Spring Break
Column: Celebrating Arab-American Heritage Month
Brenna McCabe
Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
04/15/09 - After Sept. 11, 2001, I was one of many who was awestruck and horrified at the racial profiling taking place in airports, train stations and highways.
It wasn't just because racial profiling is wrong, but also because deep down, I feared I would become a victim.
I remember weeks after the tragedy, when I was taking a stroll with my father down Blackstone Boulevard in Providence one day, and he told me to do something that never sat quite right with me: to keep my nationality out of conversation.
My skin doesn't reflect my Lebanese heritage much - I was somehow blessed with Irish skin that burns at the sight of sunshine - but he was still worried that if I went around spreading word about my "Arab roots," I'd somehow get myself into trouble.
It all seems a bit silly now, seeing as much of the hostility toward Arab-Americans that came after the terrorist attacks has died down. But with so many major American news outlets bombarding readers and viewers with enough information on a war-torn Middle East to fill volumes, it still makes me uneasy to see so many stereotypes still being applied to Arab-Americans.
There are some places in the United States, however, that are addressing common views on Arab-American culture and attempting to give Americans the stories behind the news stories. The month of April, in fact, is Arab-American Heritage Month in Maryland.
Two years before Sept. 11, the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland deemed April as "Arab-American Heritage Month" in celebration of its Middle Eastern population.
The month highlights several unknown aspects of Arab culture (not only are Arab-Americans stereotyped as "terrorists" and "women-haters," but they are also sometimes boiled down to an old language and falafel wraps.)
But there is more to Arab-American culture than baklava and Allah, the most important aspect of their traditions being the prominence of family.
This is what I couldn't wrap my head around after the terrorist attacks in Manhattan took place - people were being tormented for their dark features and olive skin when a majority of Arab-Americans were stricter about family values than a lot of Irish, Italian and German families I knew.
It wasn't just because racial profiling is wrong, but also because deep down, I feared I would become a victim.
I remember weeks after the tragedy, when I was taking a stroll with my father down Blackstone Boulevard in Providence one day, and he told me to do something that never sat quite right with me: to keep my nationality out of conversation.
My skin doesn't reflect my Lebanese heritage much - I was somehow blessed with Irish skin that burns at the sight of sunshine - but he was still worried that if I went around spreading word about my "Arab roots," I'd somehow get myself into trouble.
It all seems a bit silly now, seeing as much of the hostility toward Arab-Americans that came after the terrorist attacks has died down. But with so many major American news outlets bombarding readers and viewers with enough information on a war-torn Middle East to fill volumes, it still makes me uneasy to see so many stereotypes still being applied to Arab-Americans.
There are some places in the United States, however, that are addressing common views on Arab-American culture and attempting to give Americans the stories behind the news stories. The month of April, in fact, is Arab-American Heritage Month in Maryland.
Two years before Sept. 11, the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland deemed April as "Arab-American Heritage Month" in celebration of its Middle Eastern population.
The month highlights several unknown aspects of Arab culture (not only are Arab-Americans stereotyped as "terrorists" and "women-haters," but they are also sometimes boiled down to an old language and falafel wraps.)
But there is more to Arab-American culture than baklava and Allah, the most important aspect of their traditions being the prominence of family.
This is what I couldn't wrap my head around after the terrorist attacks in Manhattan took place - people were being tormented for their dark features and olive skin when a majority of Arab-Americans were stricter about family values than a lot of Irish, Italian and German families I knew.
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