To many people today, Arab immigrants are the latest group of a long list that have come to the United States since it’s’ inception. However, people of Arab origin have been immigrating to the United States since before The Declaration of Independence was penned in 1776, and haven’t really stopped since. There were not many Arab immigrants at this time, however. The first notable “wave” of immigrants was not until the late nineteenth century. Since then, there have been multiple distinct waves, but most often they are categorized into two groups: pre-World War 2, and post-World War 2, as the demographics and ideologies are inherently different. As a result, it may seem quite obvious that their presence in American life as well as their identification in such has changed. However, it would be foolish to state that there is no continuity between several aspects of Arab American life then and today. Because both are present in American politics, we can only measure whether there has been a greater degree of continuity or change within past or present-day Arab-American experiences. There are several aspects to both claims. However, after careful analysis it is clear that there has been a greater degree of change amongst Arab Americans because of the change in how they view themselves as a collective entity.
There are two primary reasons that people of Arab descent immigrated to the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. The first is the prospect of economic gain. Advocates for this theory believe that the Ottoman Empire is largely the reason for the mass emigration of Syrians in the early 1900s. They cite that the organizations that were put in place to help those uprooted by the Lebanese civil conflict, largely le...
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...for their “whiteness” in the court of law numerous times, such as the Costa Najour case. And as a result of decades of fighting, they are regarded as white to this day when categorized, such as the United States Census. According to several modern Arab-American writers, their “whiteness” in the eyes of the law does not mean that they are treated as such. This relates to Toni Morrison’s view of race talk. She defines this as the “explicit insertion into everyday life of racial signs and symbols that have no meaning other than pressing African Americans to the lowest level of the racial hierarchy.” (pg. 2). Although she applies her argument solely to African Americans, it can be stipulated that in some degree, it can be applied to any perceived minority. And as such, when applied to that of Arab Americans, you see the various racial remarks made in everyday speech.
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.
---. “White Man’s Guilt.” 1995 James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 722-727.
Since the 19th century, America became a place where millions of people aspire to immigrate intensively. In order to pursuit a better life, freedom, and equality, people have to leave their hometowns and family, deal with uncertainty. Why were so many people willing to leave their family and go to the United States for pursuing their American Dreams? The most important reason that people chose to immigrate to America was they believed that they had opportunities to earn a better life. No matter how hard they tried, their lives are barely improved. Therefore, people were dissatisfied and despaired with their own countries since their efforts did not pay off. However, reality was cruelly destroying the path to the dream, additionally; people
The period of 1900-1910 saw a mass emigration of Greeks to the United States: as many as 167,000 Greeks may have arrived during that decade (Monos 50). This number represented as much as 25% of the work force in Greece at that time (Monos 50). There were many factors that contributed to this influx of Greek people. As was the case for many groups who have migrated to the United States, economic hardship played a role in determining the Greeks’ place in the mass immigration circa 1900. According to Charles Moskos, “the world of the Greek peasant at the turn of the twentieth century was desperately poor. Simply having enough to eat was a constant concern…” Not only was Greece a harsh land in which to thrive, and while fishing and olive farming were major industries, they did not provide a living for all (Moskos 34). In addition, the heated geo-political impact of the Ottoman invasion of the entire Greek-speaking world caused many to flee to safer lands. Greeks faced the usurpation of their land and annihilation of many of their people at the hands of the Ottomans of Tur...
Following the 1890’s, the world began to undergo the first stages of globalization. Countries and peoples, who, until now, were barely connected, now found themselves neighbors in a planet vastly resembling a global village. Despite the idealized image of camaraderie and brotherhood this may seem to suggest, the reality was only discrimination and distrust. Immigration to new lands became a far more difficult affair, as emigrants from different nations came to be viewed as increasingly foreign. In the white-dominated society of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the only way to truly count oneself as American was to become “white”. For this reason, the idea of race, a socially constructed issue with no real physical basis, has become one of the most defining factors which shape immigration and assimilation in the United States.
In 1983, Toni Morrison published the only short story she would ever create. The controversial story conveys an important idea of what race is and if it really matter in the scheme of life. This story takes place during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. The idea of civil rights was encouraged by the government but not enforced by the states, leaving many black Americans suffering every day. In Morrison’s short story Recitatif, Morrison manipulates the story’s diction to describe the two women’s races interchangeably resulting in the confusion of the reader. Because Morrison never establishes the “black character” or the “white character”, the reader is left guessing the race of the two main characters throughout the whole story. Morrison also uses the character’s actions and dialogue during the friend’s meetings to prove the theme of equality between races.
“To say pan-Arabism is ‘dead’ would be inaccurate- because it was never ‘alive,’ in any meaningful sense, in the first place.” Assess viewpoints for and against this argument, with special reference to at least one appropriate country.
White privilege is institutionalized when the practices and policies of an institution systematically benefit whites at the expense of other racial groups. Peggy McIntosh published an article entitled “White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack”, which names in very clear ways, how everyday, having white skin confers privileges that white people don’t often realize they receive. By illuminating the many forms that white privilege takes, Peggy McIntosh urges readers to exercise a sociological imagination. She asks us to consider how our individual life experiences are connected to and situated within large-scale patterns and trends in society. She includes a “white privileges” checklist which include answering yes or no to statements. For example, can Chad Aiken confidently say “I can be pulled over by a police cruiser and not have to worry about it being about my race”, or “I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the “person in charge”, I will be facing a person of my race”. White people are generally free from this systemic bias, suspicion and low expectations that racialized people must endure everyday because it is built into our culture. When a criminal has white skin, his actions are never connected to his race, while a criminal perceived as a brown-skinned Muslim might inspire hatred and suspicion of other
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
Since the creation of the United States of America, immigrants from all backgrounds have sought refuge, a home and a life in this country of prosperity and opportunity. The opportunity of freedom to exercise natural rights is a large pull factor that causes many people to come to America. Others come because it is a country where one can prosper. Prosperity of people in a country, however, is a more challenging phenomenon to explain than opportunity. Immigrants seek economic, social and educational as well as cultural prosperity. The question of how to gain such prosperity is a difficult one to answer. Some immigrants come to America, cast off their past identity and attempt to find a new, less foreign one. By assimilating to American culture with this new identity, they start a long and treacherous journey to seek prosperity in a land vastly different from the one they once called home. Many will gain educational, economic and social prosperity, but never gain cultural prosperity. Assimilating to American culture so hastily, some immigrants are never able to explore and keep up with their cultural backgrounds. Their families grow up and became Americans, never cognizant of their given up ethnic identities. Those immigrants, however, who are able to gain cultural prosperity through the help of other immigrants of their respective background, become integrated into American society while keeping their ethnic identity. This is the sort of opportunity that the United States of America has provided new arrivals since its founding. Although many immigrants become overwhelmed with American culture and assimilate into it, those who contribute to a working ethnic society are able to dela...
Considering that the Syrians are seeking an escape from the same exact thing that Americans are, why have they not been accepted into America? Like many of the 70,000 refugees who are accepted into the United States every year, Syrian refugees search for shelter from wars and hope for a prosperous future (Welsh 1). Teresa Welsh, a writer for the “U.S. News and World Report”, describes in her article “Why the U.S. Can’t Resettle Syrian Refugees” that “the U.S. should be doing more to help resettle those fleeing conflict and repressive governments in the Middle East and Asia” (Welsh 1). The Syrians desire escape from a repressive government with no chance of rebuilding a better future; therefore, they seek support from outside countries, like the United States and other European countries. Observations made by International and Scholar Service Students at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis have found that two of America’s values include “Equality” and “Goodness of Humanity” (“Key American Values”).
Arab is not a race, but is a group of individuals that are united by their culture and history (ADC, 2014). There are many different variations commonly based on a particular individual’s country of origin such as Arab Americans. Other variations are based on their social class, the level of their education, if they live urbanely or rurally, or the time they have spent in the United States (Lipson & Dubble, 2007). Most Arabs also practice Islamic religion and are Muslim. When working with an Arab or Muslim client, nurses should ask what the client wishes to be referred to so as not to offend them in any way (Lipson & Dubble, 2007).
F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.