The Arab Minority in America
Arab American is a long and proud history. Arab
Americans have made significant contributions to society. They are
doctors, lawyers, and educators to name just a few. What I’ll be
discussing will be not only their contributions to society, but their
stereotypes as well.
To start off, Arab Americans have been assimilated into
the American culture and society over the past hundred plus years.
During this time there has been general loss of their historical culture.
As generations continue to thrive, it was noticed that Arab Americans
was losing touch with their past. An idea was formed ten years ago to
create a cultural center where Arab Americans could go to study their
heritage. These studies would include language and many other
aspects of the Arab culture. The hardest part of this venture would be
funding.
Through years of fundraising, lobbying on capital hill and donations,
the Arab American cultural center will become a reality in Houston
Texas. When the cultural center opens in 2001, it will be the
culmination of many hard years of work and sacrifice to give Arab
Americans a way to reflect on their past, present and future.
Arab Americans have been stereotyped for
many, many years and are still undergoing the same treatment. In
movies they are depicted as terrorists. In society as a whole they are
seen as cab drivers and convenience store clerks (7-eleven). While
Arab Americans do occupy some of these positions, so do whites and
blacks. It is unfair to depict them in such an negative aspect because
their contributions are much greater to society as a whole. Another
stereotype is linking all Arab Americans to terrorist activities. Only
.1% of Arab Americans has been linked with their counterparts in
Southeast Asia. This is yet another typical yet unfair stereotype. Arab
Americans are also thought of as being a large population in the prison
system. This is the worst stereotype of them all. Arab Americans
make up only 2 percent of the overall prison population in the United
States. I think this could stem from the older generation of Arab
Americans pasting down their customs of what was done to thieves in
Has the New York Times negatively stereotyped Arab Muslims for the past forty years? The goal of this research project is to reveal the negative stereotypes directed towards Arab Muslims in the New York Times. The critical focus of the research is the consistency of the negative stereotypes. The underlying focus is what theoretical and historical effects result from the negative stereotypes.
... another post 9/11. Furthermore, through both Amaney Jamal excerpt Civil Liberties and the Otherization of Arab and Muslim Americans (chapter four), and Nadine Naber excerpt Arab Americans and U.S. Racial Formations (Introduction), we see just how this clash came about pre and post 9/11. That while the aftermath of 9/11 saw the rise in the racialization of Muslim and Arab Americans, we must not forget that these groups of people were not so much invisible due to the fact that America (i.e. “dominant mainstream” (Jamal 119)) has always viewed those they deem as “other” (i.e. minority) as inferior. Due to this framework, they have racialized any group of people that are not considered American as “other.” However (as stated) following an event like 9/11, the racialization of Muslims and Arabs Americans became perpetuated more so; and at an even more dangerous level.
Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...
Through our readings of the Mexicans in the U.S. and the African-American experience modules, we begin to understand the formation of identity through the hardships minorities faced from discrimination. In this paper, I am going to compare and contrast the ideas of identity shown through the readings. These two modules exemplify the theme of identity. We see how Blacks and Latinos tried to find their identity both personally and as a culture through the forced lifestyles they had to live.
" Do any of us ever choose the life we live?" A question many people may spend hours answering. Truth be told, no we do not. When we all are born, we don't choose who our parents will be, where will we be born, in what class will we live in, how will we look like, and when in time will we be living. All these things are faith and destiny that God has picked for us. The only things that we have control over are choosing where we end up as individuals. Something that confuses me sometimes is even though we never picked the beginning of our lives, we still get discriminated or in other words ranked. One of the stories I recently read was about how a man was discriminated differently in his life as society was evolving around him. The story was called "Khlalah SEL," by an Emirati writer by the name of Abd Al-Hameed Ahmad. In this analytical essay, I will be explaining how this man by the name of "Khlalah" was discriminated and how he deals with it.
Jack Shaheen’s essay “The Media’s Image of Arabs” explains how the media has birthed false images of Arabs. The media continues to maintain stereotypes of Arabs. The majority of Arab characters shown on the television are rarely shown as victims or ordinary people (Shaheen 85). If America were a melting pot, it would show diversity in a positive way. There would be more acceptance of Middle Eastern immigrants and their descendants. Likewise, Americans would be more accepting of all cultures that inhabit America. As a melting pot, the numerous cultures, races and individuals of America should blend together as a whole (Merriam-Webster). Though, America today is not blended. Americans as a group are not a whole, but they are made up of different groups sectioned off by invisible boundaries. In order for America to be the “melting pot” it is claimed to be, Ameri...
Many Muslim immigrants came to the United States of American as slaves from Africa during the 1500’s. Free Muslim immigrants started to arrive to the USA as early as the 16th century, more of them started to migrate to the United State after the Civil War. Many Muslims used refuge and education as an excuse to come to the United States and start a new life. The fact that dictators dominate most of the Muslim territories usually means that there are persecutions, violence, poverty and even wars. These events caused most of the Muslims to seek happiness and peace in the new world: United States. Education was also one of the reasons why Muslims decided to come to the United States. The universities, economic status, and political freedom that America had to offer attracted more than half a million foreign students. By 1965 there was about 150,000 Muslims that lived in the United States.
The Arab American community The Arab American community has a population of about 1.8 million Arab descendants or immigrants that has been residing in the US since 1980, they are coming from different parts of the Middle east such as Sudan,Syria,Irak, Morocco, Jordania, Palestine, Somalia, Egypt and Lebano. They began to arrive in Michigan after Detroit in 1967, today is a huge the Arabic American is a huge community in that area of Michigan, They tend to maintain their culture and characterize as being a united community. They are financial support each other through community and religious organizations, they share their resources with other family or community members, here in the Middle East as well, helping their relatives that’s staying in their country to buy land and build houses and establish agricultural business. The Arabic community tends to naturalize as American Citizens, getting involved in the political activity that makes them one of the cultures that enhance in the assimilation process.
The United States of America: once a small colony, now one of the world’s most powerful nations; a nation that has been fraught with wars, protests and continuous conflicts between religion and state. This essay will investigate the relationship between the religion and state, discuss the states declaration’s about this relationship and the practice of these declarations. Americans, after the September 11 attacks, have marginalised the Muslim community, which is largely due to their Christian origins and misinterpretations of Islam.
Students attending American schools are taught clearly about the United States’ image as a melting pot; however, there is evidence to support that, while there is not an official federal stance on the matter (Sengupta), the amount of assimilation required to be legitimately considered a “melting pot” is not being reached. Although similar, there is often confusion about the differences between “multicultural” and “assimilated” communities. By definition, assimilation is the complete “merging of cultural traits from previously distinct culture groups” (Dictionary), while multiculturalism is delineated as the “preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation” (Dictionary). Early to mid-1900’s America entertained the idea of a melting pot, where people from all parts of the world would join together and assimilate. It seems, however, that the growing trend has been to treat America as more of a “salad bowl” (Porter), in that people are joining together but instead of merging as one unit, are maintaining a majority, if not all, of their primary culture with little attempt to adapt. This underachievement has left America to unintentionally become a multicultural society. The clear differentiation between expectation and reality brings vast amounts of controversy among the nation’s people.
Joyce, James. "Araby." 1914. Literature and Ourselves. Henderson, Gloria, ed. Boston, Longman Press. 2009. 984-988.
Since the country’s beginning, race, gender, and class have been very important factors in a person’s experience in the United States of America. The meaning of race, gender differences, and the separation of class have changed over United States history. For many Americans, their perceptions of class and race and the degree to which gender affect people’s lives, often depends on what their race, gender, and class are, too. There are differences between the reality of America, what is represented as American reality in media, and the perceived reality of America. Americans as well as those looking at America from an outside perspective may have questions and confusions regarding what the real connections are to race, class, and gender are in America. The paper tries to clarify and explore how these issues connect and play out in real life.
The Arab world consists of twenty-two countries encompassing all of North Africa and much of the Middle East. The Arab people number over 360 million and while they share a common language, there is a surprising degree of diversity among them, whether in terms of nationality, culture, religion, economics, or politics. (McCaffrey, 3) Most inhabitants of the Ar...
First off, we should decide what a “minority group” is. In North America, Arabs or Muslims, African – Americans, and Indians or Sikhs and Hindus and even Asians are some of the more common minority groups you will come in contact with. Based on a study on ethnic minorities, it was found that “This study explored the impact of income status (low-income vs. non-low-income) on family functioning, social support, and quality of life in a community sample of 125 families. The sample identified themselves as 17% Black or African American, 7% Latino, 4% Asian, and 66% White.” (Mansfield, 2013) It seems as though since these minorities used to be so uncommon, that they are now the norm because of how much they have migrated, immigrated or even re-populated other countries than their own. These minority groups used to be so uncommon and misunderstood, that they have in a sense, been forced to be open and understand each other’s racial and cultural differences. When a...
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).