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arab_americans.docxArab Americans: Stereotypes, Con ict, History,
Cultural Identity and Post 9/11
Gaby Semaan University of Toledo, USA
Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of published scholarly and academic research on Arab Americans. It groups the research into four main categories based on the focus and provides background information about the methodology. It also looks into the circumstances and history that made this diaspora group visible in the United States. Supplying the groundwork for future research on this ethnic group, this paper attempts to provide scholars and researchers who are interested in Arab Americans an overview of previous research and to accent the need for more work about this understudied minority group. The paper also suggests certain directions and areas of interest for future research of Arab American identity and factors that in uence them.
Keywords: Arab, Arab American, Arab Diaspora, minorities in the US, stereotyping Arab Americans
1. Introduction
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the scholarly research about the Arab diaspora in the United States. While research about Arab Americans can be traced back to 1923, scholars increased their attention to this minority during the last half of the past century with a steady ow to the present. The research can be grouped into four main categories: the rst widely studied topic is their stereotyped image in the Western media. The second topic area concerns the Palestinian-Israeli con ict. The third category is the history and cultural identity of Arab Americans, and the fourth section examines some major surveys and other studies that focus on the implications of the 9/11/01 attacks against the United States. While these four categories are not mutually exclusive, they do correspond to the major trends in the research. A nal concluding section will identify some of the most recent developments and project some prospects for future study.
2. The Stereotyped Image
Much of the research about Arab Americans has examined the stereotyped image of Arabs in the American and Western media. Shaheen (1983) presented how the American media’s ugly and negative stereotypes of Arabs accompany a child from his early years to graduating from college. Through “editorial cartoons, television shows, comic strips, comic books, college and school textbooks, novels, magazines, newspapers and in novelty merchandise” (p. 328), Arabs were dehumanized and presented as the “bad guys.”
Focusing on this stereotyped image of Arabs in American media, Suleiman (1988) addressed different aspects of this stereotyping and presented a longitudinal study of American press coverage of the 1956, 1967, and 1973 Arab Israeli con icts and showed how the negatively stereotyped Arab was used as a weapon in the American media in favor of Israel. Zaharana (1995) examined the portrayal of the Palestinians in Time newsmagazine from 1948 to 1993; this research showed that the Palestinian image went through total transformation from invisibility to high visibility after the signing of the Israeli-PLO Accord in 1993. Hashem (1995) did a content analysis of news articles published in Newsweek and Time magazines between January 1990 and December 1993. Hashem’s analysis showed that most of the time Arabs were portrayed as lacking democracy, unity, and modernity in addition to having a heritage of defeat and fundamentalism. However, he found some coverage to re ect certain realities and fewer stereotypes when portraying Arabs.
Mousa (2000) recapitulated a few studies that dealt with the Arab image in the West and outlined a “spill over” of the stereotyped image of Arabs and Muslims from the pre-1948 European press to the American press and media. Kamalipour (2000) mentioned the speed with which American authorities and media accused Arabs and Middle Easterners of responsibility for attacks against American targets. For example, he mentioned the accusation of Arabs in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the crash of a TWA Boeing 747 in 1996, and the 1996 bombing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Arabs had no connection to any of these events, but the media did not bother to report the lack of connection nor tried to undo the harm they had already done to the image of Arabs in the American citizens’ minds.
In addition to the above research of the verbal aspect o print media, Wilkins (1995) did a qualitative and quantitative analysis of photographs published in the New York Times between July 1991 and June 1993. The author concluded that the images of Middle Eastern women during the period under study, constructed these women as passive, distant and impersonal.
Scholars have also studied this stereotyped image in editorial cartoons and comic strips. Lendenman (1983) presented how the political cartoons in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Baltimore Sun, The Miami News, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Syracuse Herald-Journal have depicted Arabs in a negative way, even portraying the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as “rodents, cockroaches and other detestable animals” (p. 353). Palmer (1995) produced a comprehensive review of the political cartoons published in the Washington Post during and following the 1956, 1967, and 1973 wars and following the 1988 Palestinian ‘Intifada’ in addition to the period prior to the rst Gulf War. All the political cartoons he studied depicted Arabs negatively.
3. The Arab Israeli Con ict and the Palestinian Issue
The Arab Israeli con ict provided a fertile eld for research. Many researchers were interested in the U.S. media coverage of the wars that erupted between Israel and different Arab nations. Terry (1975) conducted a content analysis of three U.S and two European newspapers
before, during, and after the 1973 Israeli Arab war. Among her ndings, Terry noted that there was a slight increase in neutral coverage of the war in comparison to that of 1967, however, the “editorial coverage of the war and its aftermath tended to favor the Israeli position” (p. 8) but “there were some pro-Arab editorials” (p. 8). In addition, one of her notable ndings was the tripling of the number of editorials on oil following the war and the oil embargo.
In harmony with Terry’s nding, Suleiman (1975) compared media reports about the Middle East in the 1973 war to those of 1967 and concluded that there was a shift toward a more neutral reporting in 1973. However, he mentioned that criticizing Israel remained a taboo
and that “the media themselves ...have been a principal agent for propagating myths about the Middle East” (p. 37). Similarly, McClaure (1975) addressed the slight shift towards an American awakening regarding Arabs and their images. Touching on the Arab-Israeli con ict, the oil issue, and the U.S. economic situation in 1974, he asserted the need for the American people to better understand the nature of the Arab Israeli con ict, and he stated his belief that the “American awakening” is a reality despite the “misrepresentations [of Arabs], particularly, within the news media” (p. 239).
Along the same line, Samo (1975) presented a case study of the coverage of the Arab- Israeli con ict by the Kalb brothers. He exposed the reporters’ pro-Israeli and anti-Arab bias. Similarly, Farsoun, Farsoun, and Jay (1975) conducted a content analysis of the publications of “self-de ned leftist” (p. 54) organizations in the U.S. and concluded that these organizations view the con ict in the Middle East as an outcome of the imperialist penetration to the area and Zionism as a product of capitalism and imperialism.
In 1983, McDavid published a study about the American press coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and stated that it did not accurately show the Israeli aggression. McDavid saw the images the U.S. press presented of the Israelis as humanitarians while covering up the Palestinian and Lebanese civilian casualties. He stated that the Canadian and French media coverage offered more realistic pictures of the invasion and Israeli practices against civilians.
4. Historical Overview and Cultural Identity
The historical perspective and cultural identity of Arab Americans were interwoven topics for researchers. As early as 1923, about 50 years after the rst documented Arab immigrant came to the United States, Hitti (1923) provided the estimated number of Syrian immigrants and their offspring to be about 200,000, most of whom were Christians. Hitti also provided a historical overview of the social, economic, and geographical characteristics of Syria and Syrians, as Arab Americans were referred to at that time. He stated that individuals are more inclined toward a “local mind” than “social one” and lean toward a patriotism that takes the form of love for family, sect, and geography of homeland. He also talked about leadership, education, culture, religion, and language. Then, he addressed the background and causes of the early Syrian immigration to the United States, which, as Hitti reasoned, seem to be a mixture of economic, political, and social factors.
As for their organizations, the author noted that Syrians were almost absent from the political scene, except for one attempt of a Syrian who ran for a senatorial position as a Republican in New York but was defeated. However, Hitti brings out the ignorance of the American public about this group of immigrants and the public’s undue bigotry toward them. He asserted, “even at present [in 1923] the colossal ignorance and prejudice, on the part of some, is amazing and constitutes the chief obstacle in the way of better understanding”.
Hitti (1923) mentioned that the American mainstream, refusing to accept the contributions of the ‘Syrian’ into this weaving process, was not ready to accept their assimilation. He added that the host culture disregarded the services these immigrants provided to the country and public especially during the years of World War I. During that war, about 7% of the Syrian community served in the U.S. army. Hitti also focused on the religious status of the immigrant community saying that the majority of the immigrants were Christians who, just as the Muslims and Druze among them, retained their faith.
Elkholy (1966) researched, in 1959, the Muslim communities in Toledo, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. Although Elkholy’s focus was on Arab American Muslims, his participants included Muslims from non-Arab countries such as India and Pakistan among others. The author focused his research on whether Islam was hindering the assimilation of Muslim Arab immigrants into the host culture where the dominant religion is different from that of his participants’ religion. Elkholy found that although both the Toledo and Detroit communities shared the same characteristics regarding their origin of immigration and time spent in the host culture, the Toledo community showed more assimilation and was more religious as well. Elkholy also said that the main factor in uencing the assimilation of his participants was their occupation more than anything else. He also mentioned that the third generation of Muslims in Toledo were more religious than those of Detroit who were more nationalistic.
5. Post 9/11 Implications
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, a few studies addressed Arab American’s life and experiences following the attacks. In October 2001, Zogby presented the results of a poll of Arab Americans conducted between October 8 and 10, 2001. The poll
commissioned by the Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) had a margin of error of +4.5% and showed that 60% of the 508 surveyed were worried about the “longterm effects of discrimination” (p.2) against them because of the September 11 attacks. In addition, it showed that only 20% of those surveyed said that they had personally experienced discrimination because of their Arab American background, but 45% said that they personally knew someone who suffered discrimination since the attacks because of his/her Arab American cultural background. However, almost half of the young Arab Americans reported that they had experienced discrimination since September 11.
The poll’s result also showed that 69% believe that pro ling of Arab Americans had increased since the attacks. However, 54% of those polled, although they disagreed with politicized pro ling, reported that they think it is justi ed. Finally, the poll’s result indicated that 84% of those polled said that their ethnic background is important in de ning their identity and 88% were proud of their ethnic heritage and 83% considered securing the rights of the Palestinians personally important to them.
In May 2002, Zogby International conducted a second poll for the AAIF. Seventy- ve percent of those surveyed were born in the United States; this poll (Arab American Institute, 2002) yielded similar ndings to that of 2001 and had a margin of error of + 4.5%. However, the results of this 2002 poll indicated an increase of 10% in those reporting personal experience of discrimination because of their ethnic background after September 11 (30% compared to 20% in the 2001 poll). On the other hand, the percentage of those surveyed who said that they personally knew someone who suffered discrimination since the attacks because of his/ her Arab American ethnic background was 45% in the 2001 survey and 40% in May 2002. In addition, this survey results showed that perceived discrimination toward Arab American students decreased at schools to 21% from a reported 49% in 2001. However, perceived discrimination remained the same among neighbors and friends (25%).
The percentage of those surveyed who believe that pro ling of Arab Americans had increased since the attacks increased by 9% in the 2002 poll from the 69% reported in 2001. In addition, the poll’s results indicated that 59% of Arab Americans surveyed reported that their public display of their heritage was not affected by the consequences of September 11, 70% of those who reported an effect were 18-24 years old and 79% of students reported an effect on their public display of their ethnicity.
The percentage of those surveyed who said that their ethnic pride has not changed after the September 11 attacks remained 73%, 15% reported an increased pride and 8% reported less pride in their ethnic background. However, the percentage of those surveyed who are proud of their ethnic heritage was almost 90% in both 2001 and 2002. I
6. Conclusions and Projections
This paper provides guidance for researchers and scholars with insight into what has been published and studied about the Arab American diaspora. It re ects the whole variety of scholars and disciplines that studied this minority group. This could facilitate future interdisciplinary approaches to studying Arab Americans. In addition, the bibliographical information and review can be used in future research, as it provides some insight into the evolution of researching Arab Americans and the circumstances surrounding the scholarly interest in this particular group.
Three of the most recent studies indicate the current interest and directions of research: Abu-Absi (2010) edited a book about Arab Americans in Toledo. The book’s three sections, heritage, pro les and interviews document the area speci c experiences of Arab Americans. In one chapter of the book, Semaan (2010) states that, based on data from his empirical research of the Toledo community, Arab Americans there identify themselves with either their national ethnic labels or their ethnic-American label more than those in Allentown, PA or Dearborn, MI. Awad (2010) studied the impact of acculturation and religious af liation of Arabs and Middle Eastern Americans on perceived discrimination. She reported that Muslims in her study reported more perceived discrimination than Christians. Semaan (2013) presented a detailed historical perspective on the immigration waves of Arab Americans stating the particulars of the previous three waves and identifying a fourth immigration wave that started after the beginning of the so called “Arab Spring” in 2010.
Moreover, the historical review of literature in this paper showed that many studies presented empirical evidence documenting the stereotyped image of Arabs in the U.S. media. However, the assumptions made in the available published works about the acculturation of Arab Americans were either based on studying the Muslim communities, many times including non-Arab Muslims (e.g. Ajrouch, 1999; Elkholy, 1966; Haddad & Lummis, 1987; Haddad, 2004) or were based on adopting the four types of Berry’s (1980) model of acculturation without supporting research (e.g. Haddad, 2004; Shain, 1996; Suleiman, 1994, 1999). Future research addressing the acculturation of Arab Americans should attempt to establish valid and reliable measurements and should draw upon the wealth of research available on other minority groups, particularly African Americans and Latino/Latina studies, bene ting from both the methodology and theory that could inform future research of Arab Americans. In addition, future research should focus on the newest, fourth wave of immigration that started in 2011 following the beginning of the “Arab Spring”.
