Arab-American Soup

While President Barack Obama works to reform relations between the United States and the Arab world through his sojourns abroad, the developing relationship between Arab-Americans and mainstream, white America has become increasingly interesting.

The metaphor of
 the “melting pot” is most commonly used in the United States to describe how different immigrant cultures have been able to blend together in order to form a single, unified group.

I sometimes felt, as a child growing up in America, that my Arab culture and heritage were not fully represented in the “melting pot” of the U.S. In the 1990s, American culture typically divided people based on ethnicity and background. There were three categories and only three categories: Whites, Blacks and Hispanics.

A diversionary media that widely failed to represent either the daily lives or concerns of other cultural groups in American society encouraged these divisions, highlighting differences and ignoring common bonds. Society limited itself to only these generic brands, leaving anyone outside the aforementioned clear-cut racial boundaries confined to an obscure minority and resigned to the fringes of American life, to an “other” category that guaranteed insignificance.

One of my clearest memories of my childhood in Ohio was being unable to choose which group to play with- the black kids or the white kids. Neither set represented my own background and I had trouble discovering how to fit in. That experience, among others, left me wondering where those of us who don’t fit neatly into a pre-determined “American” mold belong.

As time progressed, I also began to see Americans of Asian descent represented in the mixture of identities portrayed in the media. But Arabs and Muslims, despite the fact that we were equal in number to Asian-Americans, remained unseen by the mainstream media and by society as a whole.

The metaphor of “the melting pot” is used in America to describe how different immigrant cultures are able to meld together in order to form one single culture. An essential part of this metaphor, however, is that newcomers will be absorbed into the mainstream of society.

As a result of this tendency towards assimilation, American children of all backgrounds share common experiences, such as attending the Prom, going to ballet lessons, or spending the night at a friend’s house; while seemingly common-place, these are activities that many Arabs, and especially the Muslims among them, feel are out of line with our culture. We are, culturally and often religiously, excluded from vital parts of the American experience.

This made it easier for us to label ourselves as outsiders and to see ourselves as a community set apart. We Arabs simply declared ourselves different instead of understanding the common humanity inside of all people and realizing that all those who strive to obtain the American dream share a passion and a desire to live that is unique to this nation of immigrants.

Many Arab-Americans were born in the United States and have spent their entire lives here. They consider their fundamental aspirations to be the same as all Americans. Arab immigrants continue to come to America with the hope of building a better life for their families, like all immigrants do. They want to have job opportunities, to live in peace with their families. Is complete assimilation necessary in order to build a strong American society? To ensure homeland security? In my opinion, the answer is a resounding no.

The truth of the matter is that the United States has always been more of a cultural soup than a melting pot. The traditional white, protestant culture that dominated the U.S. for many years has given way to a society far more accepting of cultural, religious and ethnic differences. Today, people from many backgrounds stand tall and announce their pride in their unique heritages.

Amidst the rise of cultural individuality, mainstream “white” American culture has tried to integrate aspects of other ethnicities and other backgrounds into the mix. For example, the bilingual children’s program “Dora the Explorer”, which teaches children Spanish through interactive television, enjoys popularity with children from a wide range of backgrounds. Italian and Chinese dishes are considered a routine part of American cuisine. Films like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” celebrate cultural heritage and the television program “the OC” made the use of “Chrismukkah”, a word that captures the spirit of both Christmas and Chanukah, popular across the country.

Today, Arab and Muslim cultures are also strongly present in daily American life. Arabic has become a popular second language to study in American schools, not for purely political reasons but because it is a beautiful and expressive language. In time, media and television have begun to celebrate Arab-American families and to support their identity and individuality – we are now openly incorporated into the vast mixture that is American culture rather than being shunned and avoided for being “different”.

Americans have learned how to appreciate music from groups like
 Outlandish, a band with members from different religious and ethnic backgrounds that explores the connection between religion and life through music. There is also Native Deen, a group of Muslim Americans of African decent who sing about the hardships Muslims face in America.

The truth of the matter is, the American soup will always be flavored with the spices of cultures from around the world; today, Arab-Americans are proud to now add our own heritage to the mix and become part of the American aroma.