How often do you encounter anti-Arab sentiment?

[maize]

I occasionally run across blatant anti-Arab sentiment, and it always surprises me. Is this really a common thing in American society? Mostly I hear about it second hand when talking to people from the Middle East--a friend from Iraq who evades questions about where she is from because she has had too many negative responses in the past, or recently a woman from Syria who was here for medical treatment and had some really nasty encounters with people. Neither of these particular women is even Islamic so it's not just religious bias working against them. One (supposedly Christian) man specifically told the Syrian woman (who he knew was a Christian) that he would never help an Arab. 

 

I was talking with some other parents this week about foreign language instruction (in the context of immersion programs in elementary school) and mentioned that ideally I would have my children learn Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic. One man reacted to just the mention of the Arabic language as if I had suggested exposing my children to the bubonic plague. 

[TravelingChris]

I don't come across it in real life but have come across it a little online.  

[mellifera33]

Yes, unfortunately. I hear it quite a bit from my family. Surprisingly, from younger family members--30s and 40s. 

[redsquirrel]

Occasionally.  Never here in the town I live in, but it's fairly diverse. But, when I go home, a small town, it's definitely there.  It's casual and thrown around like gay slurs were used when I was a kid. No one raises and eyebrow. 

[Carrie12345]

Not so much Arab. A lot Muslim.

[marbel]

Never.  I'm always surprised when I hear people talk about all the people around them who express hatred for various groups.  I just don't experience that. 

Edited July 22, 2016 by marbel

[obsidian]

I hear a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment & most of the people I hear it from also seem to think Arab = Muslim.

[JustEm]

In real life I've never encountered it.

[Roadrunner]

A lot. I have heard serious suggestions that dropping nukes to kill them all is a very practical solution. The best way to get rid of scum.  In all seriousness. 

 

[fdrinca]

I also encounter anti-Muslim sentiment, with a generalization of Arab = Muslim. Mostly on Facebook, but I feel like our pastor has crossed some lines in his discussion of Muslims. (So much so that I've written him and our Bishop about it.) 

[Guest]

Zero. I live in a diverse area.

[Crimson Wife]

One of my friends is married to a man whose family emigrated from Egypt. They are Baha'i and the family actually suffered persecution from Muslims (that is why they left Egypt). But they still run into discrimination :-( It was really bad in the aftermath of 9/11 and then got better for a bit. But with all the ISIS-linked terrorist attacks, they are pretty concerned.

[Mimm]

Mostly in a very vague "they're out to get us" kind of way. Online I encounter it, from people I know in real life. Linking articles or whatever saying all Muslims are radical, and so on. My grandfather is very very right wing and is genuinely afraid of Arabs. Not that they'll manage to get him personally, but that they're going to destroy our country. (He speaks in this "us and them" type of language.)

[Um_2_4]

smh.... Yes. I also find that many think Muslim=Arab and are shocked when I open my mouth and speak perfect English with no accent. Many assume I am Syrian, because I am fair. Even though the majority of the world's Muslims come from South and SE Asia (>60% of Muslims, last I checked LOL).

Obviously not people I know, but people who feel free to come up and say things to me or around me (loud enough for me to hear obviously  :glare: ). Especially about how many kids I have (only 4 fyi) and how backwards and oppressed I must be :lol: and how I'm in America now and should drop my hijab and DH like a hot potato, they obviously don't know me. :laugh: (< that was a more recent comment.) 

And I live on the west coast, you'd think I wouldn't encounter it that much. :huh:

[Mimm]

Not so much Arab. A lot Muslim.

 

This is true. Most of what I hear is against Muslims but I doubt most of the people making these types of remarks would know the difference or even care much.

[gardenmom5]

I don't come across it irl, but have come across bloviating types online.

 

dh's grandfather was born in what is today Syria.

[Carrie12345]

I don't come across it irl, but have come across bloviating types online.

 

dh's grandfather was born in what is today Syria.

 

My dh's, too. And yet many of his Syrian relatives ARE anti-Syrian refugees.  Because, Muslim.

[3 ladybugs]

I hear it sometimes but in the anti-muslim context. I think a majority of the people I know that says these things are just ignorant in the sense that their circle of friends looks and acts just like them and they have never had a situation where they had to make friends with people outside that circle. 

 

Ignorance breeds fear and fear breeds stupid comments. 

[umsami]

Regarding learning the Arabic language (which is one of the offical UN languages and is spoken by hundreds of millions of people), I remember ginormous controversy when there was an Arabic-immersion program planned for a school of Brooklyn.  NYC is usually rather tolerant of these things. 

 

Remember how Klinger was proud of his Lebanese heritage on M*A*S*H? Casey Kasem?  Etc.  I don't think Klinger would have been written as Lebanese-Aerican today.  I'm not sure Casey Kasem would have been as successful.   Midwest (especially Detroit) historically was home to tons of Lebanese immigrants (often Christian, but not always) who came to work in the auto plants.  There is also a huge Chaldean community there.  (Iraqi Christian.)

 

My kids have been teased and harassed for being Muslim and for being Arab.   However, I will say if they tell people they're "half Egyptian, like King Tut" people always don't get the connection.   My eldest two have decided not to be Muslim and say that they are Christian, not because of theological reasons, but because they're tired of being called terrorists, rag he*d, and some other less printable things. 

 

In my part of Florida, there's a sandwich known as a "camel rider".  Basically lunch meat on pita bread.  Not sure if they'd call it that today, but it's accepted as OK in this community. 

 

Less than 20% of the world's Muslims are Arab, but most think it's more like 90%. 

[3 ladybugs]

Umsami I am sorry your children have to hide who they are. No one should have to do that, not the least of which is children. 

[Kerileanne99]

 

My kids have been teased and harassed for being Muslim and for being Arab. However, I will say if they tell people they're "half Egyptian, like King Tut" people always don't get the connection. My eldest two have decided not to be Muslim and say that they are Christian, not because of theological reasons, but because they're tired of being called terrorists, rag he*d, and some other less printable things.

 

In my part of Florida, there's a sandwich known as a "camel rider". Basically lunch meat on pita bread. Not sure if they'd call it that today, but it's accepted as OK in this community.

 

Less than 20% of the world's Muslims are Arab, but most think it's more like 90%.

I am so sorry. I don't even have words for how horrible and unacceptable this is...and I say this because I recently had to have a discussion with my dd6 on the difference between 'lies' and 'little white lies' because she was so incredibly anxious about a somewhat similar scenario in which she might be ostracized:(

 

I find it is very common among my European friends at the moment...my PhD-educated German friends who are ANGRY that little German villages across Germany are 'losing their heritage' due to massive influxes of refugees (they equate refugees with Muslim/Islam/and ISIS?!)... Hubby is British, and Father-in-Law related a story about how a family attempted to open a High Street shop wearing 'Muslim costumes', and how the local people got together to boycott. (Both sons responded with heated repudiation of the idea, to little avail)

And so on...

It makes me want to scream and cry at the same time:)

[Haiku]

Almost every day. It's disgusting.

[6packofun]

Only from my own mom, which makes me sad.  She has always been pretty xenophobic, though.  (I assume she got it from her parents or at least dad, but I didn't spend enough time with them to hear it myself.)

 

She's made comments about being suspicious of a (she says) Muslim guy at work.  He's been a little in-your-face, apparently; otherwise he's very anti-social.  So for her, that translates into possibly very dangerous.  Of course, anyone COULD be possibly dangerous if you know nothing about them. 

 

(I posted here before about my mom becoming more paranoid, but this xenophobic attitude has always been there and it's growing a bit as she gets older.)

[catz]

How often do I encounter the attitude?  Never directly.  I'm in a diverse, urban area and I'm white.  I dated an Arab guy briefly in my 20's. 

 

I suspect Arab people encounter it all the time though.

 

Last week there was an interesting re-broadcast on NPR about an Arab American who was pretending he was Jewish in NYC and how many advantages it afforded it. 

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/03/419492948/a-little-white-lie

[madteaparty]

Nm

Edited July 22, 2016 by madteaparty

[SproutMamaK]

Not often in the people I see on a day to day basis, but I know the older generation of my extended family holds some very anti-Muslim views, which in their minds is the same as anti-Arab. Because, as many others have said, to them Muslim = Arab and vice versa. I've "discussed" it with my parents numerous times to the point of damaging our relationship, so at this point it's become an issue that we all ignore with the recognition that no one is actually open to changing their minds on it.

[Tap]

I am blue eyed/blond hair/pale skin, so I don't have personal experience with discrimination in the part of the USA I live in.

 

Up until recently,  I had not seen or heard negative comments or disparity about anyone, who from outward appearances or accent,  would make people think they are from the Middle-East, Arabic, are Muslim or any other variation of this.  I have several coworkers who are men from Iran, Iraq and other smaller countries and they have accents so it is pretty obvious that they are not originally from here. 

 

But, we once had a pharmacy intern who wore a Hajib.  She was dark complected but had no accent or other easily identifiable trait that made her look anything other than an American. She was a very sweet, polite girl who was great at her job.  The day after a customer saw her in our pharmacy, they called us and transferred all of their prescriptions out to another store.   They made sure to let us know, without a doubt, that they were leaving, and  it was solely based on her being in our pharmacy.  

 

 

So, unfortunately I have seen this. 

[MaeFlowers]

I had friends growing up who were Lebanese and Turkish. I never heard anything bad said about them nor did they say they had bad experiences. (Maybe they did and never brought it up?)

I don't get out much but I do hear it now on occasion. Of course, it comes from the same people who think Catholics aren't really Christians. So, ya know, I don't tend to take the things they say seriously anyway.

[kubiac]

I'd like to say I never encounter it here in wildly multicultural SoCal, but if I dig a little deeper, some stuff bubbles up.

 

Overall, the lived experiences of my Middle Eastern (and South Asian) friends remind me of how my grandmother's parents stopped speaking German in public during WWI and never again used it outside the home (they were third-generation Upper Midwesterners with established communities and livelihoods, but they still used German widely in their business and educational lives). Americans of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent (of whatever religious affilitation) are basically expected to be flawlessly assimilated because they are presumed guilty otherwise; they are fighting a cultural presumption: Everyone Knows THOSE People Are Dangerous. They live under a cloud of suspicion.

 

* I have many (native-born American) friends of South Asian descent (India, Sri Lanka, et al), and they universally describe being racially profiled and selected for special inspection at the airport and elsewhere. This was not the case before 9/11.

* There is a lot of fearful talk about the multiple unprovoked violent attacks on Sikhs: Could it happen to us? Could it happen to our kids?

* Multiple friends of either full or half-Arab descent (Syrian Christian, Egyptian, et al.) feel obliged to either subtly change their names to de-Arabize them or to otherwise minimize their Arabness for business or social reasons.

* When I personally hear about how Iran is an Enemy! of! America!, I have a terrifically hard time reconciling that with my many friends and acquaintances of Persian descent. (One of the neighborhoods in the area is known as Little Tehran.)

 

I see lots of Internet people with a lot of generalized Islamic/Arab hate, but to me it's obvious that the generalization is foolish. Individual people and circumstances must all be taken on their own terms.

Edited July 22, 2016 by kubiac

[kubiac]

smh.... Yes. I also find that many think Muslim=Arab and are shocked when I open my mouth and speak perfect English with no accent. Many assume I am Syrian, because I am fair. Even though the majority of the world's Muslims come from South and SE Asia (>60% of Muslims, last I checked LOL).

Obviously not people I know, but people who feel free to come up and say things to me or around me (loud enough for me to hear obviously  :glare: ). Especially about how many kids I have (only 4 fyi) and how backwards and oppressed I must be :lol: and how I'm in America now and should drop my hijab and DH like a hot potato, they obviously don't know me. :laugh: (< that was a more recent comment.) 

And I live on the west coast, you'd think I wouldn't encounter it that much. :huh:

 

Ugh. People are dumb. So sorry you have to listen that kind of BS.

[kubiac]

dbl post. 

 

Edited July 22, 2016 by kubiac

[Chris in VA]

I live outside DC.

I've encountered anti-Arab crud here, in bible study. I had to explain that there are Palestinian Christians. It made me furious, actually.

But I was quick to say I hated that attitude towards Muslim Arabs, too.

 

Didn't go back.

[Luckymama]

Not here, in a university town, with large numbers of students (undergrad and grad) and faculty from all over the world.

 

However, my red-haired, freckled daughter was afraid to study her Arabic homework on a plane after overhearing comments in the airport.

[elegantlion]

I hear a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment & most of the people I hear it from also seem to think Arab = Muslim.

 

This is what I see and hear in real life from my wasteland of cultural diversity. The "big city" near is more diverse and I've not  hung out there enough lately to know the current mindset, but a hour outside of the city, it can be pretty much against anyone who doesn't look or sound like just like "them" (whites of European descent). We left the area in 2006 and came back in 2010 and before 2006, I remember seeing exactly one woman in Niqab. It's still not something you see on a regular basis. As a student, the university is more diversified than the general community and you do see a number of women in hijab. 

 

The anti-(insert the "other") is not always open, but it is there and as a white woman I have been privy to anti- comments because people assume I'm against "other" because I'm white. 

 

People went door-to-door to protest several years ago because they were building a plant and hiring Mexicans to work there. They weren't protesting because of the loss of jobs, they just didn't want Mexicans to move to the area. I heard a number of hurtful stereotype comments. 

 

There was a issue when a mosque was built in the city. 

 

Most of the anti-"other" in my area is borne out of ignorance or echoes of some ill-formed rhetoric they heard from their parents. I hope some of it dies off as the older generation passes away, some have changed their perceptions over the years. I hang out with college kids now, they are diverse and they are traveling the world, so they're getting a better picture of real diversity than I think people of my generation in this area did at that age. But there are plenty of young people not attending college. The economy is getting better and enrollment is down at my university (a step above a regional community college, imo). My guess is that the locals are not enrolling in college as much, so I do worry about this anti-"other" continuing because outside of the college, the town is not diverse. 

[J-rap]

I don't hear anti-Arab rhetoric much, but I do hear anti-Muslim.  The anti-Muslim part is mostly if it's linked to extremist views or terrorism.

 

More than that  though -- in our state, I see not necessarily "anti" rhetoric but a discomfort.  For example, many of the old neighborhoods in our metro area are pretty generic, northern-European type neighborhoods where families have been there for generations and nothing has changed.  Suddenly in the past 20 years, mosques and Islamic schools and women shopping at the local grocery with burkas are appearing.  Most people I talk to do not express anti-Muslim comments about this, but it is clear that some are uncomfortable with such big changes in their neighborhoods.  People in general don't like change, I think.  I think the discomfort is most common with the oldest generation.

 

[SKL]

Only from certain people in the age group that retired 5+ years ago.

[SKL]

Arabs I know personally tend to be Christian.  (Of course that is a factor of where I live.  But Arab=Muslim is definitely not the assumption here.)

[Katy]

nm

Edited July 22, 2016 by Katy

[ScoutTN]

Almost never anti-Arab. Not a race or nationality thing. 

Often anti-radical Islam.

 

We have many immigrants and refugees and some students (esp at our SEC university) here from many Middle Eastern countries. Most people who live here realize that there is diversity of language, ethnicity and religion among those who make up this part of our city. Certainly there are people who don't recognize these things or who have broadly hateful attitudes, but I guess I don't interact with those people much.

 

 

 

[StaceyinLA]

I hear a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment (and I think in our area the general perception is that Arab=Muslim), and I will readily admit that even I had pretty negative thoughts myself at times, until I realized that Muslim extremists/terrorists are just that; extreme. There are extremists in every group. I refuse to blame all Muslims for the acts of a small percentage, just as I do not want to be a Christian in the camp with extremist Christians.

 

Now I will actively bring that up and speak out when people make negative comments about Muslims. I have a pretty conservative-minded Mom's group in my small town, and I get a lot of opportunities to speak up about things I might not have several years ago.

 

I attribute a lot of that to this board and what I have perceived as a challenge to myself to be a better, more open-minded, loving/accepting person. Honestly, and I know it may seem corny, I'm really trying to adopt a WWJD mentality instead of a "what would the local fill-in-the-blank church do). Granted, I'm a work in progress, but I AM working on it.

Edited July 22, 2016 by StaceyinLA

[KarenNC]

Periodically. A local church that had previously let our inclusive homeschool group do events in their space refused to do so a few years ago once we had a member who wore a hijab. In part it depends on how often I am around certain family members.

[Amira]

Yes, both anti-Muslim and anti-Arab (often from people who don't understand the difference). But more often I hear ignorance rather than hostility.

 

I hear different types of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment depending on the country I'm living in.

[DawnM]

Yes, I hear it.  I typically say something back, which isn't always welcome or is argued with, because telling me that I am wrong and just don't understand that they are all terrorists will convince me, esp. if you get really mad at me and tell me how stupid I am.

 

You hit a trigger for me.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

Never outside of on-line. 

[jjeepa]

Never outside of on-line. 

 

Same here

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 9, 2016 by cathey

[Mom22ns]

Almost never. I just don't hang around people that would express those sentiments. I also unfollow anyone who posts anything racist on FB. I've never heard it when I was just out and about. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Never.  Mid-Atlantic, very large Arabic population here.  For a while, there was an Iraqi, Muslim family living in the apartment under ours.  Their young kids played with all the other kids - black, white, Hispanic - with no problems, as far as I know.  And my grown dd's would take Nerf guns and squirt guns outside and play with all the kids, sometimes.  But all the kids around this complex do seem to be very sweet kids.

 

And we would talk to the Iraqi family sometimes, and they would tell us about their religion and special holidays and such.  We were sorry to see them move.  They used to tell us we were "too quiet".  lol 

 

Same here (mid-Atlantic with large Arabic population).

 

edited....wait.is that Arab population or Arabic? 

 

What do I know.  LOL 

Edited July 22, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn

[lllll]

nm 

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by cathey

[Spy Car]

Never. But I live in a bubble :P

 

I will sometimes hear people speaking in Arabic when I'm out and about, and will sometimes engage them by speaking with them in my limited conversational Arabic. After getting over the surprise that big-tall blue-eyed white guy knows a little Arabic passes, it is always neat to see how well appreciated it is.

 

Bill