Protecting Arab-American Identity

First a bit of history:

Just sixty years ago, there was no organized Arab-American community. Most people of Arab descent in America were descendants of World War I-era immigration, mainly from Syria/Lebanon, who formed organizations that emphasized country-specific or village identities. There were also Palestinian village clubs. Like other immigrant communities of this era, the main institutions that organized early Arab immigrants were churches and mosques.

After the freeze on immigration in the Arab world was lifted in the 1950s, Arab immigration increased and became more diverse. This change, combined with the growing population of descendants of earlier immigrants, accelerated the formation of an Arab-American identity.

The new, more diverse Arab immigrants and students came to the US with ideas of political pan-Arabism. The descendants of World War I immigrants came to embrace Arab-American identity for a variety of reasons. They were more integrated into American society, and instead of more limited country-, village-, or sect-based identities, they were drawn to a shared cultural heritage—including Palestine, an issue that became central to the community for two reasons.

First, it was perceived as a grave injustice done to the Palestinian Arab people, many of whom had relatives in the US. Second, Palestine became increasingly important in shaping Arab American identity because of the discrimination and exclusion that many Arab Americans faced, for expressing sympathy for the Palestinian cause, or for the assumption of being pro-Palestinian because of their Arab descent. The ‘injustice there’ was exacerbated by ‘the injustice there’.

The first major national organizations – Association of Arab American University Graduates and National Association of Arab Americans – shared a commitment to community building based on shared heritage and identity, including the issue of Palestinian rights. They emphasized divisions over religious affiliation, national origin, or immigrant/native status.

This effort to build a unified voice proved easy for some, but posed a challenge for others – especially during Lebanon’s long civil war. Yet we persevered.

In 1980, former Senator James Abourezk and I founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to combat negative stereotypes of Arabs in the media and popular culture and discrimination. As we traveled from city to city, we brought into our fold tens of thousands of Arab Americans, from every generation, every country, and every religious faith.

Over the next decade, we witnessed several important developments: Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns welcomed Arab Americans into the political mainstream; Arab American institutions grew stronger and focused on social services, preserving and promoting our history and culture; major pro-Israel American Jewish groups pushed back, calling our community a “fiction” and pressuring others to exclude us; and we founded the Arab American Institute, which focuses on mobilizing Arab Americans in American politics and public service.

The past three decades have brought significant achievements and new challenges for the Arab American community. Arab Americans have emerged as a key constituency courted by political campaigns and have been elected to federal, state and local offices. Social services and cultural institutions foster new immigrants and educate others about our contributions to American life. And Arab American Heritage Month has been formally recognized by presidential proclamation and celebrated by governors and legislatures in nearly every state.

This increased recognition has increased pressure from forces that seek to stunt our growth and silence our voices. We have come to expect it and strengthened ourselves to fight. More difficult was the attempt to divide the community.

Efforts to sectarianize the community began with George W. Bush and continued under the Obama and Biden administrations, conflating Arab Americans with American Muslims and then dividing the effort among “Christian Arabs.” It has been initiated at the highest levels of government and has found its way into the media and even civil society initiatives.

Our national organizations are united in rejecting efforts to erase our nonsectarian ethnic Arab American identity and move us beyond division. We reserve the right to define ourselves based on our history and shared heritage. We remain united in our fight against discrimination and political exclusion, and in our shared commitment to fight for justice for Palestinians and a more balanced American foreign policy that promotes peace, security and prosperity for all countries of the Arab world.