in the narration of the
Middle-Eastern threat, especially after 9/11. The Article then examines the
instrumental role of the mass media in both ossifying and perpetuating
stereotypes that have rationalized policies targeting individuals of Middle-
Eastern descent. Drawing on specific examples from the movies, television,
music, publishing and advertising, the Article highlights the accretive
impact of entertainment content on the epistemology offear and the grave
and underappreciated toll of such representations on the Middle-Eastern
American community. Finally, the Article also calls for some modest but
concrete reforms in the entertainment industry as a starting point for
providing more balanced depictions of the Middle East and of Middle-
Eastern Americans.

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