Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer’s recent appearance in Scripps Presents’ “Laughing Matters!” event prompted much outrage and debate, including a TSL opinion piece. On March 7 in Avery Hall at Pitzer College, Kouross Esmaeli, professor of media studies at Pitzer, hosted a public dialogue titled “Does Context Matter?” in light of these concerns.
In his show, Amer talked about the bigotry directed towards him as a Middle Eastern person in America. He asked his audience “is this a safe space?” and proceeded to remark that he has been called a “sand N–word,” a phrase used to demean individuals of Middle Eastern descent. Attendees of Amer’s show noted that this context was missing from Shavers’ op-ed.
Esmaeli organized the event with input from the students in his media studies course MS 124: Self Representation of Islam and the Middle East in US Media.
“A lot of people were upset that there wasn’t a lot of context given in the article itself. We wanted to establish and understand what really happened and what it means in a way that gives the full picture,” Jansikwe Medina-Tayac PZ ’25, who is one of Esmaeli’s students, said. “There’s so little conversation about these intersecting identities, and the phrase itself is never talked about outside of Middle Eastern communities.”
The dialogue stemmed from the question: To what extent does the context of Amer referencing his oppression as an Arab American justify his use of the N–word, if at all?
Esmaeli introduced the discussion by referencing the implications of college as a predominately white institution that largely fails to take students of color’s interests to heart.
Lola Latan PZ ’25, a Pitzer Black Student Union (BSU) member, voiced her frustration.
“Despite all this work [BSU] is doing on campus, we’re still receiving pushback. We’re being told we’re complaining. We’re not being taken seriously,” she said. “It’s kind of ironic because [the comedy show] felt like a joke. Is this a joke? Why am I here? … Am I a joke? It’s almost laughable, but in a sad way. Once again, we are proven that nobody sees us or hears us.”
Attendees of his show also criticized Amer’s offensive mocking of Asian accents. Pitzer professor and attendee Daniel Segal criticized the lack of transparency at Amer’s show.
“Scripps Presents is just wrong to have [the comedy show] without Q&A because any student that wanted to say, ‘you just hurt me,’ couldn’t,” Segal said. “The college campus is supposed to be a place where you take risks, you express points of view, but you’re subject to a response. Scripps [College] didn’t do that.”
Esmaeli argued that these broader racial concerns coupled with the institutional powers inherent in college campuses demand we confront this issue through an intersectional framework.
As an example, Esmaeli cited that Melvin Oliver, then-president of Pitzer, controversially vetoed the college counsel’s 67-20 vote to suspend the college’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa in Israel. The vote was a protest against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
“A lot of people were upset that there wasn’t a lot of context given in the article itself. We wanted to establish and understand what really happened and what it means in a way that gives the full picture. There’s so little conversation about these intersecting identities, and the phrase itself is never talked about outside of Middle Eastern communities.”
“An intersectional understanding will see us as holding different positions in different structures that we’re members of.” Esmaeli said. “A Middle Eastern person may be more white-presenting in America, so in the American hierarchy of values their presence is more akin to whiteness than Blackness. At the same time, Melvin Oliver is an African American who has the institutional power to silence a movement to bring justice to Palestinian people.”
Some attendees argued that in the process of speaking on his lived experience, Amer perpetuated anti-Blackness. The additive of “sand” in front of the N-word doesn’t negate the harm towards Black people. One audience member argued that using the slur to demean a different ethnic group is ultimately using Blackness as an insult.
Many agreed that Amer can and should acknowledge the inherent anti-Blackness in slurs such as “sand N–word” without diminishing the pain of his lived experience as an Arab American.
Prior to the show, Esmaeli invited Amer to engage in a dialogue with MS 124. The final topic of discussion concerned whether he should disinvite Amer, considering the pain brought on by his show.
Many BIPOC attendees said that much of the burden of explanation would rest on them, and they would have to bear the brunt of the emotional labor in speaking to Amer.
Others expressed that speaking to Amer could improve his content for future campus appearances. Since Amer has achieved adequate cultural capital in the white-dominated comedy industry, he could now tell stories he may have previously sidelined.
“Having Amer come here and talk about this issue will add a lot of value to our topics of discussion,” Zoya Nawaz CM ’23, one of Esmaeli’s students, said.
In closing, Esmaeli stressed the importance of mutual understanding.
“As Americans, our regime funds Amer’s oppression and the destruction of his culture,” he said. “This dialogue is not to dismiss him, but to understand the nuance of social processes.”