Recently, I’ve been watching a show on TLC called All American Muslim. I heard about it from some friends and then on the news because apparently it was causing controversy. So to find out about why this show was so controversial, I started watching it. Basically, the show follows different Arab-American Muslim families. A typical TLC show, but with a different cast. The families range from being devout Muslims to very liberal Muslims and it just shows how these people go on about living their lives. The show takes place in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Arab-American population in the U.S.

Some women on the show wear the hijab (the religious head scarf) and some like to party at night clubs. Some have jobs, while others stay at home. As for the men, well, they have pretty normal jobs too. One of the men is a police officer, another a football coach. So no controversy there. The only different thing these families do is that they go to mosque and not to church. I later found that that was the reason the show was so controversial. The cast is not a family with 19 kids nor do they make their children wear fake boobs at pageantry competitions. Apparently, some people said the show did not show “real Muslims” and that it was tricking the American public into thinking that Muslims were normal people too. That was actually said the by the Florida Family Association. The FFA wanted to see Muslims fit the stereotype that they gave them so that it would be more “realistic”.

I’m actually sad that there are still people out there who think Muslims aren’t normal people, whatever normal means, and that they would rather see Muslim extremists, than see a a peaceful Muslim American family. It’s crazy, but I guess that’s the world we live in. I would recommend the show to anyone who would like to learn more about the Arab-American community. The only downside of the show is that it’s called All American Muslim, when really, all the cast is Arab-American. They’re still all Muslim, but the show’s name  ticks off some of the Muslims that are not Arab.