Arab-Americans

1. Arab-Americans By: Kelsey Hichens, Lily Fayerweather, Zahra Kafel, and Varun Chandramouli

2. Class Map Activity

5. What do Vince Vaughn, Steve Jobs,Ralph Nadar, Queen Noor, Frank Zappa, Christa McAuliffe, Paula Abdul, Mika, Jerry Seinfeld, Shakira, John Sununu, Jack Hanna, and Doug Flutie all have in common?

6. They are all Arab Americans!

7. On Children Kahlil GibranYour children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.They come through you but not from you,And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodies but not their souls,For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.You are the bows from which your childrenas living arrows are sent forth.The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

8. George Mitchell • Half Lebanese • Former U.S. Senator • Currently the Chairman of the Walt Disney Corporation

9. Important Arab Americans Activists: 1) Ralph Nadar = the Green party presidential candidate 2) Candy Lightner = the founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) *MADD is the largest crime victim's assistance organization in the world, with more than 3 million members and supporters 3) Ralph Jones = an active participant in the civil rights movement *encouraged the famous Woolworth "sit-in" at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina

10. Background • Most Arab Americans trace their roots to the countries: • Lebanon • Syria • Palestine • Iraq • Egypt • Yemen • Jordan.

12. The Three Waves of Immigration Coming to America

13. Late 1800’s to WWI Emigrated because of Japanese competition that was hurting the Lebanese silk market and a disease that was harming the Lebanese vineyards. Economic opportunities in the United States Most immigrants were from Syria and Lebanon Many were Christians 1940 to 1960 Emigrated as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict and a civil war Most people were financially secure Immigrants from a broad span of countries Many practiced Islam, not Christianity Included many students First Wave vs. Second Wave

14. Third Wave • Mid 1960’s to present day • Includes professionals, entrepreneurs, and unskilled and semi-skilled laborers • Fled political instability and wars in their home and neighboring countries • Immigration from almost every country in the Middle East • Most of the Arab-American immigrants today are from this wave

15. James Abourezk: Father of the Arab American civil rights movement • First congressmen to be elected to the US Senate • Raised in Sioux Indian reservation by Lebanese parents • Best known for his involvement in a balanced and fair U.S. government policy on Arab-Israeli problems. • May 1980 James Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

16. ADC’s Goals: • Empowering Arab Americans 2. Defending the civil rights of all people of Arab heritage in the United States 3. Promoting civic participation 4. Encouraging a balanced U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East 5. Supporting freedom and development in the Arab World

17. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) • Members include Muhammad Ali and her majesty Queen Noor • Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit have the largest concentrations of Arab Americans

18. Arab American Institute • Founded in 1985 • Founded to encourage the participation of Arab Americans in American political and civil life • Members include about 3.5 million Arab Americans from all 50 states • Focuses on creating a sense of community while encouraging assimilation

19. Major Accomplishments • Helped to establish relationships between Arab Americans and members of Congress • Supporting nomination of Arab Americans to governmental posts • Organized visits to the Middle East for members of Congress to foster relationships

20. The National Association of Arab Americans • Founded in 1972 • Works to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Arab countries • Lobbies to formulate and implement a fair foreign policy towards the Middle East

21. What Race Has the United States Identified Arab Americans As? Over the years, Arab immigrants have been classified as: * African * Asian * White * European * Belonging to a “separate” group

22. What You May Not Know About Arab Americans • Economically -Arab American households have higher than average medium income • Education -Most are educated better than the average Americans. Compared to the average, twice as many Arab-Americans earn degrees beyond bachelor degrees

23. What You May Not Know About Arab Americans continued… • Occupation -There occupations vary, mostly self employed, entrepreneurs, or work in sales. Around 60% of working Arab-Americans are executives, professionals, and office and sales staff. • Family -Family is more important than the individual. Much of a person's identity is drawn from their role in the family.

25. Maintaining Ties With Home Country • Arab-Americans are very proud of their home countries and maintain regular contact with family, relatives, and friends. They are loyal to both their home country and the United States

26. Problems faced by Arab Americans • Due largely to their foreign cultures and in more recent years the terrorist attacks associated with Arabs, Arab Americans have faced many difficulties: • Profiling and discrimination • Denied due process when legal issues arise • Traveling has become a hassle because of profiling • Border crossing has been difficult • Problems have arisen because of the lack on cultural understanding faced in America • Mocked for their language, dress, and social customs • Out of this lack of understanding has arisen a large number of negative stereotypes

27. A NATION CHALLENGED: ARAB AMERICANS; Struggling to Be Both Arab and American The national anthem was a given. So was the flag. But the planners of the Arab American Political Action Committee's fourth annual banquet were stuck on one detail: What to put on the banner behind the podium? Someone suggested ''America First,'' to quash questions of divided loyalty yet hint at exasperation over Israeli influence on American foreign policy. Another offered the bland but ubiquitous ''United We Stand.'' The dozen immigrants and sons of immigrants struggled for a catch phrase to capture their complexity: ''Proud to be Arabs, but 100% American.'' ''Truly Arab, Fully American.'' ''Proud Arabs, True Americans.'' ''I think we should stress the Arab, because our community is shying away,'' said Mazen Hammoud, 33, an engineer who arrived here in 1988. ''Frankly, I'm just really sick and tired of defending my ethnicity,'' said Tina Farhat, 22, a student at the University of Michigan campus here. ''Is there any reason I shouldn't be a proud Arab?'‘…Behind him hung the banner, in red, white and blue: United We Stand, Proud Arab Americans.

28. Socratic Dialogue Questions

29. How do you think the Arab-American experience has changed since 9/11?

30. Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW5n4sIOj9s&eurl

31. What stereotypes did you see in this clip?

32. What are some stereotypes of Arab-Americans? How do you think they originated? How do these stereotypes persist in American culture?

33. Based on your knowledge thus far, how does the Arab-American experience relate to and differ from that of other groups?

34. How do you think Arab-Americans view the conflict in the Middle East? How do you think they are viewed because of it?

35. What pushes and pulls are there for Arab-Americans to immigrate to the US?

36. How can you aid in the acceptance of Arab-Americans and other minority groups into mainstream US society?

37. Videos • Mika: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Qwyf1qgho • Jack Hanna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQF29DYgdLI • Shakira: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NlvgnPNZWE

38. Works CitedAl-Quatami, Laila. “Facts About Arab Americans.” American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. 2004. 10 Dec. 2008. <http://www.adc.org/PDF/facts%20on%20aas.pdf>.“Arab American History.” Arab American National Museum. 2008. 16 Dec. 2008 <http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/Arab+American+History.id.150.htm>.Beckius, Kim Knox. “New England Outline Map.” Map. 2003. 19 Dec. 2008 <http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/0/L/middleeast.jpg>. El Said, Maha. “The face of the enemy: Arab-American writing post-9/11.” Dec. 2003. 15 Dec. 2008 < http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6526/is_/ai_n29061454>. “Free Blank Outline Map of the Middle East.” 22 Dec. 2008. <http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/0/L/middleeast.jpg>. Gibran, Kahlil. “On Children.” 18 Dec.2008 <http://www.katsandogz.com/onchildren.html>.“Who are Arab Americans?” Teaching Tolerance. 13 Sept. 2001. 15 Dec. 2008 <http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=274>.Wilgoren, Jodi. “A NATION CHALLENGED: ARAB AMERICANS; Struggling to Be Both Arab and American.” The New York Times. 4 Nov. 2001.