Uh-Merica

Happy Friday!

I have escaped the GRE for a moment to consider this article. Hopefully you had a chance to read it. I am going to go over it piece by piece before providing an overarching analysis/opinion.

But first, I would like to dedicate the post to the young lady murdered by her father, Noor. "Noor" means light. Hopefully her story will shed light on the fact that these murders happen in America and need to be understand in a complicated cultural discourse. It can not be as simplified as the article creates.
Title: "An American Honor Killing"-

• First, this title implies that honour killing are, by their very definition, un-American. It suggests the creation of something new, that has not occured before. A more accurate description would be "Young Lady Killed by Family in Arizona: 'Honour' cited as motivation." I personally feel this is less inflammatory and still accurate. Women are killed due to honour in America.

"She played tennis in a T-shirt emblazoned with the school mascot — a baby demon in a diaper. She liked to watch Heroes and eat at Chipotle. Sometimes she talked in a goofy Keanu Reeves voice. She wore dark jeans, jeweled sandals, and flowy tops from Forever 21. She texted constantly and called her friends "dude." In other words, she was an American girl much like any other."

• The author feels the necessity of definition the notion of an "American" girl here by providing her definitions of freedom. This is her initially emphasis. Notice how her physical appearance, her use of technology, ect are the first things mentioned. Not her dreams, aspirations, so on. Let me emphasize, Muslim women in many countries live like this. I knew Jordanian women who wore jeans, flowy tops, ect.
  

"Having lived in the U.S. for 16 years, she held dreams of becoming a teacher, of marrying a man she loved, and, most importantly, of making her own choices."

• I think this should have been the emphasis. Because honestly, this is what the issue is about. Although the author reiterates how the father was frustrated by his daughter's appearance, it was her sexual freedom that is threatening. Also, I find the "Having lived in the U.S..." part unnecessary. In author stories of honour crimes, many women have similar aspirations. This is not uniquely American. This is critical. If we understand's Noor's lifestyle and dreams as American we see her death as an attack on America. Unfortunately, the article continues to make this error.
  

"It's a practice with deep, tenacious roots in the tribal traditions of the Middle East and Asia. (The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women die annually from such crimes.) Women are stoned, stabbed, and, in the recent case of a teenage girl in Turkey, tied up and buried alive."

• The author continues to provide various cases where women are killed--of which cases occurred in America. All these names are foreign...obviously denoting an immigrant status. Instead of taking control of the issue right here, the author has lost the reader in their emotions. It will be difficult for the average reader to understand this issue has more nuance than just American or un-American.
  

• Furthermore, to say they have been "amazingly" ignored because they fall under the role of domestic abuse should raise a few eyebrows. Domestic crimes don't make headlines, she says. Isn't this our societies own fault then? That is why domestic abuse continues to be an extreme and dangerous issue. Noor largely stayed quiet about her abuse. How often is this the story in American abuse cases?
  

"Since the murderer is a member of the woman's family, there's no extended investigation to capture the public's attention. Also, the family of the perpetrator rarely advocates for the victim, due to either fear or a belief that the woman got what she deserved."

• Does this sound familiar? It should. It is often the case in domestic abuse cases. Instead of creating a connection here, the author leaves it at that. There is a culture of fear in domestic abuse cases. The woman often feels she has done something wrong, the abuser often believes he is in the right. And the family may stay entirely ignorant of the entire issue.
  

"Appalled by his friend's fate and determined that no other American girl should face the same situation, he and others have established a Facebook group devoted to Noor, with nearly 4,000 members."

• Key word: "Determined that no other American girl"....this may not be the friends wording, but it is for sure the authors. You can understand the issue I have with this. This is a global crises.
  

• Most of her friends won't talk to the reporter. This is not surprising. For in the news, it inevitably becomes a issue of Islam.

• The marrying off story has occurred before in America and other western countries.

Fortunately, Noor was able to get police involvement. Unfortunately, the restraining order did not go through.

What is unfortunate is that the author does not look at the sadness of this type of crime that is created within the family. She quotes the father and mother in a matter where they look cold and unfeeling. This author does not look at the household, even though the brother is quoted in the article as saying the portrayal of the crime is inaccurate. Questions she should be asking:

• What in society made the father feel like this crime was justified?
  
• Is it truly an honor crime in the cultural sense of the term? Or is this a murder? (She hardly addresses the cultural, societal, and sociological aspects of an honor killing)
  
• Is she calling it an honor crime because they are Muslims?
• Why have Americans not been paying attention to this issue? Did that play a role in this murder in particular?

I would encourage you to read the comments below the article. Yes, we should be angry. Yes, this is a tragedy. Do not think I do not want justice to be served. But I have read countless stories about the murderers and perpetrators. They are victims. They are not innocent, they deserve justice. But they deserve our understanding. They are not sociopaths.

What I want to avoid is attacks like this:

"This is a tragic story. The father should go to prison for the rest of his life and the rest of the family should be sent back to Iraq, where their "values" would be far better served. I can only wonder why they came here in the first place." How does this approach the problem in a constructive way?

and

"May her murdering bastard of a "father" be convicted of first degree murder and may he spend the rest of his pathetic, disgusting, bestial life in prison finding out what a piece of trash he is. Amen."

This is very very dangerous in the current climate regarding American-Arab relations. Instead or revealing that both America and the Middle East have a real problem, the abuse of women, the author made this a backwards, tribal, Arab issue.

We can not solve this crises through making enemies.

Best,
Liz