As we know, the 89th annual Oscar awards just passed this Sunday, and while it was a great year for people of colour (POCs) – such as Viola Davis winning the award for Best Supporting Actress, and Moonlight for winning Best Picture – it also served as a political platform for POCs to voice their thoughts and sentiments. Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi, who won the Best Foreign Language Film for The Salesman – had a written message read by a colleague expressing how the US travel ban disrespects his people. His statement became the center piece for an episode of a republican’s web-show. Host Tomi Lahren became incredibly racist when voicing her opinion about the director’s speech, causing Hasan Piker – host of The Breakdown – to create a video in response. Piker essentially tears apart Lahren’s argument, and while incredibly entertaining, he makes a point that ties in nicely to what I have been discussing in my recent blog posts. Piker states, “I guess the irony is not lost on our more educated viewers who are aware the US government played in overthrowing the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadden in 1953, spurring decades of fervent anti-US sentiment,” (1:45).
I had stated in a previous post that I believed that the US needed to consider their actions in the past and how they might have affected what is going on in the world today. This is a primary example of how US foreign policy has participated in less than ideal relations with the Middle East. Piker makes the argument that US foreign policy tends to relatively follow this pattern: The US meddles in the Middle Eastern affairs, disrupting the status quo à this then fuels anti-American sentiment and creates tension between the two nations (that often result in the bombing/attack of sorts) à when Middle Eastern citizens try to escape these conditions, THEY are labeled as the terrorists.
Listening to Lahren speak was honestly quite painful; she was extremely uneducated (or simply ignorant) about the darker aspects of American history. She fails to acknowledge how the US involvement has caused such a massive divide between the Middle East and the States. This video articulates a point that I have been making throughout the past couple of posts: the US can no longer stand on its high horse and ignore the problems they have essentially started. While I do not blame the US for the attacks on 9/11, nor do I think it was deserved, I do believe that their past actions have caused this anti-American sentiment, which had contributed to the reasons for the attack.
If anyone is interested in watching Piker’s episode of The Breakdown I have linked the video down below. Thanks for reading
https://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks/videos/10154423332834205/?hc_ref=SEARCH