24 Mind-Blowing Facts About 24

11. The Muslim Store Owners In Season 4 Were Created In Response To Accusations The Show Was Racist

When the fourth season began airing, 24 came under heavy scrutiny for what was perceived to be Islamaphobia on the part of the writers, for depicting so many Middle Eastern characters as terrorists. It didn't take long for Fox to get wind of this and, by the season's thirteenth episode, two extremely ham-fisted Middle Eastern characters were written into the show to try and demonstrate that the network and the show isn't racist. Brothers Safa and Naji appear in one episode (season four, episode 13) as two US-born, Muslim store owners who help Jack and Paul Raines fend off the McLennen-Forster mercenaries. They also make reference to having had to fight stereotypes their entire lives, which is basically Fox's heavy-handed way of saying, "We know brown people can be good too!"