And the award-winning media critic, author and professor Jack Shaheen has died at the age of 81. The author of the groundbreaking book “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People,” Shaheen dedicated his life to challenging the media’s negative stereotypes of Arabs and Arab Americans. He was also professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. He was also a former consultant on Middle East affairs for CBS. This is Jack Shaheen speaking in the film version of his book “Reel Bad Arabs.”

Jack Shaheen: “I looked at more than 1,000 films, films ranging from the earliest, most obscure days of Hollywood to today’s biggest blockbusters. And what I tried to do is to make visible what too many of us seem not to see: a dangerously consistent pattern of hateful Arab stereotypes, stereotypes that rob an entire people of their humanity. All aspects of our culture project the Arab as villain. That is a given.”

Award-winning media critic, author and professor Jack Shaheen died Monday in South Carolina at the age of 81.