American Sniper Movie Sparks Debate at UMCP, Panel Discussion

Community News
Typography

 

sniper-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


A Muslim student at the University of Maryland at College Park hands out flowers with cards attached showing some of the hate speech the Muslim Student Association recieved when it objected to the screening of movie American Sniper on campus. Photo by Fatimah Waseem.


Signs by campus groups who came out in support of the Muslim students read, "There is no room for hate on this campus." On May 4, 2015, the Hoff Theatre held the screening of the blockbuster film American Sniper, sponsored by the University of Maryland College Republicans.


"I commend the Muslim Student Association and their partner organizations on how they conducted themselves during the panel discussion," said Dawud Walid, the Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, a civil rights activist and a veteran who was the guest of the MSA on the panel discussion that followed the screening.

 

sniper-2

Members of the Muslim Students Association, Students for Justice for Palestine, Asian American Student Association and others handed out flower stems with cards to the 275 viewers that came to watch the movie. They were protesting the screening of a movie they say promotes hate and threatens the building of an "inclusive, just, and safe campus community". One side of the card quoted from the hundreds of hate-filled comments that had peppered the UMD-MSA's Facebook page ever since they had voiced their concerns to the Student Entertainment Events (SEE), a group that organizes events for students on campus on their announcement of the screening of American Sniper.


The MSA had voiced their fears  in two meetings with the SEE, which explained the choice of the movie was based on its commercial and critical success. A petition and two weeks later, SEE made the announcement to postpone, not cancel, the initial screening of the movie for various reasons, including time restraints in organizing a panel discussion. The MSA was not informed or consulted. Other groups had also opposed the choice of American Sniper for the spring line up.


National attention from media and extensive pressure from powerful alumni and donors followed. Then the President of the University issued a statement. The College Republicans would screen the movie the same week, albeit with a panel discussion.


The other side of the cards with the flowers handed out by the MSA students Monday night outside Hoff had a real response from a member of the MSA to the hate messages. The ones Shani Banks handed out read, "Hi, my name is Shani, I was born in California." A clear reply to the many "go back home" messages the group had received.


Banks has been instrumental in her role in raising awareness about this issue. Concerned for safety of the Muslims students of campus, Banks approached the board of the Muslim Student Association about the screening of the American Sniper-the controversial movie that some call war propaganda and others critically acclaim, on the University of Maryland campus.


Banks and the rest of the leadership of the MSA agreed that the depiction of Arabs and Muslims in the movie could create a climate that would endanger the safety of Muslims and other students of Arab and Asian backgrounds.


Banks, a psychology major graduating this May, is the vice president of the MSA. She had received reports of harassment from young Muslim women on campus. One had been told that all Muslims deserve to die after the Chapel Hill shooting and another had been called a terrorist in a filled quad on campus. Last year, a young woman was interrogated by campus police for praying in the hallway of the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building. Banks, the Muslim Chaplain Tarif Shraim and the President of the MSA, Omar Khan had read hate-ridden tweets online after the release of American Sniper and felt it was their duty to voice concerns.

She wrote a letter to SEE and urged other concerned to do the same.


A petition was started after talks with SEE came to a standstill. "This war propaganda guised as art reveals a not-so-discreet Islamophobic, violent, and racist nationalist ideology. A simple Google search will give you hundreds of articles that delve into how this film has fueled anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiments; its visceral 'us verses them' narrative helps to proliferate the marginalization of multiple groups and communities - many of which exist here at UMD," read part of the petition on Change.org.


"This movie dehumanizes Muslim individuals, promotes the idea of senseless mass murder, and portrays negative and inaccurate stereotypes," it added.


"Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians suffered greatly in the Iraq war; innocent people were deposed from their homes, traumatized by war, and lost their spouse, parents, and children. This movie serves to do nothing but make a mockery out of such immense pain."


"We got a lot of backlash," says Banks. This backlash, including personal death threats, bolstered the Muslim Student Association's initial concerns of student safety.


Khan and Banks say that the campus administration and campus police were very proactive and supportive of the MSA's safety concerns. They offered extra security outside the MSA musallah and for Banks.


According to panelists, it was a difficult film to watch. Every depiction of an Arab except for one was negative, says Walid. The movie also depicts that difficulty veterans face upon returning home and the crippling effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.


Walid found the composition of the actual panel problematic, as he was the only Muslim and the only person of color on the panel. The only other veteran on the panel was a former Marine, who oversaw prisons in Afghanistan.

Michael Spivey, a government and politics professor on the panel, said the controversy surrounding the screening of the film was not about the First Amendment, as there was no attempt by any governmental entity to restrict speech.


Walid pointed out to the audience that absolute freedom of speech argument was formed by white privilege, looking at the issue from a larger critical race theory lens.


"You are telling marginalized people that they should not be disturbed," he shared with the audience of which roughly half were there to support the screening of the movie.


Banks feels that if they had not voiced their concerns they would probably not have been offered a seat on the panel. The safety of her fellow students is still her main concern.

 

Comments powered by CComment