American Muslim

Lose Yourself




Asalaam Alaikum (Peace be with you),

I have used a lot of diverse media to teach and stimulate discussion, but I am pretty sure this is the first commercial I have ever used in class to talk about politics. But, I am sure I was not the only teacher in America who used Chrysler's Super Bowl commercial as a jumping off point for a discussion on American history, employment, reapportionment and redistricting and a city's pride.

This is probably one of the best ads I've ever seen and right up there with those classic United Negro College Fund ads from the '80s. While sitting in my room at Amicalola Falls and watching the Super Bowl, I found myself reflecting about the commercial and what I had just witnessed: a city's cry for help and attention. Think about this: when was the last time you saw a commercial - not related to a sports team like the Atlanta Falcons' "Rise Up" campaign - that was basically an encomium to a city? A commercial where you literally forgot the product that was being sold because it was overshadowed by another product? Based on the discussions my students and I had today, it seems like the primary theme of the ad was "Love Detroit" and then, "Detroit Makes Good Cars Again."

One of my students, KC, in fact mentioned that the mayor of Detroit was on CNN this morning and extolling the virtues of living in Detroit and the benefits available including inexpensive housing. I hope this ad generates discussion and renewed enthusiasm for Detroit and makes people think twice about buying foreign cars. Echoing a comment I saw on YouTube, this commercial did make me think about abandoning my Japanese car and buying America. Wallahi (I swear in God's name), that's what I thought.

Could this commercial be the beginning of a movement to buy American products again? I never thought I'd ever say this but as I've gotten older, I have realized that part of my responsibility as an American - and not just a teacher of American government - is doing what I can to make this country great and part of that might just be buying more American-made products. But, how many people will make this decision or is it too late to reverse years of buying practices predicated on finding the cheapest stuff (WalMart!) made with the least-stringent safety measures (lead Shrek glasses at McDonald's!)? Can Americans buy American-made products again? Can we buy American-made cars again? Can we reverse the trend and move back to the Midwest and the Northeast? Judging by Census estimates, it will be a hard sell - Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York are all losing population while Texas, Georgia, Florida and Arizona are gaining.

I am not foolish enough to believe that one person's actions can change the state of the American economy. But I am enough of an idealist to know that one idea, one image, one speech and even one person can motivate and inspire others to do something great en mass. Will Chrysler's commercial be the tipping point? Is it enough?