PR Tips for Immigrants

[proud2BlibKansan]

by Larry Sakin, 18 December 2007

I was talking with a female friend recently, who informed me that all Islamic people had the same motives. “All the ‘rag heads’ want to do is get into this country and ruin it. They claim that they don’t hate Americans, but they actually do, and they’ll say anything to get in here and blow up more buildings.” My friend says similar things about Mexicans and white women.

I’m not sure how these people got such a bad rap, especially from my friend, who is a mixed race Australian immigrant. Be that as it may, you know minorities are in trouble when other minorities are taking verbal swipes at them. It’s not just that my friend is a bigot. Since 9/11, there has been a huge backlash against people of color, a wave of irrational misanthropy similar to the isolationist nationalism of post World War I America. Back then, there weren’t many options for immigrants looking for acceptance in this land of plenty. But today, we have lobbyists, PR firms, television and access to the internet, which has become a brave new world of First Amendment protected speech.

Immigrants need to take advantage of these devices if they want to improve their derogatory image.

My first tip is for immigrants to create a bunch of television pilots starring people of their cultural heritage. Think about it- a group of underpaid Islamic coffee shop workers live in a beautiful upscale New York City apartment which they could not possibly afford on their salaries. Call it “Mohammad’s Friends”. Use the stereotypes stupid Americans associate with Islamic culture. Think of the hilarity that would ensue when Amineh, the girl who wears a burka on the show, gets confused for a hooded bank robber! Or the trouble Ali, Amineh’s boyfriend, gets into when he refuses to take out a loan to pay for his first year in college. Or maybe Anisa, the dumb brunette of the group, forgets to eat with her right hand. What a killer episode that would be! And get this- the season finale could feature Amineh’s strict Muslim father asking an Imam to issue a Fatwa on Ali because he isn’t the man her parents chose for her to marry. What a ratings grabber!

more . . . http://www.mytown.ca/sakin/