2006年VOA标准英语-Growing Proportion of Americans Expressing

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, DC
20 March 2006
 
watch Prejudice report

More Americans are expressing unfavorable views about Islam.  A recent public opinion poll shows 25 percent of Americans now say they personally are prejudiced against Muslims. And a majority of Americans think Muslims are more prone¹ to resort to violence.

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A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 46 percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam. That is seven percentage points higher than during the months right after the terrorist attacks of September 2001. 

 

 
Laila Al Qatami
  

Laila Al Qatami, of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, says the behavior of some Muslims, especially the violent protests over cartoons making fun of the Prophet Muhammad, contributed to the anger some Americans are feeling.  "When there is violence and looting that is associated with all other acts, it does not do the image of Islam around the world any good. People see that and it confirms whatever bias² they may have in their minds."

She believes many Arab Americans think there was bias in the recent decision by the U.S. Congress to block a Dubai-owned company from operating some American ports, since non-Arab companies already operate several ports in the United States. Members of Congress cited  U.S. national security as the main reason for the decision, but Laila Al Qatami says some Arab Americans see it as subtle discrimination.

Recent public comments from some high-profile evangelists are also seen as inflammatory. The Reverend Franklin Graham called Islam, in his words, "a very wicked religion", and the Reverend Pat Robertson said, in his words, "Islam is a religion of violence."

Media coverage⁴ of terrorism, and the violence in Iraq, may also contribute to hostility⁵ to Muslims.  

Nihad Awad  
  
Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, says stereotyping⁶ of Muslims by the U.S. media has had a negative effect.

“I think that it is true that the statements, the kind of coverage that the American audience has been receiving about Muslims and Islam leads one to just one conclusion: that Islam is bad and Muslims are violent. The media has failed to capture the reality of the Muslim world and only focused on the actions of the few."

But Laird Anderson, a journalism⁷ professor at American University in Washington DC, says the news media is not solely⁸ to blame, that there are cultural misunderstandings too.

Laird Anderson  
  
"The Koran and the Prophet Muhammad -- from my understanding -- taught peace and all of a sudden, we do not get peace, we get violence. That is confusing, so how a tolerant society is going to be able to accept violence and terrorism from a base that espouses⁹ tolerance¹⁰ itself? The Koran and the Prophet Muhammad, that is confusing to the American people."

Rev³. Clark Lobenstine, Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan¹¹ Washington, is working to promote religious understanding.

Rev. Clark Lobenstine  
  
"We live in a global village, and we live in a multi-faith global village, and it is our responsibility as people of any one faith to learn about other faiths and in that process to deepen understanding, to build trust and to work together to solve community problems"

His hope is that patience and education together will reverse negative attitudes some Americans may have toward Islam.  

1 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

6 stereotyping   

v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I realize that I'm stereotyping. 我认识到我搞的是老一套。 来自辞典例句
• There is none of the gender stereotyping usually evident in school uniforms. 有没有人的性别刻板印象通常是显而易见的。 来自互联网

7 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

8 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

9 espouses   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement; The candidate espouses Republican ideals. 她支持女权运动；这个侯选人支持共和党人的观点。 来自互联网
• Give me a break – every decent company espouses these things! 让我歇歇吧–每一个正规公司都赞成这些！ 来自互联网

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。