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A new reality TV show aiming to counter negative stereotypes of Muslim Americans in the US has sparked major debate after at least two companies pulled their advertisements from the series following pressure from a conservative Evangelical group for a boycott.
All American Muslim focuses on the everyday lives of five American Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan - a city with the largest Arab population in the US.
The show's creators, cable TV network TLC, say the show aims to foster better relations with a community that many feel is misrepresented by mainstream US media. But voices from the right say it is a ploy to carry out a stealth holy war.
The Listening Post's Marcela Pizarro looks at what an American Muslim reality TV show has revealed about US media and divisions in a post-9/11 era.
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"I hope people will learn that Muslims are human beings. They are not stereotypes, taxicab drivers, terrorists, or wannabe terrorists, you know, they are your neighbours, they are your teachers, they are people who work in the police station, they are people who are football coaches. There is nothing really novel about this."
Wajahat Ali, writer
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