Why is she not considered an American?

Question

My friend was born and raised in America and has a Western European mother and an Arab father. Once people find out she is half Arabic, they tend to start referring to her as "Arabic" instead of referring to her as "American." Is as though they consider her as if she just got off the plane from the middle east. she doesn't look very arab, but as soon as they find out she is, i feel like people begin to take her "americaness" away from her. why? what do you think?

Answer 1

Eleanor Roosevelt once said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  I believe the same is true about taking away anyone's "Americanness."

If your friend was born in the US, she is indeed legally a US citizen. She just needs to not consent to those ignorant people..and instead correct them and let them know you can be of "Arabic descent" and STILL be American!

Being American means many different things, it's not just about mom, the flag, apple pie, Leave It To Beaver, suburbia, right-wing Christianity and unrelenting whiteness! Just look at how many famous Americans there are of Arab descent who have made an indelible stamp on American culture...like Khalil Gibran, Ralph Nadar, Danny and Marlo Thomas, and Casey Kasem to name but a few.

You might want to direct your friend to Casey's very interesting book Arab Americans: Making A Difference. It has an extensive list of names of famous Arab Americans past and present. See link below.

Answer 2

I'm not saying that this is her specific problem, but in many cases like this, people look for this kind of situation.  This country was built by immigrants, but the HUGE difference between those founding immigrants and the immigrants of today is that the founding ones came here TO BE Americans. The immigrants nowadays come here just to live in America but not to become one.  Read about our founding fathers and the immigrants that helped to build these nation and see if you won't be able to find a single ONE of them that was a *hyphenated* American.  They never forgot who they were and never forgot where they came from, but they felt proud TO BE an American, not a *hyphenated* one.....

Answer 3

she lives here but she isnt a native....her race is different..

Answer 4

People like to put everything in their little "labeled" boxes as a measure of control. (or so they think) I don't think they are trying to take anything away from her, but rather differentiate her. It's not really a bad thing.

Answer 5

was she born here? if so she is American but if not that is how people judge sorry   oh i was  wondering is your name really bonnie? just wondering and will tell you why i ask e-mail me back ok thanks

Answer 6

That's really sad.

But anyway, I think people don't mean to suggest that she isn't American, but instead they're using "Arab" in place of a race. In America we're pretty limited with our races. A lot more limited than most European countries. So here, even if someone has been born and raised up here we may still call them Mexican/Asian/Arab/etc. I'm sure it isn't intentional. Just that people are a tad bit ignorant (including myself). You should tell her to just explain to people that while she has descendants from the middle east, she was born and raised in America and would prefer not to be refereed to as Arab.

Or she could simply ask to be called an Arab-American instead.

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I think the person below me is really offensive. You miss her point. She IS American. Just as American as you or I. She isn't an immigrant. And yes, most of the times when people come here to live in America, they come here to BE an American. Do some kind of research.