Sadly, Prejudice Against Arabs Is Still a Permissible Hatred In America

Following McCain's statement last week that Obama was not an Arab, "He's a good family man." I wrote a post about it and got the following email which I thought I would share.

Mr. Fleetwood-

I wanted to write you and thank you personally for your piece you
wrote for HuffingtonPost.com "An Arab Can't Be a Family Man?".

My parents came to this country 32 years ago from Egypt, my brother
and I were both born and raised in this country - and the McCain
campaign is fanning the idea that if you're Arab or Muslim you're less
American, less patriotic, and somehow suspect. We see how this plays
out on the campaign trail, but what about on main street? If these
crazies are willing to yell "kill him" at the potential President of
the United States, what would they do to their neighbor who may be or
Arab decent or may be Muslim?

Please continue to address this issue as it affects communities around
the country and ultimately our relationship with other nations around
the world.

Thank you,

Mohamed Abdel-Kader

In a post by By Bahija Reghai:

In the US, Rush Limbaugh recently (and falsely) reported that Barack Obama is an Arab- rather than African-American. Racism against African-Americans in the US may not be sufficient to block Senator Obama from the Presidency. But Limbaugh hopes the suggestion that he is actually of Arab ethnicity could do the trick. To compound the insult, the incident was widely reported as a "smear" on Mr. Obama, just as false accusations of him being a Muslim are frequently recounted.

Write to: [e-mail]

Follow Blake Fleetwood on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Blakefleet

Comments

[neesy08]

Thanks to the GOP and the war In Iraq, ignorant Americans now have another group of people to discriminate against

[munki]

Sad to see what is going on...
We all are born human = equal...
We have differences in opinion...
That opinion - if you have any 10 people in a room and ask one question..­.
you have 10 different opinions..­. it is just the human nature...
that is why we are unique...
Media could contribute more towards a true "melting pot"...

[Micro Brew]

It seems that it is more likely to be the urban intellectual secular Arabs or Muslims who complain about prejudice than the regular small business owners who run gas stations or convenience stores and get a concealed carry permit so that they can defend themselves form marauding criminals. I've noticed that the more pro-gun people are the less they tend to complain about being discriminated against.

[Bruupo]

That makes so much sense.

Especially when you consider that inner city African American neighborhoods have only ever had a gun store or pawn shop on every OTHER corner, not every corner.

Of course, those households almost universally own guns, and yet, often, you still can't go out and safely walk the streets at night. I guess that might have something to do with the rate criminals use guns in those neighborhoods, and the disproportionate rate of gun violence that happens there...

Wait, which people do you say complain about discrimination, again?

Hmmm, could it be that you just happen to only encounter "urban intellectual secular Arabs or Muslims" when they appear on news shows to discuss discrimination, and only encounter the "regular small business owner" types when you see them on "Cops" or "World's Wildest Police" shows?

You Betcha'

Especially since Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, etc...have to fear HATE CRIMES (not discrimination) more from uncultured, pro-gun, insane 9/11 inspired racist "patriots" than from "marauding criminals".

Or is it your position that "marauding criminals" discriminate? Do you even know the meaning of these terms?

I mean, I'm sure concealed carry permits would have done soooo much to prevent racist assassinations that have been carried out in this country against innocent Muslims and Sikhs, but anytime I see an interview with any one middle eastern or Indian they all mention how frightened they are by the increase in violent racism against them since 9/11.

[ReallyScared]

After living in an area with a large Arab & Muslim population including a large # of small business owners and operators, i find some fault with your argument.

The conditions you identify for the small Arab or Muslim businessman (in the Detroit area, many of the Arabs are Christian while many of the Muslims are not Arabs) are not that different from small business owners who are black or white. They are successful when they offer a product &/or service that the community wants at a price they can handle.

Arab & Muslim businessman become successful because at times other businesses have chosen to abandon certain communities - they see it as an opportunity.

I've seen many instances when they have established strong connections to the people who frequent their establishments. It's not that they aren't the subjects of predjudice or misunderstandings but in an strange way its the old "our Arab is the good one" sydrome

[GraneeWetherwaxx]

I was wondering when someone was going to point out that "Arab" and "Muslim" should not be used as insults.
We are still a democracy, and we still do prize freedom of religion. That means all religions. When you pander to the lowest common denominator, don't be surprised when what you get is ignorant, hate speech fueled by fear.
For everyone who is "afraid" of Barack Obama, he isn't Muslim, but SO WHAT IF HE WAS? I'm agnostic, but in the last 2 weeks I've been so PO'd about this issue, I've considered converting. To all you knee-jerk, Hannity listening, Fox "News" watching, conservatives out there, Pull your heads out of your posterior regions, folks, and try to represent yourselves a little better than you have so far.

[Sharjawi]

Now Arabs, now Muslims...

But who's next?

Blacks, Jews, Irish, Italians, Koreans, Arabs....w­ho's next?

Catholics? Mormons? Methodists? Jews? Hindus? Buddhists? Muslims?..­.who's next?

Gays? People with disability? War vets?...wh­o's next?

Arab Americans you might know:
Casey Cassem
Hoda Kotb is a correspondent for NBC’s “Dateline” and Jim Avila, who is of Lebanese and Mexican descent, is a national correspondent for NBC News.
Green party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and the founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Candy Lightner.
Jacques Nasser was formerly the president and CEO of Ford Motor Company.
The chairman of the board of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company is Samir G. Gibara.

For more:
http://www.aaiusa.org/arab-americans/23/famous-arab-americans

Nanee Ogg for Obama -Biden