The Muslim Community

Like other ethnic minority groups in America, Arab Americans face daily challenges in their overall development and well-being. These challenges take the form of discrimination, stereotyping, and general negative reactions to them as an ethnic group.

In this tedtalk, Melissa Boigon, who studies Islam and its relationship to the Arab-Israeli conflict, talks about how Islamophobia has become more of a fear of Arabs over the last 10 years. She thinks that has to do with the connotation to terrorists groups such as Al-Qaeda, and the way middle east conflict is portrayed in The United States today. She also discusses how American Entertainment portrays Arabs, saying that it's propaganda in the form of entertainment.

What are Arab Americans? An individual can be classified as “Arab” if the person speaks Arabic, practices Islam, and identifies with the traditions of Arabic-speaking peoples. (Aguirre and Turner 276)These individuals are usually subject to negative and differential treatment by others. It is essential to identify the differential treatment of Arab Americans by others in society. The mistreatment of Arabs in the United States can be contributed to many factors; however, there have been certain events that have occurred in the United States, which have increased and enraged these strong emotional feelings in many Americans. Discrimination and stereotypes of a culture or group mainly develops from a lack of understanding. We can become a

Coming from an Arab American household, there has always been an emphasis on higher education and higher socio economic status. I believe that it is something that can be found in various Arab American Communities in the United States and these standards set in the household show when you look at the statistics as to where Arab Americans stand on both educational and socio economical scales. This paper will look into the history of Arabs in the United States, as well as the demographics of the Arab community in the U.S, and cultural and physiological backings that may all have influence on education. My goal for this research paper is to find the reasons behind the Arab American strive for education and socioeconomic success and whether the Arab culture has a positive or negative influence on the success of Arab Americans.

Arab Americans are defined primarily of their religious identity and they reside in all 50 states. The first generation of immigrants from the Middle East dates back to late 1800s. The majority of immigrants’ population came from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. Religion plays an important role in the Arab society and most of their way of life is not necessary because of their religion. Like many other immigrants, the reason these immigrants migrated to the United States was to escape the religious persecution, an opportunity to build a better life. Majority of how Arabs interact and the way their culture is has to do with the Koran and it is one of the foundations of Islamic law. In the Arab American culture, family is an important aspect and everyone plays their respective role. Fathers are the head of the households and are expected to provide for his wife and children. The women has restrictive education and they help support the family by caring for the house. Kids take on a role are taught by their parents depending on their gender. Boys are most likely to follow the footsteps of the father to prepare to care for his own family one day. The girls learn the basics of running a household. It is common for the children to live with their parents until they marry or live with them to care for them as they age and can no longer care for themselves. The Arab culture also value respecting the elders and they are often the decision makers in the family. The family

9/11 is known as one of the most tragic events in the history of the United States. Since World War II, America had proven its superiority and had become a progressive and powerful country. The occurrence of a terrorism group entering the country, breeching security and killing several thousands of Americans took a toll on almost everyone. Not only was the safety of the public questioned, the nation’s security legitimacy was as well. Since 9/11, many debates on American policy have been sparked. However, not only has this event had an impact on policy in America, it has had a severe impact on the public’s perception of Muslim American’s. It has been fourteen years since the attack in 2001 and Muslim Americans are still facing a terrible bias and being treated with disrespect. The American society has perceived Muslims into a single group that associates them all with terrorism (Bayraktaroglu). This is stereotype leads to a negative public perception.

A diverse community is often only seen in terms of black or white and to an outsider, the Arab community might be viewed as a homogenous population. However, Arab Americans residing in Metro-Detroit trace their roots to over 22 countries, different religious beliefs, and various ethnic ties. Like the ‘melting pot’ or ‘salad bowl’ metaphors that are used to describe America, the Arab community in Metro Detroit has cultivated a mosaic of its own. With Metro Detroit being the largest group of Arabs outside of the Middle East, there is great potential in creating a movement to combat Islamophobia, Arab discrimination as well as have a voice in politics. However, likewise to America, multicultural societies can often derive power dynamics, different

For many Arab American immigrants and their descendant’s it is often difficult to find a balance between adapting to a new culture while retaining their traditional culture. Most Arab

Out of the 318.9 million people that currently occupy The United States of America, more than 41.3 million are immigrants. Even though many have contributed lots to American culture, they are stereotyped and hated on by lots of people. A large portion of people who are victims of this hate are Muslims. They face lots of judgement, stereotyping, and prejudice. In order to rid the modern challenges that Middle Eastern people and Muslims face, America needs to teach one another to promote respect for Muslims and Middle Eastern people, reduce public misconceptions about Middle Eastern culture, and eliminate hate crimes against them.

After several incidents that happened around the world, peoples view on Arabs changed. The media played a big role in “the stereotyping of Arabs”. It is one of the main reasons for people to think the way they are about Arabs. Many

Ever since September 11, 2000 every one’s views of the Arab ethnicity have become bitter. Anyone from the Middle East is assumed to be Arab and assumed to be a terrorist. Neither the Hispanic nor the

Arab Americans have been targets of discrimination long before the 9/11 event happened. If they are immigrants in America, they are seen as bombers or terrorists. And if they are American citizens, they are seen as spies. The way Arabs are portrayed in Hollywood movies have been reflected in the way the government and society as a whole view them. And the way Americans show their discrimination is by rejecting or denying Arabs in all aspects of society which makes it harder for them to succeed. Overall, Arab Americans are seen as dangerous and threatening to Americans. Because they were being harassed all the time, they have a harder time adapting and participating in the American society. All young Americans have a hard time finding

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

To even begin to delve into our topic, we must first define the following terms: Arab, Muslim and Middle East. Millions of the people that fall into these categories live in the United States, yet we hardly take the time to learn to differentiate between them thanks to the negative connotations that are associated with each of these terms (Chin, 2009).

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).