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Arab Americans have a rich history in the United States

By Steven Salaita

With the recent month-long celebration of Ramadan, Americans had an opportunity to learn more about their Arab compatriots. In Madison, numerous intercultural discussions occurred during the holiday, with many Christians eager to learn more about Ramadan and its culture and with just as many Arab Americans eager to provide information.  

Yet Ramadan is only one component of Middle Eastern culture in the United States.  Most Muslims are not Arab (Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world), and approximately half of Arab Americans are Christian, represented by a variety of denominations: Orthodox, Maronite, Coptic, Episcopalian, and Evangelical. Other Arab Americans are Druze, Shiite, Alawite, Sufi, and Bahai. Some Jews of Middle Eastern origin, including the writers Ella Shohat and Ahnisa Timoteo Bodhran, quite rightly consider themselves Arab American. A few Arab Americans keep it simple by self-identifying as atheists or secular humanists.  

Islam, however, is the cultural and political institution most often associated with Arab Americans, and for good reason. It is a complex religion with a brilliant history of spiritual veneration and social achievement. Muslim Arab Americans are proud of their Islamic heritage but have almost universally modified that heritage to better fit the cultural norms of the United States, a difficult undertaking for which they often receive too little credit.  

Arab Americans of all faiths also have an important lesson for people around the globe:  Despite the differences in our places of worship, we have created a remarkable unity of spirit and purpose that transcends difference by focusing relentlessly on similarity, a form of soul-searching that is badly needed in the world today. This unity is possible because Arab Americans belong to a community with a distinct history and specific cultural practices, some nearly identical to those of other ethnic minorities and some unique, based on our Middle Eastern heritage.  

It is important, however, to point out the great diversity among Arab Americans, because we are often reduced to stereotypes in the United States. One of those stereotypes is that we are all potential terrorists because of Islam. Another favorite stereotype is that women in our culture are hopelessly oppressed. These stereotypes played a large role in this year’s elections, as both George W. Bush and Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Tim Michels ran TV commercials depicting Arabs as threats to innocent Americans.  

One of the most difficult aspects of being Arab American is repeatedly facing stereotypes that are considered acceptable or even responsible ways to describe folks in our community. This stereotyping has by and large justified controversial legislation such as the USA Patriot Act, which affects all communities of color in the United States but particularly Arab Americans, thousands of whom have languished in prisons across the country with no charges ever brought against them.  

In this sense, it is important for all Americans to learn more about their Arab compatriots, because those Arab compatriots now play a crucial role in American politics by being invoked unfairly as a constant threat to the well-being of “real” Americans. The best way to learn about the Arab American community is to meet individuals at Ramadan celebrations and other cultural events, at political gatherings, and in Madison’s multicultural social environs.  

Arab Americans have a rich history in the United States. Arabs began arriving in North America in the second half of the 19th century, largely from Syria (which then included what is now Lebanon), gaining employment mainly as nomadic peddlers and factory workers. Today, we number anywhere from 3.5 to 6 million and work in every sector of the American economy.  

Our community is represented by over 20 national origins in both Africa and Asia and by countless religious and political affiliations. The Arabic language is increasingly spoken in Arab American households, and numerous Arab American youth travel to the Middle East every year to learn more about their heritage. All Americans, though, speak at least a little Arabic every day, usually without even knowing it: Among the many English words with Arabic origin are “sofa,” “sugar,” “algebra,” “candy,” “magazine,” “sash,” “sherbet,” “almanac,” “apricot,” “mummy,” “cotton,” “assassin,” and, a favorite among college students, “alcohol.” Anybody who has ever won a chess game has spoken Arabic. The word “checkmate” is derived from the Arabic shah mat, which means “The king is dead.”  

Perhaps the greatest source of pride in the Arab American community is our remarkably versatile and delicious cuisine, which has become popular in health-conscious Madison. The Middle Eastern foods that have become staples of countless Madisonian diets include tabbouleh, hummus, cous-cous, emtabal (baba ganoush), and kabobs. The coffee most Americans drink in the morning is an Ethiopian and Arab gift to the world. The bean was first cultivated by Ethiopians and roasted by Arab traders.  

Most Americans also don’t know that numerous celebrities and luminaries are of Arab origin: “The Exorcist” author William Peter Blatty, presidential candidate Ralph Nader, musician Frank Zappa, journalist Helen Thomas, comedian Danny Thomas, actor Jamie Farr, astronaut Candy Lightner, radio host Casey Kasem, literary critic Edward Said, Nobel recipient Ahmed Zewail, designer Joseph Abboud, chess grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, filmmaker Moustapha Akkad, and architect Zaha Hadid.  

Arab Americans, in short, are anything but oblique threats to national security. In fact, we have contributed greatly to the diversity that makes the United States so wonderful and unique. Chances are, you are familiar with countless Arab Americans and Middle Eastern cultural traditions. You just don’t know it, because stereotype all too often supersedes our everyday humanity.  

Steven Salaita is assistant professor of multicultural literatures at UW-Whitewater.