Some Common Stereotypes
• All Arabs are Muslim and vice versa.
• The Middle East is just one huge desert where people ride on camels and wear turbans all day.
• All Arabs support and join in on terrorism within the Middle East.
• All Muslims hate non-believers.
• Islam is a violent religion.
• All Arab Americans are faithful only to their homeland.
The Facts
• Not all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, of the 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide, a majority live in Indonesia and Pakistan, neither of which are Arab countries.
• Not all Arabs are Muslim. According to the PBS website Global Connections, some countries in the Middle East have a considerable amount of Christianity within, such as Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon. Within these countries, more than 1 in 4 are not of Muslim faith.
• The Middle East is not one big desert as popularly portrayed through the media. Urban areas have flourished throughout the Middle East, and while the climate is desert-like in many areas, it varies greatly across the entire Middle East. Cities like Dubai and Cairo have grown into metropolises and leaders of the Arab world.
• Islam is a peaceful religion. The word it self is derived from “al-silm” meaning surrender or submission. The Qur’an teaches nonviolence, but throughout history many political and terrorist groups have twisted the meanings and used out-of-context citations to justify actions.
• Many Arabs do not condone the actions of terrorist organizations. Religious leaders preach peace and most do not support the violence going on throughout the region.
• The word terrorism is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the use of violent or destructive acts especially as a means of coercion.” By this definition, not all terrorism is simply committed by Arabs, but throughout the world. Acts of terror have reigned free for centuries, now is no different.
• According to the PBS website Caught in the Crossfire, over 3 million Arab Americans currently reside in the United States, most of whom are native born Americans. Over 90% live in urban areas, most live in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Washington DC.
• Arab Americans have been immigrating to this country since the 19th century, in fact most currently within the country are 3rd and 4th generation Arabs. Some speak Arabic, but many do not. Loyalties lie towards both countries, the country of their ancestors and the United States.
• Nearly 82% of Arab Americans are U.S. citizens.
• As indicated on the Arab American Institute website Demographics, only 24% of Arab Americans are Muslim, while the majority are Christian.
• A disproportionate amount of Arabs and Arab Americans have been affected by airline regulations and passenger profiling, some taken off planes and restricted from boarding based solely on their ethnicity, as shown on Caught in the Crossfire. Such incidents include restriction of a Secret Service agent of Arab decent barred from boarding by the pilot without sufficient cause or reason.
The Experience
There is no understanding a problem until you have lived it yourself. After countless conversations with others and reflection on personal experiences of my own, I can tell you that this is something worth fighting for. Racism has happened to the past, affecting nearly everyone at one point in time in another, now it seems it is ours as Arab Americans.
An interview with a friend of mine, Dania Korkor, has shown me that I honestly don't truly know the whole story, and even those most involved need to do the research to understand what is going on. You might think you know it all, but you haven't seen anything yet. So go do the research, learn what there is to learn, and challenge what you think you already know. Never take what you get at face value, see things from every angle. Once you've learned the secrets, spread the word.
The History
Labels and stereotypes have polluted the minds and beliefs of thousands. "Terrorists" and "Islamofascists" have eliminated all details and have become the simplified title for any and all persons coming from the Middle East. Acts of terror have been committed across the world for centuries. It is nothing new to our world, simply the title has changed. Singling out one ethnicity and setting upon them the blame of a situation where nearly all are at fault has proven fatal in the past, and may prove that way again.
Look at our past situation with Germany during World War I and II. The Treaty of Versailles effectively ended WWI, but placed an immense burden of blame upon Germany. This, of course, simply made a bad situation worse and caused the people of Germany to soon stand up against the authority of the American and British powers, causing one of the biggest disasters of the 20th century, the Holocaust.
The world cannot afford to have another Holocaust on our hands. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We have a new age dawning upon us, the 21st century. Lets learn the mistakes of those before us in order to ensure that we see the error in their actions and do not perform them ourselves. Educate yourself with the facts and then spread the word.