Middle-Eastern Stereotyping in American Pop Culture

In 2011, the St. Petersburg Times (now known as the Tampa Bay Times) published an article written by a Muslim-American high school student about being a Muslim-American teenager in the wake of the events of 9/11. The author, Noura Elsayed, talks about the struggle she has faced in recent years between being wholly Muslim and wholly American simultaneously; identifying herself with her conservative, peaceful religion and heritage, but also with the anger, fear, and sadness experienced universally by Americans at the shock of the 9/11 tragedy. Elsayed talks about how, unfortunately, American culture and pop culture has done little to clear up misconceptions about Islam and those who identify with it or the cultures that practice it, even though doing so is especially necessary during a time where ignorance has caused hatred of Midde-Eastern-Americans to soar. She even tells readers about a girl she knows who is afraid to tell people that she practices Islam for fear of negative repercussions.
Though I am a Christian rather than Muslim, I have many relatives who practice Islam, and I can identify with many of the issues Elsayed addresses.
Though it seems like prejudice towards those of Middle-Eastern descent in America flared in the years immediately following 9/11 and then cooled off, I can tell you firsthand that it hasn't cooled off; rather, like prejudice against any race, it has continued to burn at a less-noticeable-yet-still-potent level, coming out in offhand remarks and cultural stereotypes that are abused rather than used in media and popular culture. For example, a few years ago, popular comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham premiered a character for his act named "Achmed the Dead Terrorist." While the act was intended to be silly and relatively harmless, it played on a bunch of negative stereotypes about Middle-Eastern people. The character of Achmed had a Middle-Eastern-ish accent, had a turban and beard, and identified himself as a terrorist, yelling out numerous times, "SILENCE! I KILL YOU!" The character's title is Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which would lead viewers to believe that the defining quality of the character is that he is a terrorist. However, most of the humor doesn't seem to center around that, but rather around his background, name, accent, and generally the fact that he is Middle-Eastern (it also implies at one point that Achmed is Muslim). If Achmed had not been Achmed but rather, say, Adam the Terrorist, and was white, many of the jokes wouldn't have translated. Achmed's "terrorist" occupation seems to me a thin veil over the real brunt of the joke: his exaggerated Middle-Eastern-ness. Whether intentional or not (and I truly do not think it is intentional), the act implies that a "terrorist", by definition, is Middle-Eastern--and less open-minded viewers may unconsciously take this for granted.
While many people may have found this funny, I did not. To most, this would seem like a mildly offensive, but humorous act. Yet the underlying tones of racial mockery may be taken as truth by some kinds of people, and that is where it crosses the line from lighthearted into dangerous. Media like this is a subtle encouragement of racial stereotyping and prejudice. While the public may not actively feel encouraged to think of Middle-Eastern people in such a way, humor like this tends to subtly desensitize people to stereotyping, especially negative stereotyping.
In addition, media like this can prompt questions such as, "Do you know any terrorists?"; questions that are not intentionally hurtful, but that are no doubt the brood of media like this that is not balanced out equally, in my opinion, by education about actual Middle-Eastern culture and Islam.
Elsayed is right in her disappointment of the portrayal of Muslims and people of Middle-Eastern descent in American pop culture. There is too much caricature and too little truth. However, I have seen in recent years an increasing number of people voicing their concerns about this issue; hopefully, things will be looking up soon.