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Arab Americans

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Arab American
Regions with significant populations
California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia
Languages
Arabic, American English, others
Religion
Predominantly Islam and Christianity. Minorities practising Judaism, Druze and others
Related ethnic groups
Arab Brazilian, Arab Mexican, Arab Singaporean, British Arabs, other Arabs

Arab Americans are Americans of Arab ancestry and constitute an ethnicity made up of several waves of immigrants from twenty-two Arab countries, stretching from Morocco in the west to Oman in the south east to Iraq in the north. Arab Americans are also Middle Eastern and North African Americans i.e. terms that do not equate ethnic heritage with nationality, but rather a geographic area. Although a highly diverse ethnic group, Arab Americans descend from a heritage that represents common linguistic, cultural, and political traditions.

Population

The majority of Arab Americans, around 62%, originate from the region of the Levant, comprising Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. The remainder are made up of those from Iraq other Arab nations, which, although small in numbers, are present nonetheless. There are 3,500,000 Arab-Americans in the United States according to The Arab American Institute. Arab-Americans live in all 50 states and Washington, DC - and more than 90% reside in the metropolitan areas of major cities. According to the 2000 US Census, 48% of the Arab-American population - 576,000 - reside in California, Michigan, New York, Florida and New Jersey, respectively; these 5 states collectively have 31% of the net US population. Five other states - Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania - report Arab-American populations of more than 40,000 each. Also, the counties which contained the greatest proportions of Arab-Americans were in California, Michigan, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

According to the 2000 US Census, the city with the largest percentage of Arab Americans is Dearborn, Michigan (southwestern suburb of Detroit) at nearly 30%. Other major communities are in Paterson, New Jersey/Clifton, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York (New York City metro-area); Miami, Florida; Silicon Valley (San Francisco metro-area), ; Los Angeles County, California, Orange County, California (Los Angeles metro-area); the San Diego metro-area; Chicago and Bridgeview, Illinois (Chicago metro-area); Houston; Boston; Jersey City, New Jersey;Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Jacksonville, Florida. The cities with the highest percentages of Arabs are Sterling Heights, Michigan; Jersey City; Warren, Michigan; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Burbank, California and Glendale, California; Livonia, Michigan; Arlington, Virginia; Paterson; and Daly City, California.

Many agricultural regions in California, like the San Joaquin Valley, Salinas Valley, Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley have a history of immigrants from Arab countries involved in the area's rich farming industry. Oklahoma had a sizable Arab-American population, mainly are immigrants in the oil business came in the 1980s and developed noticeable communities in Peoria, Illinois, Tulsa,Oklahoma]] and Oklahoma City. [citation needed]

Religious background

While the majority of the population of the Middle Eastern region, and, in particular, the countries of the Arab world, are identified as adherents of Islam, contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of Arab Americans are Christian, not Muslim [1]. According to the Arab American Institute, Christians account for 63%-80%[2] of the Arab American population, while Muslims account for 25%, and the rest of the 12% identify as other religion, or no affiliation. The percentage of Christians are: Catholics (Roman Catholics, Eastern Rite Catholics - Maronites and Melkites) 35%, Orthodox Christians who are at 18%, and Protestant Christians are 10%.

Racial status

The Arab American National Museum celebrates the history of Arab Americans

While Arab Americans in the United States are classified as White in the US Census, some have questioned this designation and lobbied for the creation of a separate category.[3]

Some Arab Americans, especially those with darker complexions and recent Muslim immigrants from the gulf, are not generally considered white in social terms and have been increasingly targeted for discrimination and hate crimes.[4]

A new Zogby Poll International found that there are 3.5 Million Americans who identify themselves as "Arab-Americans" or Americans of ancestry belonging to one of the 23 UN member countries of the Arab World. The poll also found that more than half identify themselves as Christians (of that over half identify their denomination as of the Catholic Church). 62% of participants identify themselves as democratic or leaning to the democratic party in voting in the 2008 election, while 25% identify themselves as republicans or leaning to vote republican in the upcoming elections.

Poll also finds that majority of those who identify themselves as Arab Americans are of Lebanese origin. Furthermore, the majority of poll participants reported an individual income of equal to or over $100000 U.S. (2007). Nearly one third of those who reported their incomes identified themselves as self-employed or running a family owned business.

Politics

Arab Americans tend to split fairly evenly between the Republican and Democratic parties. Historically, they have tended to vote for Democratic Presidential candidates[citation needed]. However, a number of prominent Arab American politicians are Republicans, including New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu, and California Congressman Darrell Issa, who was the driving force behind the state's 2003 recall election that removed Democratic Governor Gray Davis from office. The strong sense of family values characteristic of Arab Americans does not necessarily translate to Republican values in Arab American statesmen, however; the first woman Supreme Court Chief Justice in Florida, Rosemary Barkett, is known for her dedication to progressive values and has been publicly criticized by Republican politicians at various stages of her career. Ralph Nader is another example of a liberal Arab American politician.

Many Arab Americans tend to be pro-life and to support the death penalty. They are also more in favor of gun control. [5] Arab American Republicans often view the GOP as more in line with Arab culture, which tends to be more socially conservative and values entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Those who ally themselves with Democrats may choose to do so through a sense of social justice or because of concerns over foreign policy and, in recent years, the Iraq War, Racial Profiling and the War on Terror.

Festivals

While the spectrum of Arab heritage includes 22 countries, their combined heritage is often celebrated in cultural festivals around the United States.

New York City

The New York Arab-American Comedy Festival was founded in 2003 by comedian Dean Obeidallah and comedienne Maysoon Zayid. Held annually each fall, the festival showcases the talents of Arab-American actors, comics, playwrights and filmmakers, and challenges as well as inspires fellow Arab-Americans to create outstanding works of comedy. Participants include actors, directors, writers and comedians, including director Piter Marek.

Seattle

Of paticular note is ArabFest in Seattle, begun in 1999. The festival includes all 22 of the arab countries, with a souk marketplace, traditional and modern music, an authentic arab coffeehouse, an arabic spelling bee and fashion show. Lectures and workshops explore the rich culture and history of the arab peoples, one of the world's oldest civilizations. Also of new interest is the arabic rap concert, including the NW group Sons of Hagar, showcasing the political and creative struggle of arabic youth.

Famous Americans of Arab descent

Main article: List of Arab Americans

Here are a few examples of famous Arab Americans. Arab Americans are very much involved in politics and are one of the wealthiest ethnic groups in the U.S., however it is hard to calculate their median income as they are classified white under the United States race census of 2005.


  • Jerry Seinfeld, (Syrian Mother, Jewish) Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning comedian[6]

References

  1. ^ http://www.aaiusa.org/arab-americans/22/demographics
  2. ^ http://www.alhewar.org/gabriel_habib_What_About_Arab_Christians.htm
  3. ^ Ian F. Haney-Lopez, White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race (New York: New York University, 1996), Appendix "A".
  4. ^ Paulson, Amanda. "Rise in Hate Crimes Worries Arab-Americans" (Christian Science Monitor, April 10, 2003). [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ [3], Seinfeld, The Making of an American Icon by Jerry Oppenheimer Page 11. Accessed February 20, 2008.

See also

Arab American Ancestries in the 2000 US Census[1]
Ancestry 1990 1990% of US population 2000 2000% of US population Percent change from 1990 to 2000
Iraqi negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 37,714 0.01% negligible (no data)
Lebanese negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 440,279 0.2% negligible (no data)
Palestinian negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 72,112 0.02% negligible (no data)
Syrian negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 142,897 0.05% negligible (no data)
Yemeni negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 15,000 0.005% negligible (no data)
Other Arabs negligible (no data) negligible (no data) 424,807 0.2% negligible (no data)
TOTAL 716,396 0.1% 1,275,641 0.42% increased 67.9%

Books

Arab American Organizations

  1. ^ Brittingham, Angela. Ancestry 2000:Census Brief. 2004. October 30, 2006. [4]
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