There has been a saturation of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media since September 11, 2001. My research on representations of Arabs and Muslims in post-9/11 TV dramas has uncovered three common images and storylines: first, Arabs and/or Muslims as terrorists threatening U.S. national security; second, “good” Arab and/or Muslim Americans who work for the U.S. government in the fight against “bad” Arab/Muslim terrorists; and third, Arab and/or Muslim Americans who are the unfair victims of post-9/11 hate crimes. This second and third kind of representation, of the good/patriotic and victimized Arab/Muslim American, is a relatively new mode of representing Arab and Muslim Americans that raises important questions about the circulation of “positive” images of Arab Americans during the War on Terror. At MESA 2009, I will present some of my research on post-9/11 TV dramas with Arab/Muslim terrorism as its central storyline, with a particular focus on “24” and “Sleeper Cell.” Using a Cultural Studies approach that examines the meanings articulated by the media, I will present the numerous representational strategies deployed by writers and producers of TV dramas to circumvent reinscribing the stereotype of Arab/Muslim terrorists. Strategies include inserting patriotic Arab Americans into the storyline, inserting white villains alongside the Arab/Muslim terrorists, and presenting complex multi-dimensional terrorist characters. After delineating these multiple strategies, this presentation will ask: How effective are these strategies in circumventing stereotyping? What kinds of racialized meaning are being produced about Arabs and Muslims through TV dramas? How have justifications for war and the exclusion of Arabs and Muslims from human rights been predicated on articulating racial meanings alongside displays of racial sensitivity? How do such representations impact Arab and Muslim American experiences with citizenship and belonging? While the writers and producers of these shows might intend to create non-stereotypical and sympathetic portrayals, it is not unusual for individuals and institutions to appropriate these good intentions in order to diffuse racist policies and practices to prove that the U.S. has a liberal and enlightened culture. I argue that these strategies provide the illusion of racial sensitivity while producing covert forms of racism and reinscribing the Arab/Muslim terrorist threat to U.S. national security.