Arab Americans: Racism And Political Empowerment

America is renowned as a country of immigrants and the issue of racism anddiscriminatory acts against nonwhite immigrants has been constantly put onto the table.Among immigrants from across the oceans people from the Arab world occupy anawkward and special place. Like other ethnic groups, Arab immigrants have suffered thesame from racist acts, yet anti-Arab racism does not stem from perceived phenotypicinferiority, rather it originates in America’s geopolitical interest in the Middle East. The1967Arab-Israeli war has set the United States firmly in alliance with Israel. With thedeterioration of Middle East problems, America’s relation with the Arab world keptsouring. Mass media in America engaged in intensive Arab-bashing and news report andforeign policies were biased against Arabs, working much for the interest of pro-Israelgroups. Within such a social context, Arab Americans became socially prejudiced,economically discriminated and politically excluded. And their condition became evenworse after the event of9/11. The one effective way to help Arab Americans out of thecondition is to go after political empowerment, to mobilize Arabs in America and step uptheir political participation. Studies on Arabs in America have been prevalent in Americanacademic circle, yet the majority of them focus on exploring racist issues or rather zoom onin Arab Americans living in a particular region. Domestic studies on Arab Americans havemuch of their focus on the Arab-Islamic world and how that has affected America’s foreignpolicy. Therefore, this essay tries to address such an inadequacy and attempts to exploreand demonstrate the innate connection between anti-Arab racism and Arab Americans’political empowerment. It also examines the prospects and challenges for Arabs to achievepolitical inclusion after9/11.The first chapter traces the origins of Arab immigrants and delineates its characteristicsranging from religious background, countries of origin, traditions of self-identification andthe way they adapted to the host country. It also points to the effect these factors wouldhave on the political empowerment of Arab Americans. The second chapter examinessources of anti-Arab racism, the different kinds of racist acts performed against ArabAmericans and has paid much attention to how Arab Americans have responded to socialprejudice and reacted by getting mobilized and seek for political inclusion. The last chapter discusses the opportunities and challenges for Arab Americans after9/11. The eventushered in a renewed period of more intensified Arab targeting. The possibility of allianceswith other minority and ethnic groups induced by the hyper-visibility of Arab groups and astrengthened inter-community cohesion would possibly promise a better future for ArabAmericans’ political empowerment.