Muslim reality TV show targets stereotypes

A man participates in the American Muslim Day Parade in New York An American cable television channel hopes to shatter stereotypes of Muslim Americans with the launch of a reality TV show that will chronicle the lives of five families.  US network TLC plans to launch ‘All-American Muslim’ in November, following families living in the Michigan town of Dearborn, home to the largest mosque in the United States.
The show’s stars include a football coach, a law enforcement officer and two sisters: one of whom wears a traditional headscarf and another who has tattoos and is married an Irish Catholic.The series “is hoping to do for Muslims what it did for polygamists and Sarah Palin — put a new spin on controversial subjects that people often make judgments about without knowing the whole story,” said the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Rival channel Bravo has also unveiled plans for a documentary show following the lives of Persian-Americans living in Los Angeles.The move follows what has been described by CAIR as a wave of “anti-Muslim bigotry” in the run up to the 2012 US presidential campaign.Republican politician Hermain Cain this month used a rally Murfreesboro, Tennessee to condemn plans to build a mosque in the town and speak out against Sharia law.
"This is another way to sneak Sharia law into our laws, and I absolutely object to that," he said.Former 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, previously the subject of a reality TV show by TLC, also said the adoption of Sharia law in the US would “be the downfall of America”.A poll by Gallup this month found Muslim Americans are more optimistic about their lives than any other major US faith group, and more likely to condemn violence against civilians.Some 89 percent of Muslim Americans said that violent attacks on civilians were never justified, compared to between 71 and 79 percent of other religious groups who felt the same way.
From / Arabian Business News