Arab American Ethnicity: Privilege of Yesterday becomes a Problem Today

We all fit within some race and ethnic classification and from time to time are asked to complete forms where we indicate which race and ethnic classification we belong to, though on a voluntary basis.  These race and ethnic classifications include American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White.  These classifications are not straightforward and one cannot easily figure out whether they are based on geographical locations of people’s origin, the color of their skin or the language of their countries of origin.  Before this course, I did not have much understanding of these classifications. I knew this much that Arab Americans are classified as “white,” but certainly did not know the rationale or logic behind it. By looking a little deeper into it, I realized that the race and ethnic classification “white” includes “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East “(White House Office of Management and Budge). Thus, it is quite apparent the race and ethic classification of “white” is not purely based on the skin color of people.

Privilege of Yesterday

The “white” race and ethnic classification of Arab Americans was a privilege to them and it gave them a feeling of equality that in America they are classified no differently than the majority of the population and probably they were in a better standing compared to other minorities in the country. During the first wave of immigration from 1880s through1920s, people of Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian, and Palestinian origins, when they came to Unites States, fought to be classified as Caucasians in order to gain citizenship in this country. Contrary to the common belief, majority of these immigrants were of Christian faith. The immigration to the United States was restricted during the time period between the World War I and World War II.  There was a second wave of immigration of Arabs after World War II.  In the 1940s and 1950s, they enjoyed a close proximity to whiteness and religious background and were seen as the “model minority.” They were able to quickly assimilate in the American mainstream culture.

The feeling of many Arabs who immigrated in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, was “We were not seen as terrorists or whatever people think about Arab. Most people didn’t know what Arab or Palestine was” (Naber, 35). There are still many in the United States who do not know that General John Abizaid, former Commander of the U.S. Central Command, George Mitchell, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, and current U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, and recently retired U.S. Congressman Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia, are prominent and distinguished Americans of Arab heritage. Ralph Nader, a politician who has run for U.S. President several times, is an Arab American as well.  This sense of acceptance by the American mainstream lasted until the 1980s, extending to some extent to 1990s.

Problem Today

 The time period of 1960s to the 1980s was the transition period when the image of Arab Americans shifted from “model minority” to “problem minority.” There were lots of factors that contributed to this shift and they were related more to global events than the problems here at home.  Global crises included the 1967 Arab-Israel War, the 1970 US-Arab Oil Crisis, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the 1979 -1980 Iranian Hostage crisis, and the 1991 Gulf War. These global conflicts made Arab Americans perceived by the United States government and the media as a potential threat to the economy and the national security. Hollywood played a major role in the negative stereotype of the Arab Americans. For example, in the famous movie “Back to the Future,” which had nothing to do with Arabs or the Middle East, Arabs were portrayed as terrorists killing the main character of the movie.  Makers of the movie probably thought that portraying Arabs as terrorists would be more believable to the American public.

In the aftermath of the tragedy of 9/11, Arab Americans were even more isolated from the mainstream society. During these years, Arab Americans regardless whether they were Christians or Muslims, were painted with a wide brush as terrorists. Arabs American constantly have to question their identity and are forced to confront the issue of what constitutes as being white. These challenging times made them think whether their “white” race and ethnicity was helping them or hurting them. A population of the Arab Americans thought that they might receive better protection under law against discrimination and hate crimes if they have a separate race and ethnic classification for them as Arabs or Middle Easterners. On the other hand, there is a population of Arab Americans who wishes to retain their “white” race and ethnic classification. Their reasoning is that being classified as Arabs or Middle Easterners could further remove them from the American mainstream. They would probably experience more discrimination, including housing, employment, and education.

Racism within the Arab American Community

Currently, there is an effort by some Arab Americans to connect the discrimination against Arab Americans with the discrimination against African Americans arguing that they are being discriminated the same way as African Americans have been discriminated for more than a century. This has become particularly apparent in the aftermath of the tragedies in Ferguson, New York City, and Baltimore where unarmed African Americans were fatally shot or strangled by law reinforcement resulting in lots of unrest in the country. The Arab American community seems to be divided on this issue. One group feels that by making this connection, probably they can get the same national attention as African American community has received. On the other hand, another group of Arab American community feels that this approach is opportunistic. Their argument is why this connection is being made today, why it was not made 50 years ago when the Arab Americans were enjoying the privilege of being classified as “white.”

Within the Arab American community, there has been a culture of “anti-blackness”.  This can be attributed to the classification of Arab Americans as “white.” They are accused of being no less discriminatory than the normally accused majority white population. They are often quoted using derogatory terms for fellow Arab American who do not have a light skin color or do not come from a particular region of the Arab World. As a result, many Arab Americans fail to see the intersection of Arab Americans and African Americans.

Kwame Rose, an African-American speaker at the “The Crossroad of Ferguson to Palestine” Panel at the 2015 Anti-Arab American Discrimination Committee (ADC) Convention, discussed the discrimination he personally experienced at the convention. Rose recalled that while attending a panel discussion, someone asked him why he was attending the convention, since he didn’t fit the image of an “Arab American.” The moderator at the panel also openly admitted that several ADC members may not have come to the panel since they dislike the conversation of the intersectionality of Arab Americans and African Americans.

African Muslims around the world, including Britain, also face discrimination within the Arab and Muslim community. In the video, “Black and Muslim: Double Jeopardy,” African British Muslim converts were interviewed. It discusses how Muslims converts, and especially Black Muslims converts are perceived as, sadly, inferior compared to other Muslims immigrants, including those from the Middle East. An interviewee, stated “When I first came to Islam, I was under the impression, I would feel accepted and feel loved and that I would have a sense of achievement of something in my life that I was missing. I realized once I went into the [Muslim] community, that really wasn’t the case”.  Much of the racism occurs at mosque, where, intentionally or unintentionally, different ethnic communities tend to self-segregate. Another interviewee, discussed how he would never bring his children to the mosque to experience such prejudice. Most of the time, people may not be aware of what they are saying or doing is racially offensive, however, this cannot be an excuse. How someone, an individual or community, can cry for help against discrimination by others when they themselves are doing exactly the same.

Summary

Racism, discrimination, and hate crimes are a dark spot on the face of our civilized society of today. These are painful illegal and criminal acts with consequences that have long lasting effects on individuals and communities. In this civilized society no one, including Arab Americans, should be subjected to a differential treatment based on their race and ethnicity. The race and ethnic classification of a particular community should not become a matter of privilege or problem for them. The purpose of race and ethnic classification should be limited to statistical data in determining the demographic characteristic of a population, nothing more than that. The classification of Arab Americans should be based on rationale and logic which applies to other race and ethnic groups. It is difficult to understand the rationale and logic in the current “white” race and ethnic classification of Arab Americans. The discrimination against Arab Americans is unfortunate and shameful. However, it is equally unfortunate and shameful when Arab Americans discriminate people in their own communities based on the color of their skin or region of the Arab World from where they come.