Introduction
The Arabs have inhabited the United States for more than a century. Their immigration into the United States can be dated back to as early as the 1880s. Despite this fact, not many Arab American anthology of poetry have been published in English. The first one was published as late as 1988 (Akash & Mattawa, 1999). These patterns were described through the three major waves.
They represent their immigration into the state in large numbers. Many people claim that they left their home countries due to reasons revolving around religion and politics. However, evidence suggest otherwise. It suggests that they came into the country in order to gain economically. There seemed to be many economic opportunities in the country (Luderscher, 2006).
The relationship between the Native Americans and the Arabs were mixed. The native occupants did not easily notice those who came into the country earlier. Those who settled in farms did not have problems with their neighbors.
However, this relationship took a turn after the third wave of the immigration in to the United States. It even became worse when the price of oil was increased three-fold. This led to the war between the Arabs and the Israeli. This saw the occupations of the Arabs and Muslims to include terrorism and they became greedy for oil.
War on terrorism ensued and this marked the beginning of hatred between the Arabs (Muslims) and the Americans. Arabs have since then had trouble feeling at home in the United States. This relates to the work by Abu-Jaber in her book, Crescent, which shows how the Arabs suffered in war and continue to suffer currently.
There exists a general public opinion held against the Arab Americans in the United States. They have for been regarded as inferior for a long been. These factors have negatively affected the current experience of the Arab Americans in the US. This has led to the need to restore the past (Cherif, 2003).
The works by Diana Abu-Jaber show some of the issues that the Arabs immigrating to the U.S. have faced. Abu-Jaber has written two books, the Crescent and Arabian Jazz. In the novel, Arabian Jazz, Abu-Jaber discusses the concept of identity.
She relates it to both the immigrants and those born in the U.S. She shows how those from the different classes and facing family issues are disregarded. In her book, Crescent, Abu-Jaber shows the difficulties faced by immigrants from Arab origin.
In particular, the Arabian Jazz uses jazz in the book and relates it to the Arab American identity issues that occurred in the US. This occurred in the 1990s. This novel is mainly rooted in the politics and issues in the states. It also touches on the issues that characterized the occupations of many Arab American writers. Most of these issues faced those people who worked between the 1980s and 90s.
Background information
Arabs have a large history of discrimination in the United States. Historically, they were considered ânot whiteâ. Later on, they were referred as not quite white. It was only later that they were legally referred as whites (Hartman, 2006).
Hartman (2006) studied the racial hierarchy in the United States in order to determine the position of the Arab Americans. This was necessary to know the privileges and inequalities that they face in the US.
Hartman argued that the book by Abu-Jaber and other similar authors used strategies of identity. She suggested that Arabian Jazz aligned and connected the writers with African Americans. She argued that Abu-Jaber did this by employing particular symbols in her text that was affiliated to the black American.
She demonstrated how all the text invoked African American art (music) as a synonym for black America. She proposes that that was a location for possible solidarity in the development of Arab American identities.
There exists a complex relationship between the African Americans and the Arab Americans. That relationship is characterized with the racialization of the Arab Americans in the US. They are marginalized and not considered as non-whites. This has forced many Arab Americans to seek to make links with other groups. These groups include the people of color such as the African Americans.
These groups have for a long time shared in their grievances since they went through the same thing. This included racial profiling. This is whereby they were arrested or killed for organizing in politics. This also occurred when they were suspected of being involved in the above crimes (Hartman, 2006).
Arabs have undergone scrutiny from the government due to various reasons. The reasons include discrimination, activities that depict hate, racial profiling and the ruining of the economy. One of the acts of hate includes hate crimes. This is whereby crime is based on a specific bias or prejudice.
This is mainly because of the difference in race, religion or ethnicity. This has led to the coming up of laws against this form of crime. One of such laws includes the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. This also led to the enhancing of the penalties for such criminal acts.
Abu-Jaber looked at the issue of homelessness as she studies the flashbacks from the characters in the novel. The Arab Americans that are described in her novel flash back at the bitter experiences they had. They went through dispossession and had difficulties at the borders. However, they all had dreams of making a home in the United States (Cherif, 2003). Their lives as children were filled with unhappy moments.
They faced hostility, physical aggression and racism in their youthful days. Abu-Jaber shows in her novel how the Arab Americans had issues of identity in both the U.S. and Jordan. This is represented in the jazz metaphor that characterizes the whole text in the novel. Since some of the Arab Americans could not be easily identified as blacks or whites, their identity was questioned by other characters in the book.
Another challenge faced by the Arab Americans, particularly women, is in their occupation. Women writers are often criticized because they have been thought to abandon their cultures and adopted those from the west (Ludescher, 2006). Feminism is eminent when it comes to the Arabs. Women have always been treated in such a way as to use it as a tool against the Arabs. It has been used to attack the entire Arab community.
Another issue that the Arab American writers have had to go through is the issue of the terrorist attack of September 2011. They were shocked by the incident and felt betrayed since the terrorists created a bad image to the entire Arab community.
This negatively affected the work that many Arab American writers had done. This was the attempt to correct the negative perceptions of the Arab Americans. This was mainly the anti-Arab stereotyping in the society.
Research objectives
This paper aims at identifying some of the issues faced by Arabs who have immigrated in the United States of America or those attempting to immigrate. This will show some of the challenges they face because of the nature of their ethnicities, race and religion. This will be based on the work done by Abu-Jaber (Arabian Jazz and Crescent).
Methodology
In order to understand some of the challenges faced by the Arabs and Arab Americans, surveys would be required to be done in order to get first hand information. The targeted population includes both the Native Americans and the Arab Americans.
The Native Americans would be targeted so as to get their views and perceptions about the Arabs. This would provide their position on the whole issue. On the other hand, the Arabs would provide the information about some to the issues they face in America.
Data collection would be done using questionnaires and interviews. This would be done for both groups. In order to get information that is not biased, individuals from different regions (cities) will be interviewed. The data collected would then be analyzed and the results drafted.
Significance for the study
This study would be significant because this issue is current and significant. The Arab Americans have for a long time felt different and need to feel part of the greater American society. Looking at the literature surrounding this issue, including Abu-Jaberâs work, it is evident that Arabs face many problems America. This study would help identify the problems and propose possible solutions.
References
Akash, M., & Mattawa, K. (1999). Post-Gibrab: Anthology of new Arab American Writing. New York, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Cherif, S.E. (2003). Arab American Literature: Gendered Memory in Abinader and Abu-Jaber. Melus, 28(4), 207-228.
Hartman, M. (2006). This sweet music: Jazz, Sam Cooke and reading Arab American Literary identities. Arab American Literature, 31(4), 145-165.
Ludescher, T. (2006). Nostalgia to critique: An overview of Arab American Literature. Arab American Literature, 31(4), 93-114.