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In general, I find the gallery very weak, not only because of the horrid formatting, but because it doesn't really rouse the attention...I mean, I'm Arab and I don't find any of these people attention-grabbing (apart from Shannon Elizabeth, George Mitchel and Tony Shalhoub). Imagine what others would think.
In general, I find the gallery very weak, not only because of the horrid formatting, but because it doesn't really rouse the attention...I mean, I'm Arab and I don't find any of these people attention-grabbing (apart from Shannon Elizabeth, George Mitchel and Tony Shalhoub). Imagine what others would think.
04:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC) <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Ahm2307|Ahm2307]] ([[User talk:Ahm2307|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Ahm2307|contribs]]) </span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
04:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC) <small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Ahm2307|Ahm2307]] ([[User talk:Ahm2307|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Ahm2307|contribs]]) </span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

== The "Racial Status" Section is Ridiculously POV ==

It's full of opinion and not much in the way of fact. Implying that the idea of a Middle Eastern race is "false" is absurd, seeing as race itself is not a biological reality. ALL of the current racial categories used in the US Census are arbitrary - People from the Indian subcontinent are lumped in with people from East Asia in the "Asian" category, for example. Race is a subjective, socially-defined concept, and if you look at how the US Census has changed over the years you can see how this is true. It is only within the past decade that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were made their own category separate from Asians. Even earlier than that, "Asian" was divided into many categories like "Chinese", "Japanese", "Korean", and "Hindu" races. If people of Middle Eastern origin do not want to identify themselves as Caucasian, they shouldn't have to... They certainly haven't been treated as white people in American society. --[[Special:Contributions/74.220.50.16|74.220.50.16]] ([[User talk:74.220.50.16|talk]]) 06:55, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Revision as of 06:55, 4 September 2010

Comment

"Many Arab Americans tend to be pro-life and to support the death penalty". I love this sentence! It's so full of meaning it seems to burst..!

lollllllllllllllllllll I love the guy who posted above me.

And since were Assyrians Arabs??? I mean Im French, but this article was written on assumption and not facts people. Please get some smart people to write. i mean i know this is wikipedia but come on.


Just to say: There is not now nor has there ever been a country called "Palestine." The sentence which mentions gaza, west bank, and 'palestine' is politically and technically incorrect. Check your facts wikepedia..

This is a joke!

In recent centuries, there has been a major influx of Europeans into middle eastern countries; the result of which has been a number of lighter skinned people living in this region (i.e. Syria and Lebanon). However, you only need to look at a map to realize that "pure" Arabs (non-mixed) would need to have darker skin to survive in this area of the world thousands of years ago. I am an Egyptian-American and there is absolutely NO ONE who would consider me to be white. I am not arguing that the US census does not list Arabs as white -- I am just saying it is a HUGE flaw in racial classification considering pure Arabs are not considered white in US society. Arabs are a separate, ancient race and should be recognized as such by the US government. True, people from the northern countries of the middle east tend to be lighter skinned than those from southern regions. However, for someone to state that "Nordic and Germanic looking people" are native to Syria or Lebanon (as one person does below) does not make any sense whatsoever.

"White" is a somewhat flexible social concept that has had differing meaning throughout history, and has both included and excluded various Caucasoid peoples at one time or another, and acknowledging "honorary whites" at others. Is this suppose to mean that Arabs are non-white, but are rewarded the category of being of the white race? Arabs and other Middle Easterners are caucasoid, which happens to indicate that they're white.--Gramaic 01:29, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Arabs are not white,they are Arab which is completely different, there are some "white" people in North Africa, but in the Middle East you will rarely encounter a truly white, non-semitic group of people. In that sense, the white Arabs are not white as Europeans are white but rather a racial group of semitic descent that ranges from white to extremely dark.

Concur. Arabs are considered racially white in the United States and considered caucasoid all around the world.
<quote>in the Middle East you will rarely encounter a truly white, non-semitic group of people.</quote>
Obviously your not that familiar with people from the Middle East. Semitic people are racially caucasoid, and not to mention there are a lot of semites who have blond hair and blue eyes. You should look into the racial makeup of Syria and Lebanon, in those countries you'll find quite a few Nordic and Germanic looking people. The majority of Arabs who live in Syria and Lebanon, are Medditerrannean looking people. A Syrian or a Lebanese (in most cases) can pass for a Greek or an Italian, which makes them very European looking. Just because a person is non-European doesn't mean that they're non-Caucasoid.--Gramaic 03:47, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)


It really boggles my mind why you keep insisting that Arabs are white like Europeans because that's how some Syrians and Lebanese look like. Look more towards countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Yemen, etc. on how Arabs *generally* look. I have relatives in Jordan; some look as black as Wesley Snipes; others look as white as Woody Harrelson. There are also some pretty light-skinned Pakistanis and Indians, and I can't think of anyone who would say something like "All Pakistanis are white." Hispanics in the United States pass for non-whites, despite the existence of Cubans and other "light-skinned" Latinos. Why not the same thing for Arabs? Although there are more than one categories for arabs(egyptian,north african,etc.) you'll find that they are listed as "white". Not white as in the color,but they share the same genetic traits as other European groups. However, it lists Saudi Arabians as having a more closer relationship with that of Ethiopians which may explain some darker Arabs.As for the more "Nordic Arabs" as Gramaic was talking about,this may have been a result of European colonization.----Ashmole 20:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Look, Arabs come in a lot of different racial groups, there are Arabs that are certainly white, others that are not, such as myself. Being caucasian is not the same as being white all the time. I am caucasian but I have never been taken for a "white" person in all my life in the United States. My grandmother, who was Algerian, had blue eyes and red hair and was often mistaken for being Italian or the like. My mother, who is Lebanese and whose family has been in the States for decades does not look "white" at all. Being Caucasian is not being white. White is a social definition. It is not racial or genetic. There are people of African descent that go through their lives being viewed as "white" because they can pass. There are Arabs who look white and are Christian and are often accepted as being white. It is my experience that the whole idea of Arabs being "white" or not is nonsense. Arab is not confined to one race. There is no such thing as a Semitic race. Semitic and Arab are linguistic and cultural terms. A Semitic speaking person can be black (like an Ethiopian), white (like an Israeli Jew of European origin), somewhere in between or mixed (like many Egyptians and Saudis or Yemenites), or North African (most North Africans are not genetically "Middle EAstern" and have Berber origins, meaning that the original languages of the area were mostly Berber, and non-Semitic). The US system of racial classification is flawed, and "white" is used interchangably with "caucasian" even though the two notions are not the same in reality. There needs to be some kind of illustration of the diversity of Arab Americans in this article, not just a discussion of foolish theories of who is a caucasian and who is not. All Arabs do not look like Lebanese or Syrian people or Sudanese people (who are almost totally black or "AFrican" in their race). The Arab culture does not have a race. The classification of Arabs as "white" is a generalization. I think at least. El Moro.

True, you find a large minority of Arab Americans have a fair amount of melanin (skin color) and ethnological characteristics found in a majority of north or east Africans and south Asians. Arabs are of the so-called Semitic branch of the Afro-Asian linguistic family, but are racially labeled as the white race (Caucasians) of "Armenoid" and Mediteranean stock compared to the northern/western Europeans ("Nordic" and "Alpine" stocks) in numerous studies of 20th century anthropology books. But the term "Arab" was derived from the tribes from Arabian peninsula and a certain nationality's native tongue was Arabic, a relative to other Semitic languages like Hebrew and Aramaic. + 63.3.14.2 03:06, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
Language has nothing to do with race, as you find Arabs of various "Races" in the Middle East and Africa. Semitic langauges have nothing to do with Semitic "races". Clearly Arabs are classified as 'white" officially, but most do not regard themselves this way and are not treated as such in life (I say this as an Arab American talking about Arab Americans). Linguisitically yes, Arabic is related to Aramaic and Hebrew, but "racially" you find many Arabs having more genetically in common with non-Semites (black Africans, Beber North Africans, West Africans, west Med. Europeans) than with these so-called "Semities". Language and race are unrelated. This Semitic that or this has no place in the article as far as Arab race goes. What should be noted is that Arabs come in a variety of racial "forms" and colors and a classified as white regardless. There are Arab Americans who disagree with this, most advocacy groups and the like agree that Arabs are a minority and are not "white" in the sense that other "whites" are (Italians, Germans, Greeks, Anglos, etc.) whose whiteness is essentially unquestionable, but Arab"whiteness" is questioned and even revocked througout history socially and legally as the political climate changes. If you think all Arabs are white or one finds a "large minority" with a "fair amout of melanin" (which is not the case because everyone has it, and most Arabs are pretty dark, at least compared to other "whites") look at some elected officials of Arab descent or some religious leaders, not to mention read some article on the topic. It is fine to note the legal classification (which is the same for all Near Eastern peoples in America), but it is imparative that the actual case be mentioned, such as the development of the label, and opinion among Arabs of it. I think most people in New England (where I live) would agree an "Arab" is not white, at least a "pure" Arab (non-mixed). That has been my experience and my family's experience for several generations. I'm not saying all Arabs are not white or are, but one must discuss the complexities of Arab Americans in the Arab American article and not just dismiss them using phoney racial classifications, that are no longer used by government. Sure we're caucasians listed as white, but do people treat us that way in every day life? That is one of the major issues in the community today among leaders and those who think about these sorts of (I think stupid) matters. El Moro —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.37.53.43 (talk) 02:57, 17 January 2007 (UTC).[reply]

to the person who claims that "In recent centuries, there has been a major influx of Europeans into middle eastern countries; the result of which has been a number of lighter skinned people living in this region": this is absolute nonsense. although there has indeed been an influx of europeans with lighter skin into the levant and, to a lesser extent, the middle east at large, the impact on the overall skin colour of arabs in the region is negligible. however, for all those who start claiming the arabs as a "separate ancient race" you should be careful when buying into these mystified ideas of origin. the arabs of today, those being inhabitants of north africa and the middle east whose native language is arabic, are not a homogenic race but have mixed with all kinds of people over the centuries. for example, the turkish peoples of central asia, the different peoples of persia, nubians, egyptians, berbers etc. racial classifications based on skin tone are also rather ambiguous since every larger country or region will be inhabited by people of different skin tones, whether they belong to the same nation/ethnicity/people or not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.254.24 (talk) 00:36, 11 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In fact Ethiopians and Somalians are also Caucasians, with Caucasoid features, even if they are not white.--83.53.110.208 (talk) 15:13, 20 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am from Spain and I think to the Arabs and to the Indians it has happened something similar to Latinamericans. Even if Spaniards are white, millions of indians and blacks participate in the colonisation (now assimilation) process, so now both a black and a blonde can be Latinos, depending on their ancestors. The process is going in a similar way to the one in North Africa and the Mideast hundreds of years ago or in India thousands of years ago. In India Aryans were white but mixed with indigenous populations and with other, more recent, immigrants, after they arrived to India 3.500 years ago. Latinamerica is just 3.000 years behind, but the mix is already strong, a majority of the population in many countries. So now "Latino" in the U.S. is becoming equivalent to a Racial group.--83.53.110.208 (talk) 15:13, 20 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Where is your Proof that Latin America mix is going strong? You don't have any. And Latino is becoming a racial category to the ignorant American. Latino is not a race or an ethnicity. Mestizos sees Latino as a race because they need an identity to latch on to. Even though Latin America is a diverse population, Whites in places such as north Mexico and south Brazil are isolated and will unlikely mix outside their racial/ethnic barrier. Latin America is more diverse than the middle east. There are actually full blooded Europeans that immigrant to Latin America every year. A lot of People in Latin America are descendants of European, African, and Asia immigrants while people in the middle East are mostly indigenous to their land. And what is that idiot above talking about ""light-skinned" Latino"? Does he even know what a Hispanic/Latino is in America? There is no such thing as a Light skinned Latino unless that Latino is not White. Secret killer (talk) 04:25, 22 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It is a joke indeed.I am from North India with some Arab ancestry (Awan). Many Keralites (of Kerala State) are pure Arabs and many Sindhis of Sindh Pakistan are of Arab ancestry. In general, these groups have a darker skin then those of the upper Indian casts, such as Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishiyas or even Punjabi Jats. Yet we all got the Caucasian bone structure that we share with Somalis,Indo Aryans, Semitic & Kushitic Ethiopians, Arabs and Iranians or even Europeans. I agree that some Middle Easterners are looking white. But they are NOT the original inhabitants of the "Middle East" as they are mostly of Iranian, Kurdish, Armenian, Circassian, European Jews, Khazar, Turkoman, Greek (also Turkified Byzantinias), Georgian and decendants of other splinter groups such as Greeks & crusaders or decendants of white Slav and Circassian slaves. All these are not original inhabitants of the Middle East, but groups that moved there in historic times.For instance, Iranians & Kurds hailed from Central Asia during the Skythian & Turk expansion. Since more than 60 percent of Arab Americans are hailing from areas where all these groups mingled at an incredible degree (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iran) and many Levant refugees being Christians, they fought countless battles for "whiteness" in order to be able to naturalize as US citizins. But that doesn't justify classifying all Middle Easterners as white. Unless dark brown skin will be labeled "white". The original inhabitants where clearly not white.Even original Canaanites where not white.Indians and Arabs are not "one" race but a mosaic of many races. It also explains the Indian caste system or the Arab Tribal systems. We are bot not a homogenous race. There should be a separate Middle Eastern and Indian Category with the option to opt for white Indian (Pathans, and other light skinned casts) and White Arab (Those Lebanese that are white or want to be white). But how in gods name is a pure Arab from Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sudan or Libiya ever being considered a white person?? In fact, these groups face some of the worst racial discrimination of all races, unless they are billionaires or jet setters. 95.223.187.171 (talk) 16:53, 8 August 2010 (UTC) [reply]

Famous Arab Americans

I think this is a very nice list, but I think it needs to be in a seperate article, and this seperate article should be called List of Arab Americans.--Gramaic 00:06, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

as i know. amin nazem zadeh is persian and not arab !!!!

I suggest you take off DJ Khaled. He doesn't make us Arabs proud. —Preceding unsigned comment added by EnterPuppets (talkcontribs) 03:54, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fahrid Murray Abraham shouldnt be on the list since his father is just born in syria, but his background is Assyrian (which aren't arabs)and his mother is Italian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 55yy55hh (talkcontribs) 14:17, 9 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed with the F. Murray Abraham, and I hardly think most of Jewsish Arabs regard themselves as "arabs". Since when did Arabs take pride in Jews???

Changing some numbers

The numbers at the top and bottom of the page don't match in terms of total Arabs in America. The number on the bottom is official, I'm changing the top.

CorneliusStump 21:24, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Need comment at deletion discussion

Please see the discussion here -- this needs more input from editors who actually work in this area. Badagnani 16:52, 12 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"The overwhelming majority of Arab Americans, or some 80%, are Christians, while only 20% are Muslims, and the remaining 10% are of other faiths, agnostics or atheists." - was this written by someone with dyslexia or is it true that 110% of all arab americans belong to one of the three groups mentioned? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.81.254.24 (talk) 00:27, 11 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Spy Kids Alexander Minion.JPG

Image:Spy Kids Alexander Minion.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 05:44, 24 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Identity

"Due to a conflation of terms, in its broadest sense "Arab American" may include people who do not in fact identify as Arab." This seems kind of offensive to me. If they don't call themselves Arab, who is Wikipedia to tell them they are wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nincomp (talkcontribs) 11:41, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What the person above me has written is contradictory. It is kind of like saying about an African American, 'if this guy doesnt call himself black he shouldn't be labeled as black'. As a matter of fact, everyone including Wikipedia and the government would consider the man black. Am I wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Luai Al Assad (talkcontribs) 14:09, 24 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Actually, apart from Sinai Beduines, most Egyptians would rather being labeled as "Egyptian" then "Arab" even if they speak Arabic. It's a well established fact that many nations in the Middle East and North Africa had their own civilizations, culture and languages. While some groups preserved their culture and languages (such as some Berber groups), others lost theirs or only preserved their's in a liturgical context as a result of the Arab conquest.Nonetheless, these groups still have a shared memory of being an "arabized nation".This feelings are specially strong amongst Egyptians, (many) Lebanese and (some) Syrians. Yet, they are also Arabs and decendants of Arab tribes in those nations, but often they do not form the majority of the expatriate populations in the US. In this sense, I think the statement:

"Due to a conflation of terms, in its broadest sense "Arab American" may include people who do not in fact identify as Arab."

is a legitimate one.Could be compared to Mexicans being labeled as Spanish (e.g Hispanic), simply because they forcefully adopted Spanish langauge and Roman Catholicism while many Mexicans have an awarenes of being decendants of ancient pre columbian nations even if they lost their native tongues and religions. 95.223.187.171 (talk) 17:20, 8 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Populations

Can we get populations of Arab Americans in each city (especially Detroit/Dearborn and New York City)? Badagnani (talk) 22:44, 8 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My advice is consult www.census.gov for data reports about the total population of Arab Americans by ethnic self-identification from the 2000 Census report. The third largest communities are Detroit, New York and Chicago; although I believe the Los Angeles area and San Diego may surpassed them by now. Be in mind not all Arab Americans are "Arab", in addition they could be of ethnic Armenian, Iranian, Jewish, Somali, Turkic and Berber ancestry from an Arabic-speaking country in Southwest Asia or/and North Africa. + 71.102.36.5 (talk) 10:41, 9 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Percentage

The opening paragraph of the article states the following:

The overwhelming majority of Arab Americans, or some 80%, are Christians, while only 20% are Muslims, and the remaining 10% are of other faiths, agnostics or atheists.

Not only are the figures not sourced (no citation is given), but they don't add up as well, since the total is placed at 110%. Anyone care to do some research and clarify? Vargher (talk) 22:59, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Arab American institute says 63% are Christians and 24% Muslim, while 13% is agnositc or atheist. I'll make the change. http://www.aaiusa.org/arab-americans/22/demographics Inf fg (talk) 17:56, 16 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

People who shouldn't have pics in the opening

Mitch Daniels is not even arab according to any link I have seen and Shannon Elizabeth is not really important. I think we should take both off and add Jim Jabara who is much more important and has places named after him.PonileExpress (talk) 21:14, 6 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Syrians or Lebanese?

i guess it's not creditable to separate the both countries origin since they both got the same background and family mixing since thousands years! Lebanese claimed to be Phoenicians which it's somehow not true cuz the Phoenicians were also in the Syrian and Palestinian coast!! genetically syrian and lebanese are a match not to mention that the whole area share nearly everything ( food , music , tradition , history ) but due the modern day searching for famous identities to bring some pride for the countries i've noticed that there is always a conflict between Syrians and Lebanese about the origin issues for example when there is someone from a clearly Syrian origin somehow he\she became Syrian\Lebanese origin in wikipidia!! or sometimes people without sources proving their origin they became lebanese!! sometimes there is people became Lebanese just because they were born or lived few years there!? to solve this problem we need to define the word Origin! and that demands knowing the real roots of the person family which need reliable sources ...some could not be Arabs ethnically ( Kurds - Armenians - Assyrians - Turkmens - Circassians ) but they live in the country thousand years ago, this would be mention also when it come to the Origin issue as a background.

after words... when it comes to American people who belong the whole Levant region ( Syria - Lebanon - Jordan - Palestine ) the origin country shouldn't be mention without a creditable source and study which is the main rule of Wikipedia ... —Preceding unsigned comment added by ChaosLogics (talkcontribs) 14:32, 26 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Steve Jobs doesn't belong in the gallery, I'm sorry. I realize he has Arab roots, but he's far from being "Arab-American". Besides, there are so many other well-known and equally worthy Arab Americans who can be in this gallery such as the late Edward Said, James/John Zogby and Ralph Nader.

In general, I find the gallery very weak, not only because of the horrid formatting, but because it doesn't really rouse the attention...I mean, I'm Arab and I don't find any of these people attention-grabbing (apart from Shannon Elizabeth, George Mitchel and Tony Shalhoub). Imagine what others would think. 04:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ahm2307 (talkcontribs)

The "Racial Status" Section is Ridiculously POV

It's full of opinion and not much in the way of fact. Implying that the idea of a Middle Eastern race is "false" is absurd, seeing as race itself is not a biological reality. ALL of the current racial categories used in the US Census are arbitrary - People from the Indian subcontinent are lumped in with people from East Asia in the "Asian" category, for example. Race is a subjective, socially-defined concept, and if you look at how the US Census has changed over the years you can see how this is true. It is only within the past decade that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were made their own category separate from Asians. Even earlier than that, "Asian" was divided into many categories like "Chinese", "Japanese", "Korean", and "Hindu" races. If people of Middle Eastern origin do not want to identify themselves as Caucasian, they shouldn't have to... They certainly haven't been treated as white people in American society. --74.220.50.16 (talk) 06:55, 4 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]