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Is it just my imagination or do people think that only "rednecks" can harbor racial attitudes. My position has always been that racism is colour blind and knows no boundaries. Any bets that no matter how benign the plot someone will play the race card.

Little Mosque treats Toronto

Toronto Star

The world media have landed in Toronto to report on a CBC comedy that has yet to air but has a tantalizing title: Little Mosque on the Prairie.

The attention is gratifying yet also a bit puzzling to Zarqa Nawaz, a 39-year-old filmmaker who's the heart and soul of Little Mosque, a comedy about Muslims living in a Canadian prairie town.

After all, the show doesn't premiere until Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

"A lot of people writing about it haven't even seen it yet," said Nawaz yesterday in Yonge-Dundas Square, where "the world's biggest halal chicken shawarma" was being served to promote the show.

"People are assuming because of the title and subject matter that it's going to be really controversial and political. But it's just a comedy that happens to have Muslim people in it."

A segment was to air on CNN's Paula Zahn Now last night after a crew visited Little Mosque's west-end Toronto set. (Zahn herself did not visit, as wrongly reported previously.) The New York Times, BBC Radio, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle and countless blogs have also run items on Little Mosque.

At yesterday's un-CBC-like event, friendly camels were on hand, including one that shared a shawarma with one of the show's stars, Boyd Banks. He plays the resident redneck who is suspicious of the mosque goings-on in the fictional town of Mercy.

"Let's face it, after Sept. 11 we all had racist thoughts," Banks said. "I know I had them and I'm not proud of that. It would be nice, wouldn't it, if this show could end some of the prejudices people have about Muslims."

CANADIAN PRESS