11 Arab Americans Struggle with Self Identity

Many Arabs and Muslims come from all different backgrounds within the world and travel to the United States for better living. An area within the United States that many Arab Americans live is Michigan. “Arab America” is an article that discusses the population and diversity amongst Michigan. Author Nabeel Abraham stated that, “The estimates range from 409,000 to 490,000 based on information from the Michigan Health Department and the Zogby International polls respectively” (Abraham 1). Michigan is a very diverse state and Detroit and Dearborn hold the highest population of Arab Americans within Michigan. For many years Arabs have faced many problems with identifying as being who they are and where they come from due to the negative attitude they may receive from others. The importance of knowing more about the Arab American community within the Midwest and understanding the racism and prejudices they face is vital in order to instill equality amongst different racial groups.

Muslims/Arabs became a huge targeting group after the incidents of 9/11. Many felt threated and hatred against them. Hate crimes became a social norm that consisted of threats over the telephone, internet, mail, and face-to-face. Assaults against them were even taking place such as injuries, vandalism, shootings, bombings directed at places of worship, and even death. A woman by the name of Shawna Ainslie was an American Muslim whose life changed after the attack of 9/11. Shawna discussed how she felt and behaved after the attack in a HuffPost article. She stated, “I whispered the words over and over to myself that my husband had whispered to me before he clicked off the TV, “Please don’t let this be Muslims” (Ainslie 1). Shawna knew that after this attack, Muslims were going to be victims of hate crimes and violence. She was afraid to go outside and felt if she stayed inside, she would not be targeted by haters and would prevent frightening others due to her being Muslim. She changed the way she dressed because she did not want to feel as though she was a threat to society. She walked everywhere with a friend during the day to avoid violence against Muslims. She stopped answering the door and going to the mosque because she did not feel safe due to the fact that mosques became targets for bomb threats. Lastly, she hid all physical evidence in her home that indicated she was Arab or Muslim so when non-Muslims came to her house, they would feel safe and not try to harm her. These are just prime examples of what Shawna did to protect herself after the 9/11 attacks.

            In comparison to Love, Hate & Other Filters, written by Samira Ahmed, Maya felt very similar to Shawna. There was a terrorist attack at the Federal Building in Springfield while she was at school. Maya stated, “I’m scared. I’m not just scared that somehow, I’ll be next; it’s a quieter fear and more insidious. I’m scared of the next Muslim ban. I’m scared of my dad getting pulled into Secondary Security Screening at the airport for “random” questioning. I’m scared some of the hijabi girls know will get their scarves pulled off while they’re walking down a sidewalk-or worse. I’m scared of being the object of fear and loathing and suspicion again. Always” (Page 145). Many Muslims and Arabs fear there life daily, both Shawna and Maya were made to feel as if they couldn’t be their true selves or express their beliefs tin order to stay safe from a community of people who would choose to lump all Muslim people together for an act of terror committed by a select few.

Many Arabs are afraid to be proud of who they are and to be able to truly express this to the world. Not all Arabs are Muslim and not all Muslims are Arab but yet they still face discrimination within their community. An article written within the “Detroit Free Press” author, Niraj Warikoo explains the judgment and humiliation Arabs/Muslims face within their workplace. Niraj stated, “The Michigan office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it has received one and a half times more complaints about workplace discrimination in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the first quarter of 2018” (Warikoo 1). Many workers stated that the company they worked for, “LG Electronics” which is in Michigan, held an active shooter and terrorist attack training session because the company they worked for portrayed that Muslims and Islamic prayers support terrorism. This is a very sad and violent act against Muslims/Arabs. Within the Arab world, many feel as if they must remain silent towards racial incidents due to the possibility of losing their job and/or their freedom. Another incident that happened within the “LG Electronics” corporation involved a man named Salam. A supervisor asked him where his name came from and stated that is was “a very unusual name.” After Salam told him that it was a Muslim name he was treated very unfairly from that point on. Supervisors and co-workers would purposely eat pork products, such as pork rinds, right in front of him only to mock and harass him due to the fact that Muslims do not eat pork. “In one incident, a supervisor came up behind Salam while Salam was working in an enclosed area carrying a bag of pork rinds and eating from them while on the job. The supervisor then proceeded to shake the pork rinds in the direction of Salam and stated to him that he had some pork rinds for him, and then began laughing at Salam, said the complaint” (Warikoo 1). This is religiously offensive and discriminating. It makes Arabs/Muslims uncomfortable within their workplace and community because they feel as though they are a threat to society. People who are higher up within the company feel as if they are able to display negative behaviors however they choose to without consequence. This is overall harassment and this company has shown acts of being anti-Muslim on multiple occasions.

Dearborn, Michigan is home to thousands of Arab Americans and citizens of Arab heritage. A lot goes on within the Dearborn community that many do not know about. An Arab International Festival takes place every summer in Dearborn in which many Muslims attend. Christian protestors come every year to interrogate and to harass them. Author Daniel Denvir discusses the troubles that go on within Dearborn in a “City Lab” article. Daniel stated that, “Signs threatened Muslims with a “LAKE OF FIRE.” The street fair, which includes standard items like a booth where someone guesses your weight in exchange for a dollar, soon descended into chaos” (Denvir 1). These Christian protestors also yell and chant about the religion of Islam and how terrible it is, ruining the event year-round. Arabs/Muslims want to be able to proud of who they are and having this festival reminds them of home and allows them to meet people of them same race and religion, making it a comfortable environment for them. Countless numbers of people who are from Dearborn are proud that the Arab-Americans are there, which makes it feel more diverse and accepting. “Perhaps Dearborn accepts its Arab-American population because they have kept Dearborn clean and relatively prosperous. Immigrants have restored it to what it looked like when O’Reilly was a kid. Retailers pack city streets and most homes are occupied. Now with the Arab-American community here, Warren Avenue is back with these owner-operated shops,” O’Reilly tells me that he goes there all the time and he loves it” (Denvir 1). This allows Arabs/Muslims to stay put within their community and to keep advocating for each other as they continue to fight for their rights in being accepted. Not everyone is going to change their perspective on their own personal point of views, but having people who are accepting of Arabs/Muslims makes it that much easier for them to live their normal lives.

In conclusion, the hate crimes that Arabs/Muslims face day by day are inhumane and degrading to the community. Whether it be threats, humiliation, racial slurs, or discrimination, it is a stigma that Arabs/Muslims deal with routinely that the public need to have a better understanding on. Changes must be made to make the world a more humane and peaceful place. People’s heritages come from all different parts of the world and each come with different values that they live by. Regardless of one’s religion, social norms, ethnicity or culture, it is important to be accepting of one another. Everyone must come together and make the world a more diverse and accepting home, which allows the beauty of diversity to be appreciated. Knowing more about the Arab American community within the Midwest and understanding the racism and prejudices they face is vital in order to instill equality amongt different racial groups.

Works Cited

Abraham, Nabeel and Andrew Shryock, eds. 2000 Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Ahmed, Samira. Love, Hate & Other Filters. Soho Teen, 2019.

Ainslie, Shawna Ayoub. “20 Ways 9/11 Changed My Life as an (American) Muslim.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 6 Dec. 2017.

Denvir, Daniel, and Daniel CityLab. “Dearborn: Where Americans Come to Hate Muslims.” CityLab, 25 Sept. 2012.

Warikoo, Niraj. “Muslim Employees Say They Increasingly Face Bias in the Workplace.”  Detroit Free Press, 25 Apr. 2019.