Sometimes the best way to begin a discourse over a large and rather unknown subject such as Arab Culture and Identity is simply to begin with what is most personal and compelling. For myself, the image of Arabs in the United States in particular, and in the west in general, is both very personal and compelling a subject. As an Arab-American, it has always troubled me that while many ethnic groups in America have been celebrated and recognized for their uniqueness, the Arab culture and the Arab people remain one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented cultural groups. Even more troubling is that the little that is known about Arabs is most often stereotypical and negative. Indeed, ask virtually any Arab-American if she or he feels that non-Arabs are generally knowledgeable about their heritage and the answer would be the same across the country. Again and again the response would be a disappointing no.
Sadly, our educational system, television shows, movies, and the media all show evidence of this unawareness and misrepresentation. The negative images of Arabs are many. The positive images are few. Arabs have been stereotyped as everything from filthy rich billionaire sheiks and desert nomads, to half naked belly dancers and veiled women. The contradiction in images here would be humorous if they did not disturb me by the fact that they sometimes seem to be permanently etched images in the minds of many people. How this general lack of knowledge of Arabs came about is certainly an important question. However, what is most important to me is the consequence of this unfair representation of Arabs, and the recognition that there must be a serious effort to change it.
There are about 3-4 million Arabs living in the United States. Sixty-three percent of those were born in the United States. Many Arab families were in America as early as 1890. While Arab cultural awareness is important to all Arabs in the United States, it is perhaps most important to those of us who were born and/or raised in the United States. Growing up in this multi-cultural American society, we were encouraged, to some extent, to appreciate the rich ethnic diversity of America. In our classrooms, and in our local communities we celebrate the many and diverse cultures that have come together to live in one nation. Yet in our lessons, in our classroom activities on culture, and in our text books we find again and again that Arabs are either absent or so poorly portrayed that we seem to move between a state of invisibleness, and a feeling of shame in our cultural heritage. Essentially, we miss out on the high cultural self-esteem that many others have about their heritage. Not surprisingly, many Arab-Americans often feel that they have been robbed of the respect and cultural pride that any ethnic group in this multicultural society of America has a right to, and they are left with an important and yet unmet need to be recognized and valued.
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