You can thank former President Donald Trump for the remarkable rise in TV shows featuring Muslim protagonists – including Hulu’s “Ramy,” Netflix’s “Mo” and Disney+’s “Ms. Marvel,” among others.
Trump’s 2017 executive order banning travel from certain Muslim-majority countries not only fueled the rise of such shows but “led to an unprecedented expansion in [Muslim] representations,” said Evelyn Alsultany, a professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC’s Dornsife College and expert on the history of Muslim and Arab representation in the U.S. media.
Shifts in representation often occur in response to a crisis, she said, but this change was dramatic.
“There was something about the Trump presidency that inspired people to act that galvanized not just individuals and organizations but industries like Hollywood,” said Alsultany, whose latest book on the issue is titled “Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion.” “I’ve