Schaefer c11 (1)

Chapter 11
Muslim and Arab
Americans:
Diverse Minorities

Muslim and Arab People
• Muslim and Arab Americans are different
groups in America, though they overlap
• Considering Arab & Muslim Americans
– 1st - clarify the distinction between two groups
incorrectly referred as the same population
– Overcome prism of Orientalism through which
many Americans view Arab and Muslim world
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Muslim and Arab People
• Arabs are an ethnic group; Muslims are a
religious group; Islam is the faith
• Muslim is a believer of that religion
• One cannot accurately identify the Muslim
faithful by nationality alone
• Clearly being Arab does not define one as
being a follower of Islam

Arab Americans
• Arab Americans & “Middle Eastern”
• The Arabic language is the most single
unifying force among Arabs
• Up to 3 million people with Arab ancestry
in the U.S.
– Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine account
fro 2/3rd of Arab Americans in 2000

Arab Americans
• Diversity of Arabs
– Variation in time of arrival
– Variation in the point of origin
– Variation of religious tradition
• Deficit Model of Ethnic Identity
– A factor of subtracting away characteristics
corresponding to some ideal ethnic type

Muslim Americans
• 1.6 billion followers worldwide and second
to Christianity
• Islam is guided by the teaching of the
Koran (Qur’an)
• Use religious rituals
• Divided into a variety of faiths and sects
• Jihad

Muslim Americans
• Number of Muslim Americans is difficult to
estimate
– 20-42 percent African American
– 24-33 percent South Asian (Afghan,
Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani)
– 12-32 percent Arab

Muslim Americans
– 15-22 percent “other” (Bosnian, Iranian, Turk,
and White and Hispanic converts)
• Total agreement that the population is
growing rapidly
– Immigration and conversion

Muslim Americans
• Blended Identity
– Is the self-image and worldview that is a
combination of:
• Religious faith, cultural background based in
nationality, & status of being a resident of the U.S.
• Many Muslims experience the freedom to
be Muslim and the pressure to be Muslim

Black Muslims
• Estimated to account for 90 percent of all
converts to Islam in the U.S.
• Not tightly organized into a single religious
fellowship
• Against adultery and drinking alcohol

Black Muslims
• The Nation of Islam became a well-known
and controversial organization
– Trace roots to W. Fard Muhammad in (1930)
– Became well-known and controversial under
Elijah Muhammad

Malcolm X
• Originally a member of the Nation of Islam
• Was the most powerful and brilliant voice
of Black self-determination in the 1960s
• Highly critical of the civil rights movement
in general and of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Malcolm X
• Remembered for:
– His sharp attacks on Black leaders
– His break with the Nation of Islam
– His apparent shift to support the formation of
coalitions with progressive whites
– Teaching that Black must resist violence “by
any means necessary.”

Malcolm X
• Created the Organization of Afro-
American Unity
– Meant to internationalize the Civil Rights
Movement
• Assassinated in 1964

Louis Farrakhan
• Most visible spokesperson among Muslim
groups in the African American community
• Anti-Israel foreign policy
• Leader of the 1995 Million Man March

Louis Farrakhan
• Pro: Self-help, bootstrap capitalism, and
strict punishment
• Against: Abortion, drugs, and
homosexuality

Immigration to the United States
• Some slaves were followers of Islam
• The National Origins System slowed
immigration to the United States
• In 1919, the first mosque was established
– And a variety of service agencies to help the
immigrant community

Immigration to the United States
• Professional-Preference Clauses within
1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act
– Increased immigration among Muslims and
Arabs

Mosques
• The mosques in metropolitan Detroit serve
an estimated 200,000 Muslims
• This is probably the largest Arab
community outside of the Arab world

Contemporary Life in the United
States
• Arab Americans tend to immigrate to
urban areas
• Fill skilled & professional roles in US
– And become self-employed merchants or
entrepreneurs

Contemporary Life in the United
States
• Operate stores in low-income areas of
central cities major retailers ignore
– Opportunities for success are great
• But face challenges of serving low-income
population with few consumer choices
• And history of being exploited by outsiders

Family Life and Gender
• Traditionally, Islam has permitted men to
have multiple wives—a maximum of four.
• Role of women receive much attention
because outer clothing is a:
– Conspicuous symbol that to some seem to
represent repression of women in society

• Perception of gender practices in Muslim
societies receive special attention
– By Western media
• Particularly dress codes

• Hijab
– A variety of garments that allow women to
follow the guidelines of modest dress
• There are differences in the role of
women within the faith and the mosque
• Segregations of the sexes in mosques

• Perspectives among Muslim women in US
and settlements outside Islamic countries
• Younger, better educated, support hijab but draw
upon Western ideas of individual rights
• Older, less-educated support hijab and make
arguments without reference to Western ideology
• Third group of all ages & education, oppose hijab

Education
• Recognize the importance of education
and value formal instruction in their faith
• Schools are specific to particular
expressions of Islam/specific nationalities

Education
• Children attending public schools
encounter the type of:
– Adjustment experienced by those of a
religious faith
• Different from the dominant one of society

Politics
• Muslim and Arab Americans are politically
aware and often active
• Most visible Arab American in politics
– Ralph Nader tried to open presidential politics
to a true alternative to the two-party system

Politics
• Muslims in the U.S. often express the
view:
– That their faith encourages political
participation
• There is a clear distancing that one can
observe between the major parties:
– And Muslims and Arab Americans

Politics
• Clear distancing between the major
parties and Muslim and Arab Americans
• Contrast to the catering of African
Americans and Latinos for votes

Politics
• News events have fueled anti-Arab and
anti-Muslim feeling
• 1972 terrorist raid at the Munich Olympics
• 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies,
Kenya and Tanzania
• September 11, 2001 engineered by Arab
Muslim extremists

Politics
• Racial Profiling
– Any arbitrary police-initiated action based on
race, ethnicity, or national origin
– Became intense after 9/11
• The registration process deepened fear
and disillusionment among:
– The many law-abiding Muslims in the U.S.

Issues of Prejudice and
Discrimination
• Motion pictures show Arabs and Muslims
as savages, untrustworthy, and barbaric
• On television, there is an overemphasis on
the extreme representations
• Surveys conducted after 9/11 found a
growing willingness to view:
– Arabs/Muslims as generally dangerous
people

Issues of Prejudice and
Discrimination
• Hate crimes and harassment rose sharply
after 9/11
• One in four people believe a number of
anti-Muslim stereotypes
• Arab and Muslim Americans have not
been passive to their treatment

Islamophobia
• A range of negative feelings toward
Muslims and their religion
– Ranges from generalized intolerance to
hatred

Schaefer c11 (1)

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