Running head: arab-american diversity

Study of Arab-American Diversity

Kimberly Jovanovski
Wayne State University
SW 3110 Section 002

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Abstract

This paper will be discussing Arab Americans, and will have an interview with an Arab
American. It will take a look at Arab American history, and how the family of the interviewee are
viewed in light of this history. It will also discuss sources of strengths and weaknesses within the
group; identity, strength, strife, etc. I will ask the interviewee about role assignments based on
gender, age, and the consequences of such assignment. I will talk about how Arab Americans as a
group function in other systems in society, and how they function as a transmitter of cultural
values. Finally, I will talk about how literature about this group compares to people of a similar
identity, and the implications for social work at both micro and macro levels.

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Arab-American History
According to the demographics on the Arab American Institute (AAI) website, at least 1.9
million Americans are of Arabic descent, with a majority of their population residing in
Southeastern Michigan, and El-Khadiri Derose (2009) says, Arab immigrants have been settling
in the United States since 1870. They immigrated in three distinct waves, each wave bringing
unique characteristics that shaped the adjustment of its members to life in the United States. (p.
v) This means people of Arabic descent have been in America for quite some time. The first
wave of immigrants (1875 to 1924) were farmers and peddlers, who assimilated quite easily into
American culture by learning the English language, and adopting English names. The second
wave (1925 to 1948) was of Muslim Arabs, who were fluent in English and resisted assimilating
more than the wave before them, and related more to Arabic nationalism. The most recent wave
of immigrants was from 1966 to the present, and consisted of Muslim Arabs who were diverse
economically and educationally (El-Khadiri Derose 2009, p. 5). Even though Arabic people have
been in America for 144 years, they are still continually oppressed, even more so since
September 11th, and since then, the prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination and racial profiling of
Arab Americans has increased. Ahmad (2002) talks about this in his article, and he says that In
total, close to 1,000 separate bias incidents were reported in a period of eight weeks, and though
the rate of new incidents has slowed, it continues today. He then goes on to describe the
incidents, which have included firebombing of mosques, temples, and gurdwaras; attacks with
fists, guns, knives, and Molotov cocktails; acts of vandalism and property destruction; and
numerous instances of verbal harassment and intimidation (p. 103-104). This is a perfect
example of how Arab Americans as a group have been viewed. People who have lived in
America for all their life are still poorly viewed because of the acts of one extremist group,

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which hints back to America and its fear of immigrants (for example, the Japanese American
internment camps after Pearl Harbor in 1941).
Sources of Strengths and Weaknesses
After September 11th, it seems like being an Arab American is a constant source of stress.
El-Khadiri Derose (2009) says Scholars have argued that such discrimination and rejection from
the host culture remain the main factors that have influenced Arab American acculturation
strategies and stress. (p. 14) Assimilating to American culture seems like a big stressor, and
being able to even get into the country as an Arab. Eisenlohr (1996), talked about Arab American
teenagers, and he concluded that they are expected to behave as Westerners during the day and
as Arabs at night. The transition from the two cultures is not always easy, because Arab culture
and American culture can be contradictory. (p. 12) Even though there is a lot of strife because of
discrimination and oppression of Arabs, there is also strength. Allen & Beitin (2005) did a study
on the resilience of Arab American couples after September 11th, and they found that Arab
families went through a lot of struggles, including making meaning of the attacks, grieving the
loss of family and friends, and coping with the anger of many Americans against them. When
interviewing the couples, they also found that All couples acknowledged hearing about
discriminatory incidents against Arabs living in America (Allen & Beitin 2005, p. 257). The
couples had coped by utilizing a variety of coping reactions and accessing many coping
resources and In addition to relying on each other, couples utilized Arab community support,
their religion, and sheer determination to help them cope and remain strong in the face of
uncertainty (Allen & Beitin 2005, p. 259). This proves that even though Arab Americans go
through a lot of stress and discrimination, they always have a support system to fall back on to
help them through their problems.

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Family Roles in Relation to Age and Gender

I got to interview my older sisters boyfriend, a twenty three year old Arab American
from Baghdad, Iraq. His family immigrated to America in 1994, when he was three years old. I
asked him about familial roles, and he says he definitely got a lot more freedom than his older
sister. He said that in his family, he is considered The Son. As the only son in his family, he is
expected to carry on the family name, while his older sister was expected to stay at home and
help their mother with the more feminine activities, like cooking and doing the dishes. He also
said he could go out and stay out late three years sooner than his sister could. I asked him if this
attitude permeated to his entire family, not just immediate family, and he said it definitely does.
Women are expected to be more subordinate to the men, and success is defined differently for
men and women. He said that men in the family feel more pressure to be successful in things like
their careers, since they need to carry on their family name. Women are not as pressured as the
men to be successful in their careers, but women are considered successful if they meet a man
and get married and start a family, even if she does not have a career. In terms of age, one task
that everyone shares is taking care of the older people in the family. The children are expected to
take care of their parents in their old age, and also their siblings if their siblings are not married,
or unable to take care of themselves.
Group Functioning in Social Systems, Transmitting of Cultural Values, and Literature
I asked my interviewee how he, as an Arab American, functions in other systems. When I
asked about religion, he says that everyone immediately assumes he is Muslim, because he is
Arabic, even though his family is Christian. My sister has even had this happen, because when
she tells people her boyfriend is from Iraq, the first thing they ask is if he is Muslim. The system
that stood out to him the most was the occupational system. He said that being Arabic makes it a

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lot harder for people to get a job. At one of his previous jobs, he said that his boss would not
have hired him if the boss had been present at the interview. His boss even told him that if
anything like 9/11 happens again, that he should not bother showing up to work, or else he would
shoot him dead. This is a perfect example of how cultural values trickle down into social systems
and affect social functioning. The acts on violence that occurred on September 11th spurred on
nationwide panic, and in turn, this caused a nationwide fear of Arab/Muslim Americans. Howell
& Shryock (2003) said that The suburb of Dearborn was the first American city to have its own
office of Homeland Security, an honor it owes exclusively to the number of its Arab/Muslim
residents. (p. 447) They go on to say No government official has said it explicitly, but Arab
Detroit is now a zone of threat, and its inhabitants have good reason to feel threatened by the
mixed messages they have received officialdom and society at large (p. 447). Another way
cultural values are transmitted is through literature. Parker (2008) did a study on Arab American
representation in the American media five years prior to and five years after 9/11, and she found
that While the number of articles placing Arab Americans as members of an out-group
decreased in the year immediately following 9/11, the number of articles placing Arab Americans
as members of an out-group steadily increased following 9/11 (p. iv) Most information
Americans gather about current political and social happenings is through the mass media.
Therefore, according to Parker (2008), most Americans form their opinions of other cultures
or people based on what they read in print, hear on the radio, see in films, see on television, and
see on the Internet (p. 7). With mass media being the prominent source of information for most,
if not all, Americans, there comes problems. There is often bias in the news, with the
newscasters personal opinions seeping into the stories. There is also the problem of news casters
not representing the entirety of the population. This can cause a lot of misrepresentation of

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minorities and religious groups, which can lead to the further discrimination and oppression of
these groups. Parker (2008) found that In the mass media, Arabs have been portrayed as
wealthy, barbaric, violent, corrupt, dishonest, religious fanatics, ignorant, abusers of women, and
fanatic terrorists (p. 16). This representation, in turn, not only causes a majority of the
population to view Arab Americans in a poor light, causes Arab Americans themselves to view
themselves in a poor light.
Implications for Social Work
On the micro level of social work, there are plenty of implications. For one, since the
environment for Arab Americans has become hostile since 9/11, they will be seeking help and
need to feel safe in the environment the social worker provides for them. It might be hard for a
social worker to work with an Arab family if they have prejudices against them, or if they have
negative feelings towards Arabs after the attacks of 9/11. Social workers must overcome their
biases, stereotypes, and prejudices to be able to work effectively and efficiently with clients.
They must also do research on the culture if they do not know a lot about it. Since Arabs are a
very diverse culture, it is really important to do research. Just because the client is Arabic does
not necessarily mean they practice Islam, and if they do practice Islam, there are two major
denominations, Sunni and Shia. These implications can also extend to macro social work.
Working with Arabic people as a whole could prove difficult, since there is so much diversity.
Social workers will have to look at policies in place that affect Arab Americans. There is also the
problem of policies in place that may end up hurting the Arab community. Florence (2006) talks
about the Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act and says:
In December of 2004, in response to a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission,
Congress included in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of

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2004 a brief clause requiring that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the
division of DHS responsible for the transportation sector, establish a procedure to enable
airline passengers, who are delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight because the
watch list showed they might pose a security threat to appeal such determination and
correct information contained in the system. The Act, however, did not give specific
guidance to the agency or require a formal hearing, nor did it cover transportation-sector
employees affected by watch lists. (p. 2151)
This Act makes is difficult for people from the Middle East to even get into the United States, or
even get out. What if a family tries to migrate from the Middle East to America and one of their
family members gets left behind because they are put on this No Fly List? That can cause the
family a lot of turmoil and social workers and both the micro and macro levels will have to fight
for the rights of these people.
Conclusion
Being an Arab American proves to be very difficult in the years following the terrorist
acts of September 11th. There are a lot of stereotypes and prejudices placed on them as a group
because of one extremist groups actions. Even though they go through a lot of stress because of
their cultural identity, they manage to stay strong with their support groups. I got to talk to an
Arab American and hear about familial roles and their consequences, and also get his view on
how Arab Americans as a group function in other social systems. This also gave me a chance to
look in depth at the way they are treated in these systems in relation to cultural values, and as
well as the information presented in literature. Tying all this information back to social work
practice implications shows that social workers have to be very conscious of different cultures,
be respectful of them, and be able to advocate for their rights, at both the micro and macro levels.

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References

Ahmad, Muneer. "Homeland Insecurities: Racial Violence the Day After September 11." Social
Text 20.3 (2002): 101-15. ProQuest. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
Antoon, D. (2014, October 3rd). Personal Interview.
Beitin, B. K., & Allen, K. R. (2005). Resilience in Arab American couples after September 11,
2001: a systems perspective. Journal Of Marital And Family Therapy, 31(3), 251-267.
El-Khadiri Derose, Mouna. "Factors Affecting Arab Americans' Psychological Health: Culture,
Religion, Acculturation, and Experiences of Discrimination." Order No. 3388991
Roosevelt University, 2009. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.
Florence, J. (2006). Making the No Fly List Fly: A Due Process Model for Terrorist Watchlists.
The Yale Law Journal, 2148-2181.
Howell, Sally, and Andrew Shryock. "Cracking Down on Diaspora: Arab Detroit and America's
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2014.
Parker, Cherie Jessica. "Before and After 9/11: The Portrayal of Arab Americans in U.S.
Newspapers." Order No. 1471621 University of Central Florida, 2008. Ann Arbor:
ProQuest. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.