“We're Just Like the Irish”: Narratives of Assimilation, Belonging and Citizenship Amongst Arab-American Activists

Abstract

This paper examines narratives of assimilation and belonging as activists attempt to position Arab-Americans as citizens and full members of the American polity. In interviews with activists, the experience of the Irish as immigrants and citizens was often invoked as the paradigmatic example of how immigrants are incorporated as citizens—an example that activists promoted as one that Arabs would follow. By invoking the Irish experience, activists hope to remind Americans that immigration history is not one of effortless assimilation, but is rather characterized by systematic exclusion and marginalization. In so doing, they articulate narratives of assimilation and belonging that draw attention to (1) a shared history of immigration, marginalization, and acceptance, (2) the importance of civil rights movements that may seem to distinguish immigrants from a mythic mainstream whose race and ethnicity go unmarked, and (3) the ways in which the American experience is based on the acceptance of cultural differences predicated on shared political values of community. We argue that these strands of the narrative draw on themes in the national myth of immigration, belonging and citizenship, but that they are braided in ways that challenge many Americans’ views of their history.

Keywords:

• Citizenship
• assimilation
• Arab-Americans

Acknowledgements

This research was funded with grants from the National Science Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council. The authors are equally responsible for this article.

Notes

¹ Although many recent Arab immigrants to the United States are Muslim, it is estimated that most Arab-Americans are Christian, reflecting the long history of Syrian/Lebanese migration beginning in the late 1800s (AAI, 2001).

² The interviews were conducted in 2003 and 2004 as part of a larger study of community and citizenship amongst Arab immigrants to the United States and United Kingdom. Respondents were identified through their membership in Arab-identified groups. This strategy ensures that respondents have already identified themselves with political work addressing community formation and citizenship as Arabs, thus avoiding problems of profiling in a political climate that is at best uncertain, and in some cases dangerous for activists. Respondents were promised confidentiality for themselves and for their organization. Interviews were conducted at times and places of the respondents’ choosing, were taped, and then transcribed. Interviews passages were coded on the basis of the descriptions of assimilation, belonging, and constructions of citizenship.

³ While not all Muslims are Arab, most Muslims in the US are immigrants. The CAIR ad campaign typically features people who appear to be Arab. And while focusing on Islam, CAIR has been involved in efforts to address civil rights issues regarding all Arabs.

⁴ Numbers of actual detentions are not available.

⁵ Slavery and the treatment of Native Americans should have posed such a challenge, but did not, given beliefs that neither would ever be capable of American citizenship (Shklar, 1998). As suffrage was extended to landless white men and to women, the argument was often made that without the vote, these groups were effectively treated no better than slaves and Indians, with the clear implication that they most certainly deserved better treatment (Shklar, 1991).

⁶ The relatively small numbers of Arabs in any metropolitan area means that enclaves or ethnic ghettos have not developed to any degree. The exception is in Dearborn, Michigan, but it should also be noted that Arabs are scattered throughout the Detroit area, including many of its wealthier suburbs. There has been an attempt to build “Arab City” in Anaheim (Twair, 2003) but only about 600 families are settled in this area.

⁷ Lawsuits have been filed in several states over restrictions on headscarves in driver's license photos.

⁸ We recognize this is a pre-determined finding, as we have interviewed people associated with Arab-identified organizations.