In a 2017 Pew research study, almost half of Americans did not know a Muslim.
National Geographic Channel “America Inside Out With Katie Couric”
Katie Couric, narrator
National Geographic/ Partners LLC (NGP), 21st Century Fox 2018
Each episode is 50 minutes in length
6 Episodes in this series that airs on Wednesday
Getting Along - Episode Two With Katie Couric
April 18, 2018
The Muslim Next Door
Who is your next-door neighbor in an apartment complex or housing addition? Who works next to you at your office? Who is the medical technician who tends to you at the local hospital? It may be a woman wearing a hajib or a man with a name you ask how to pronounce. The Muslim community in America is growing and as it does, in America, the land of opportunity, there are obstacles. Katie Couric in Episode Two of “America Inside Out,” asks questions. In a 2017 Pew research study, almost half of Americans did not know a Muslim. There is also a new word in today’s vocabulary, “Islamophobia.”
Viewers meet Muslim actor Asif Mandvi, and then go to an Islamic Center. An eighth-grade girl tells about being singled out for wearing a hijab, which is part of her religion. Muslim women today, have their own online magazine, “MuslimGirl” about life in today’s world for young Muslim women going on to college and away from home. The Women’s 2016 Olympic Bronze Medal winner Ibtihaj Muhammad, went into fencing as a sport and because it allowed her to wear a head covering and body covering. Sports are about individual athletes and adaptability is an asset.
An experience of mine came at a local store, where I was standing in line waiting to pay for a purchase, when two large men pushed their way in front of me in line. They frowned at me and I backed away from confrontation, when I heard a quiet “over here,” and looked aside to another register and there was a young woman wearing a hijab, a clerk, who beckoned to me to come and she would take care of my purchases. I thanked her and was out of the store while the two men were still waiting in line. She didn’t have to do that, but perhaps, she recognized the incident from a past experience and was kind to a stranger.
This is what it is about, who lives or works next to you, what they have experienced and to make a decision about it. Working together is the key.
Production values are excellent.
National Geographic Partners LLC and 21st Century Fox, have joined to produce this series. The series will run on television where millions of people in 172 countries and 43 languages will see and hear it. The first two episodes were “Re-righting History” (April 11, 2018) and “The Muslim Next Door” (April 18, 2018.) The next episode will be “Your Brain On Tech.” The organization called (NGP) returns 27 percent of proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit www.natgeotv.com or www.nationalgeographic.com. Visit on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Copyright 2018 Marie Asner
