For the past 17 years, UH has been one of the few universities to participate in the national Model Arab League (MAL) conference. MAL was created to foster relationships between the U.S. and Arab countries, and to educate students on common misconceptions. In short, it is an exercise in breaking down prejudice.
In light of this purpose, you can understand my astonishment when, as an Arab-American student on the MAL team, I faced racism of the worst kind. I eventually quit the team when the head delegate posted a picture of the stereotypical flag-burning, gun-toting Arab to identify Model Arab League events online, refused to take my concerns into consideration and proceeded to launch a personal attack on me using private pictures without my consent.
Sadly, this incident is indicative of the Arab experience today. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights reports that in the years following 9/11, the number of hate crimes against Arabs increased seventeen-fold. This does not include less prosecutable types of racism at schools, in the workplace and in the public sphere. Even our government has enacted official racial profiling programs, such as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, to target Arabs based on their ethnicity and national origin.
Media pundits and conservative politicians have also made it more acceptable to make incredibly racist comments, and more often than not, get away with it. Ann Coulter, celebrated right-wing pundit, has unabashedly supported that the government “spy on all Arabs, engage in torture as a televised spectator sport (and) drop daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East.” Newt Gingrich, along with a slew of other politicians and public figures, famously opposed the mosque in Manhattan by comparing those who supported freedom of religion to those who supported Nazis in World War II. In the wake of vitriolic rhetoric from insensitive politicians, it seems like no Arab-American is safe from vicious racism and hurtful alienation.
You would think that in this day and age, this type of racism would begin to diminish as people learned to be tolerant of diversity and more sensitive of other people’s experiences. For Arabs, the trajectory has been the exact opposite. The only form of acceptable racism today is racism against Arabs, and this should not be the case. It is never acceptable to make stereotypical remarks, inappropriate jokes, or racist accusations passed as opinions. Prejudice against Arabs is not a sub-form of racism; it is racism.
All I ask, and all my community asks, is that we be treated with the same worth as any other human being and that we be accepted as a part of this country.
Dana El Kurd is a political science and economics junior.
important topic. seems to be getting worse and worse for ppl from the muslim world
I think that you, by taking your (horrible!) experience with this individual at the university as a springboard for your generalized conclusion that Arabs are treated unfairly at UH, are in essence acting prejudicially as well. You did not deserve this treatment, nor should it go unnoticed, nor should it be accepted; however, for every example of this type of outrageous behavior, there are copious examples of students who respect and even take an interest in the Arab culture and Arabs, such as myself. Just as no one should attribute the characteristics of the Arabs who flag-burn or engage in terrorist acts to all Arabs, so you should not characterize the student body of the university as increasingly discriminatory towards Arabs.
when did the author ever mention UH as being a discriminatory place for arab students? she just used her personal experience as an example
i don't think anyone mentioned it?
i think he was replying to someone else
I think that, sadly, it is useful as an example of prejudicial treatment against her as an Arab, for this function it serves well. However, after relaying the incident, she states that the experience is "indicative of the Arab experience today." I don't believe that one personal example is a correct means of measuring whether, and to what degree, Arabs are mistreated in a university setting, let alone a national setting. In other words, her experience is not necessarily indicative of the experience of Arabs in UH, national universities, or the nation, whichever level it was that she intended to mean by "experience."
Obviously, she has only the innocent and correct intention to stress the necessity for respect towards Arabs as Americans, and humans. However, this argument stands on logic alone, and does not need to stand on isolated examples of extremists like Ann Coulter and the guy in her club, since these types of individuals are clearly outside the range of general public sentiment;most individuals around UH, and the nation, do not act like the guy or Ann Coulter. While it is clear that we are not close to an ideal state of mutual respect, there are many people making active efforts, both within an outside the Arab community, to foster good relations, and her editorial, in failing to observe this other, but equally important trend, attempts to gather persuasive strength through isolated events, generalizations, and extreme political stances.
good point, but i think the general increased levels of hate crimes as reported by the quote she used in her article seems to say otherwise
i was personally really surprised when the ground zero mosque stuff happened. people like harry reid were voicing their discomfort with the plan! i think we need to acknowledge that this kind of racism is more prevalent than we would like to admit
I believe you are wrong on this issue. The reference made is to the 17 fold increase in cases of prejudice against arab Americans. It is only natural that this institution would boast the same number as in relation to the general population of America.
It appears Dana's claims lack a factual basis.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40956
You need to differentiate between arabs and muslims. there is a distinction buddy
I'm all ears. Tell me how you distinguish between these two groups. TIA.
arabs are an ethnic group, usually encompassing people from north africa, the levant, and the arabian gulf. not EVERYONE from those areas are arab, obviously, because there are ethnic minorities such as berbers, kurds, etc. but mostly, arabs come from these places.
muslims are anyone who believe in the muslim faith. that means they can come from the above mentioned areas, but they are not an ethnic grouping, a national grouping, or anything of the sort. just like christians can come from all over the world and represent hundreds of national origins and ethnic groups, so do muslims.
not saying that muslims aren't also being targeted in this day and age, but muslims are not monolithic. some groups that happen to be muslim are doing better than others. saying that you're a muslim doesn't say anything about where you're from, what country your parents come from, or which ethnic group you identify with.
the kind of prejudice the author talks about is a specific racism towards a specific group. here's a report if you want to learn more:
http://www.adc.org/PDF/hcr07.pdf
also, arabs are a number of different religions, just like any other ethnic group. arabs can be muslim, christian, jewish, buddhist, bahai, etc, etc.
^^^^Best post of 2011^^^^^
i mean really, "the truth" is a (presumably) college-aged person who literally thought that arabs and muslims were the same thing. that's magical. who wants to blow his mind and tell him about christian arabs?
You need to differentiate between arabs and muslims. there is a distinction buddy
Here is a very different take than that expressed by Dana. It is well worth reading and is, in my opinion, far more logical and believable than the view expressed by Dana
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2010…
both of the comments above have links to CONSERVATIVE websites, which speaks for its self. danas article raises a valid point.
Part I:
Yeah for Real writes, "also, Arabs are a number of different religions, just like any other ethnic group. Arabs can be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Bahia, etc, etc."
This sounds good on paper but is hardly the truth in the real world.
Let's take Saudi Arabia to highlight the truth. There is not one single non-Muslim citizen of Saudi Arabia. It is against Saudi law for Christians, Buddhists, Jewish, Bahia, etc, etc…to become Saudi citizens.
In addition to this all one needs to do is to Google "apostasy + news" to find dozens of articles describing how Muslims throughout the world (be it the Arabian peninsula, north Africa, central or southern Asia, etc…) are brutally treating Muslims who choose to leave their religion. On top of this all one needs to do is Google "Christian persecution in Islam" to find dozens more articles on how Christians are being brutalized by Muslims throughout the Muslim world for not being Muslim.
this is irrelevant. the author talks about discrimination against arabs, so don't turn this into a platform to attack muslims just because that's what gives you kicks.
also, in the arabian gulf there have always been christian and jewish tribes. in fact, some remain in yemen. for many historical reasons, including a repressive regime that attacks its own citizens regardless of religious affiliation, there aren't as many today. also, in the levant and north africa, there remain christian and jewish groups.
finally, we are talking about discrimination against arabs in the United States. all of this is irrelevant. when someone writes an article about discrimination in saudi or in the arab world, you can go ahead with your tirade.
Part II:
So one can argue that Arabs are different, but the facts do not support this claim.
More to the point. This article is about a "claim" that Arabs in America are being prejudiced against. I provided an article that factually disputed this claim. I can also link dozens of articles about how Arabs and Muslims more generally are killing Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Bahia, Hindus, etc,,, throughout Muslim controlled states.
So, tell me, where is the real prejudice taking place?
Answer: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Mauritania, Algiers, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Turkey, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Maldives, Nigeria, etc…
Part I:
Point well taken. That said, my initial two comments addressed the article’s thesis which was that discrimination against Arabs (in the US) is getting out of control.
I countered this claim by linking an article which used factual information which illustrated that this claim is absolutely false.
I would argue, in fact, that the opposite is true. That we in America are so afraid of being politically incorrect that we bend over backwards trying to appease Arabs even when it is patently stupid (and wasteful of OUR taxpayer's dollars) to do so.
Part II:
Specifically, even though over 90% of dangerous passenger induced plane problems have been caused by Muslims (and Arabs) we still do not profile Muslims as a group when they go through security. Is that prejudice? NO. It's the opposite. It is bending over backwards to not antagonize a group of people even though we know it is statistically likely that they are the group that will most likely attack our planes, and use these planes as weapons against our cities.
I urge you to re-read Michael Medved's article which clearly makes the case that if there is Islamophobia going on in this country it is because we are a rational people who are doing nothing more than responding and reacting to information in rational ways. The "rational" adjective does not include the Dep’t. of Homeland Security, unfortunately.
Nice statistic there, but WRONG. Do you know why we 'still do not profile Muslims as a group when they go through security'? Because I can count the number of dangerous passenger induced plane problems on the fingers of one hand, and rest assured that I have the normal number of digits. Your statement is inflammatory in the extreme and blows everything out of proportion. It is little people like you who believe in the need for security theater (TSA groping kids) and slow whittling away of privacy rights in order to completely eliminate any risks. They exist, so deal with it, and don't blame some religion.
"Specifically, even though over 90% of dangerous passenger induced plane problems have been caused by Muslims (and Arabs) "
care to cite that?
Yosef replies to my claim that profiling of Muslims by Homeland Security is unwarranted. He writes, "Your statement is inflammatory in the extreme and blows everything out of proportion."
Yosef, methinks it is you who is hiding from reality.
"Out of proportion?" What about the following link (see below). Are these facts, destruction, murder, intolerance, hatred and inhumane actions not all connected to Islam, and to the countless number of verses in the Koran, Sura and Hadiths that encourage violence against non-Muslims? Are you telling us that your prophet, Mohammed did not encourage the same, and indeed, practice the same?
If this is what you're telling us then I say to you, it is you who is living a life of total delusion, not I.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html#Atta…
To "The Truth": The Muslim spelling of the biblical Joseph is usually Yousef, not Yosef. I am a religious Jew, so please direct your arguments somewhere else.
In addition, methinks you used to appear under the nick of "Arafat". You and he have the same style and similar promotion of one website.
lol nicely done sir, i thought i recognized this crackpot from somewhere..
just as ridiculous now as ever
I think that people who write articles like this only serve as fuel to people who poke fun at Arabs today.
i think people who think that this validates "poking fun" at people because of their race are racists
I like how brave the author sounds from behind her computer.
"As I write this behind my computer"
http://zioneocon.blogspot.com/Israeli%20flag%20bu….
This is the image in question. I report, you decide.
yeah, pretty racist to me. especially for a club where you're supposed to be learning about the arab union
and i take it you find using people's personal pictures totally acceptable too? freaking ridiculous…
1) It's the Arab League (or League of Arab States), not the "arab union". 2) The Reporter is not the person the article refers to, and assuming that the only people who know about what happened are those directly involved is foolish. 3) The picture came from Facebook, and when someone has their information (including pictures) available for everyone to see, that information can be used by those who can see it. The point being that since the person referred to was able to access the picture, he had tacit consent from the owner to use it. That's how Facebook works. 4) I don't think that posting a picture of actual events can be considered racist.
I'm not saying that what happened was right. In fact, I believe it was very rude and should not have been done, but this article is inflammatory and incorrect on several factual points.
I don't think that's how facebook works. Private pictures should not be copied and pasted for the whole world to see. So if i have pictures of my kids on facebook, that means everyone i've added on facebook gets to use those pictures as they wish? yeah, right.
but i'll give you one thing. the author shouldn't have given such jerks access to her profile in the first place
now about your claim that this isn't racist. there are actual african tribes who have medicine-men, much like the pictures the tea partiers used against obama. no one ever refuted the fact that using such pictures was racism. why? because when you use these kinds of pictures to make a generalization, that's RACISM.
so using that picture of the terrorist for some reason in connection with a model arab league club is pure and simple racism, because you are trying to equate the terrorists with all arabs in general.
Firstly, that is how Facebook works. There isn't really anything to debate about concerning that point. There is a legal section of the site that explains exactly what I said in my previous comment.
Secondly, most (really all) of the member states of the Arab League, if they can't agree on anything else, at least agree that they aren't fans of Israel. The head delegate wasn't posting the picture to claim that all Arabs are somehow terrorists, he was merely commenting on this fact in a rather juvenile way. Everyone else who saw the picture (including some other Arabs) got it as a joke. Even if they were offended, they did not handle to situation like the author did (which was to create a scene on Facebook by publicly blasting him). Making a joke the way he did is not racist, and if you think that it is then you just have a fundamental misunderstanding of the word.
serious question: why would this picture be relevant? what were they posting pictures for?
i think that's the point. there's no reason to use such a picture in relation to something like an arab club
those people are being so mean to their genocidal imperialist occupiers! ;(((
Hello??? Arabs make up a far greater percentage of the student population here than almost any other university in the country. Diversity is as tolerated and welcomed here as most anywhere else in the nation. So don't include the student body of UH as a whole when speaking about a one time ordeal you encountered and more or less provoked rather than being the innocent victim minding their own business. So even your experience with racism was at the smallest level in comparison to violent hate crimes, threats, taunts, or any act in which one is targeted directly. I'm a white American who has as many or more arab friends at UH than even my own race. Get over yourself.
i think the point of the article is not "woe is me, i suffered terribly" but to prove that there's a subconscious acceptance of racism against arabs that even "open minded" people fail to recognize
how did the author provoke her team member to using racist pictures? and then using her own private pictures? someone explain this to me.
everything your saying just sounds like "down arab! you deserve what you get! be thankful we even "tolerate" you"
that's just wrong
I propose a detente. Everyone, please keep an open mind and watch Ray Stevens' A-hab the A-rab, and remember we are all worthy. Maybe we can just get along after watching this.
You know what makes me sad? Arabs live in open, free societies. They come here and are treated terribly. It must be a huge shock. When they go home they must relish the openness, the freedom, the opportunities (especially for women). We should be ashamed.
they come here to be treated better, but we can't live up to our own values of acceptance. you're right, we should be ashamed.
Wow. some of these comments are unreal.
the person unnecessarily use a bad picture and then takes the author's personal pictures, and people's responses are "she provoked it" "she should be happy she's here" and "arabs need to be discriminated against"?!
wow. just wow. texas, you haven't changed a bit
former mal members from u of h agree that the head delegate this year was the wrong person for the job. myself included.
former mal members from u of h agree that the head delegate this year is the wrong person for the job. myself included.
I don't have a problem with Arabs…. I have a problem with islam
so you're just prejudiced in a different way. still not cool
Learn from Europe, America…. Once their Muslim population grew, they started showing there true colors…… They demanded Sharia Courts because they didn't want to abide by Western Law, and the spineless British people gave it to them…. Anybody who opposed these people were called "racist"….. Islam is a threat to western civilization, and those who deny this are blind
What you people fail to understand with your "counterarguments" for this article is that the actions of a few Arabs are not demonstrative of the entire people. When the Ku Klux Klan ran rampant in America, did that mean all white Anglo-Saxons were just like them? No. The majority didn't agree with the Ku Klux Klan and not only saw there actions as evil but also didn't consider them true Christians, for Christians are ideally kind to all. Similarly, actions by radical Arab Muslims, and I mean RADICAL, are not by any way the same actions that would be carried out by all Muslims. Are all Muslims anti-American and anti-Christians? No way. Islam in fact, if I'm not mistaken, considers Jesus to be a prophet among prominent figures in Judaism also. You Muslim and/or Arab haters are swept up in post 9/11 hysteria in which fear mongering politicians and the media led you to believe that every person in a religion or society could be bad! I mean, didn't the same happen to Jews in the Holocaust? Hitler riled up the masses against the Jews who were often more successful, and claimed they were the root of all problems. An accepted hatred and prejudice towards Jews was allowed, and thus the world experienced one of the most horrific genocides in history. An accepted hatred towards Arabs in running wild, and it's so frightening it seems surreal. Fix yourselves before hating on this poor writer just trying to speak out.
Islam means peace, and the emphasis of peace in Quran is undeniable, only taking a glimpse to it …
I am sure that the majority of Muslim's people condemn the attach of 9/11. It does not matter where they live or whether they like USA or not. It comes back to the idea that Islam condemns all sorts of attack. Incidentally, a particular bigot of people obviously cannot be demonstrative of the entire people as yellow mentioned corerctly.
WTF Arabs are the most racist people , just remember what they did to us (Kurdish) . ur name is DANA its a kurdish name also ur last name , wtf is wrong with u , did u forget about genocide and chemical attacks in Halabja against kurdish people.
I understand completely what you are going through.
I what people of arab descent are individuals just like everyone else.
She deserves to be treated judged as an individual.
You have mass powers against you because to demonize the arab is to gain public support for the theft of Palestine and Arab oil in Iraq.