Marginalized Groups – Middle Easterners and North Africans
Overview of Middle Easterners and North African American History.
There is no single term used to incorporate Americans of North African/Middle Eastern descent, but the official word used in the census is Arab Americans. Immigration of Middle Easterners and North Africans into America occurred in three particular waves. The first wave was between 1890 and 1920, when Christian workers from Syria and other areas migrated while seeking economic freedom (Fahrenthold 2019). The second wave was after the Second World War and the making of Israel, causing many Palestinians to move to America. The third wave happened in 1965 after the biased immigration laws were reformed. This wave was composed mostly of Muslims from Palestine, North Africa, Egypt, Yemen, and Iraq. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.
Overview of Arab Americans’ treatment in America
Most Arab immigrants, especially those from Iran, were individuals from privileged societies in Iran and were extremely educated; however, many of these settlers never became rich despite their achievements. Since the 1970s, open aggression between the US and Iranian governments has spread to all Arab communities (Ali 2017). For instance, in 1980, there was a hostage emergency in Iran at the US consulate, which resulted in widespread brutality, discrimination, and harassment. In 1991, there were numerous anti-Arab activities during the Gulf War, including attempted murder, pyro-crime, assault, and bombings. In 1995, a federal building was besieged in Oklahoma. America pinned it on the Arabs, prompting violence against this community until the authorities found out that the white anti-government militia was responsible.
The tension between these Arabs and Americans increased after the September 11, 2001, attacks on American soil. Across the country, Arab Americans were racially profiled and confronted with discrimination and provocation in their communities and at the hands of government agencies, for instance, subjective detention, forceful checks, and questioning in airports and border intersections.
According to the NIAC (National Iranian-American Council), up to date, the Arab community is subjected to ill-advised workplace background verifications, surveillance and interrogations, deportation, and inappropriate enlistment of informants within the community. Arab Americans, comprised of different communities lumped together, all share the brunt of prevalent anti-Arab prejudice (Ali 2017). Whenever there is a confrontation between the US government and a Middle Eastern country, the group is subjected to an outbreak of hatred.
Characteristics that make Arab Americans a minority
The first trait that defines Arab Americans as a minority group is their distinctive physical and cultural traits, i.e., Skin tone, dialect, and religion. The second trait is unfair treatment and less control over their lives; Arab Americans are subject to harassment, prejudice, racial profiling, and sometimes murder. The third characteristic is compulsory membership to the group; one is born as an Arab, which is something one can’t control.
The fourth trait is the familiarity of subordination; Arab Americans know how they are perceived in the country; for instance, children are taught how to act if the police stop them from avoiding being killed due to racial profiling. The last trait that defines Arab Americans as a minority is the high number of in-group marriages; to preserve their culture, religion, and solidarity, Arab Americans marry within their communities (McEntire 2020).
Arab American’s relationship with poverty and class
A study done in 2019 by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found that 37 percent of American Muslim households live below the federal poverty level (Norman 2020). This has been attributed to two main challenges: being refugees or immigrating with limited resources and second is discrimination challenges. However, the rest of the population was found to live a comfortable life, which was attributed to their education. An Arab American is twice as likely to have a degree as an average American. Over 46 percent of Arab Americans have higher education compared to 28 percent of all Americans.
Arab American’s relationship with class/poverty relation to intersectionality
Arab American’s relationship with class and poverty is related to intersectionality. Studies on Arab American women show a pattern of attaining high education but with low labor force participation. This is because of the complex relationship between their culture and religion (Karaman et al., 2020).
References
Fahrenthold, S. D. (2019). Arab Labor Migration in the Americas, 1880-1930. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History.
Ali, R. (2017). In Response to Narrative of Stereotypes: Arab American Playwright Reclaim and Fortify Arab American Representation. Gramma: Journal of Theory and Criticism, 24, 81-91.
McEntire, D. (2020). VI ECONOMIC STATUS AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MINORITY GROUPS. In Residence and Race (pp. 105-118). University of California Press.
Noman, A. A. (2020). Arab American Novel: Development and Issues. Studies in Literature and Language, 20(2), 68-73.
Karaman, N., & Christian, M. (2020). “My Hijab is Like My Skin Color.” Muslim Women Students, Racialization, and Intersectionality. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 6(4), 517-532.
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Question 
Thus far in this class, we’ve been focused on sociologically defining marginalized groups within the United States, as well as attempting to understand a bit of each group’s history. One of the most important ways that a person can demonstrate cultural competence is to be educated. That’s saying that it’s vital to try to understand how a person’s history affects their identity, which in turn affects their opportunities and sense of personal agency.
Middle Easterners and North Africans
Now, it’s time for you to apply what you’ve learned so far. There are groups of minorities that we have not had the opportunity to discuss. Please choose a group that we’ve not discussed yet. In essay form, address the following issues:
1)A brief overview of this group’s American history.
2)A brief overview of this group’s treatment in the United States.
3)Why would you define this group as a “minority”?
4)What is this group’s relationship with class and/or poverty?
5)Could this group’s relationship with class/poverty relate to intersectionality? Why or why not?
Note: You can talk about Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders or Middle Easterners and North Africans.