Americans were horrified, to say the least, as they shelled out the money to fill their vehicles' tank full of gas throughout the month of April. As the national average hovered around $2.22 per gallon (Coy 2) and reached as high as $2.45 in some areas of south central Michigan, Americans could be heard everywhere cursing under their breath at the so-called "oil tyrants" of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and mainly the Middle-Eastern members (Maich 1). But the fact of the matter is these specific countries are not to blame. Americans are either not aware of or are not being informed of by the government about several other causes to this serious problem. This misconception causes unneeded racism toward members of the Arabic community.

The vast majority of American citizens are unaware, or at least appear to be, that six other countries do not...