NAAP-Boston

Recently, I read a blog post by fellow NAAP member, Eman Ahmed, on the pitfalls of being an Arab-American woman.  (Click here to read more).  In that post, Eman writes, “If being a wife and mother is considered the ultimate goal for an Arab woman, and being educated makes that goal harder to obtain, you’re left with a whole assembly of educated Arab women who are made to feel as failures within their own community for being unable to achieve that goal. For every sense of accomplishment she achieves with her career, the Arab woman is made to feel a sense of inadequacy for being that much further from her ultimate goal. It’s a double-edged sword that slowly stabs at the soul of each Arab woman.– she is restricted to living in her family home, only to leave when entering her husband’s home.”

Now, I don’t know if I agree with Eman entirely.  I do, however, agree with her assertion that Arab-American women, especially recent immigrants and first generation, are held to a much different standard than their American counterparts.  I know that my marriage was celebrated much more than my educational accomplishments.  And that my mother is more interested in when I am planning to have children than how well my career is going. 

What really fascinates me though is the role women themselves play in this state of affairs.  After all, if my mother is asking me about children, didn’t her mother do the same?  And what can I do as a future mother to break the cycle?

As I have grown older (and supposedly wiser), I recognize that my mother’s action do not revolve solely around perpetuating the culture she grew up in. They stem from her desire to see me connected to my heritage.  She understood that my acceptance into this community hinged on adhering to its norms and felt it to be her responsibility to teach me those norms.

I don’t know if I have really lived up to my mother’s standards.  The truth is that I did as many things as I could my own way.  And doing so has opened my eyes to the price my mother knew I would pay.  I wouldn’t have done it differently though.

The question is – will I tell that to my daughter?

Posted by FarrahHaidar at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

About four years ago, I was in Amman for a visit. One evening, I was out with some friends and one of them asked me whether during my stay in the US I had encountered any prejudice or discrimination. At the time, my answer was no. It could have been that I had been in the US for only one year, or that I was living in Detroit (which has the biggest Arab and Muslim concentration in the country and is a very culturally diverse city), or that I was studying at the University of Michigan in Dearborn which has a big Arab student body.

Now, four years later, I would have to say that my answer has changed. Having finished school, worked for a few years, traveled more throughout the country and met a number of different people, I ask myself -  what are the biggest difficulties and challenges that we as Arab Americans face in the workplace and in the society in general? What kind of misconceptions do people have about us? Most importantly, what should we do about it and how should we deal with it?

I believe that Arab Americans have a responsibility to face these difficulties and misconceptions and try to change them. From my personal experience, I have found that one of the best ways to do that is to start with being an example for people, whether its at the workplace by having the right work ethics of being honest, hard working and diligent; or by showing people how our cultural values and our beliefs might be a bit different than theirs, but ultimately they do not contradict with theirs; or by being a good neighbor and friend to people in our community. We can show people that we are not so different after all.  Just like them, we strive to build a good life for ourselves and contribute to this society.

I had a bit of a surreal experience the other day. While visiting my Lebanese hairdresser (he’s the best, by the way, let me know if you are looking), I picked up an Arabic women’s magazine with the headline, “60% of marriages suffer from boredom – learn what you can do”.  My curiosity was piqued.  So, I started to read.

First, my eyes widened. Then, I began to laugh.  I could not believe it.  The article read worst the most 1950s American articles.  How could this have been published?

Now, at this point, you might be asking – so, what’s your point?  Well, my fascination led me to do a little research on Arab publishing and what I found astounded me.  It should astound you too.

The 2002 UN Arab Human Development report remarks on the “dearth of creativity” in the Arab world. There is a severe shortage of new writing and a decline in the film industry. Foreign book translation is also low: in the 1,000 years since the reign of the Caliph Mamoun, say the authors, the Arabs have translated as many books as Spain translates in one year.

To put it bluntly, in the age of blogs, RSS feeds, YouTube, podcasts and enewsletters,you are what you publish and Arab nations are publishing less than anyone else. 

Posted by FarrahHaidar at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

At NAAP-Boston, we often get asked basic questions such as - how have Americans of Arab descent contributed to the US?

Arab-American professionals have a long-history in the United States demonstrating their strong commitment to family, economic and educational achievements. They tend to be highly educated, entrepreneurial and affluent. Here are some basic facts:

1. More than four out of ten Americans of Arab decent have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 24% of Americans at large. Seventeen percent of Arab Americans have a post-graduate degree, which is nearly twice the American average (9%).

2. Seventy three percent of working Arab Americans are employed in managerial, professional, technical, sales or administrative fields.

3. Median income for Arab American households in 1999 was $47,000 and close to 30% of persons of Arab heritage have an annual household income of more than $75,000.

So, how successful are Arab-Americans?  The simple answer is very.

*All statistics and facts are from AAI's QuickFacts About Arab-Americans publications.

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