A Not So Simple Bear
By Hazem Kira
CA
Sometimes a bear isn't just a bear.
Last week, many in the Muslim community, including myself received media requests to comment on the 'teddy bear incident' that took place in Sudan. Caring little about this matter, I managed to ignore the issue. But it seems that the Western story of culturally archaic African Muslims was written long before that incident, and it took the media little to no time to make a mountain out of a pimple.
All the elements of a good Western narrative were in place. The Caucasian protagonist, in the shape of a British schoolteacher tutoring a backward populace; an antagonist, skillfully played by primitive African Muslims; and of course the symbol of innocence, a teddy bear. This thematic tale was masterfully weaved into a story of a struggling heroin that faces untold challenges, even to life and limb, for a seemingly selfless goal.
Call this story what you will, but it’s eerily similar to past stories of 'savage Indians,' of 'three-fifth' humans (African Americans), and of illiberal Arabs who are in need of civility. Altered only is the setting and the actors.
It is not that the 'teddy bear incident' is inconsequential or unimportant, but that it lacks perspective; framed to overly vilify one group while enhancing the other. What the late scholar, Edward Said, referred to as 'positional superiority.' Define the other, and you define the self. If they are backward we are enlightened, if they lack civility we are civilized. But to achieve this, 'framing' a story is necessary.
Imagine if you will a picture of yourself. Slowly zoom in till all you can see is a lone pimple. Is the pimple a reflection of you or only part of a whole? It was only 20 years ago, that Americans began to see African Americans beyond one-dimensional stereotypes; not because blacks didn't have a wide spectrum of beliefs and personas, but because the media began to show individuals like Oprah Winfrey and Colin Powell. And unless you have a voice, you don't exist, except in the imagination of those who don't know you beyond a stereotype.
But let's go back to that pimple, the teddy bear incident. I asked my mom, who speaks Arabic, why some Sudanese were angry at such a simple mistake -- naming a teddy bear Muhammad, after the prophet of Islam. 'While the symbol of a teddy bear in Western culture represents something good and innocent,' she said, 'calling someone, in Arab culture, a bear can be worse than calling them a dog or a pig.’ Couple natural anger with political opportunism, by agenda setters on each side, and you have an international circus.
The truth is, every culture has symbols. When radio DJ Don Imus used 'nappy headed ' to refer to African Americans on a basketball team, the symbol caused a firestorm.
The truth is, sometimes a bear isn't just a bear; sometimes it's a symbol in a much larger and more nuanced narrative.
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