There has been extra pressure and even racism put on Arab-Americans and Muslims since 9/11. And one ethic group that current presidential candidates seem to be ignoring.
At the recent Arab-American Institutes National Leadership Conference held in Michigan none of the front runners chose to attend, opting instead for recorded messages. Arab-Americans make up 1.3 million voters according to the independent polling firm Zogby International. So, why aren’t candidates focusing more on Arab-Americans?
Top Presidential Candidates are ignoring Arab-Americans because of mass public stereotyping and negative sentiments after 9/11.
“After 9/11, anti-terrorism policies of… profiling have disproportionately affected Arabs and Muslims. Some have been taken off planes or not allowed to board because of their ethnicity”, according to the article “Caught in the Crossfire” on pbs.org.
The current image of Arab-Americans has been tarnished by the acts of terrorist activities. But, the mass population has to realize that these terrorist groups do not represent the whole of Arab-Americans. And, top candidates, who are in the public image, have the power to reverse this mass stereotyping. Top-tier candidates should take advantage of the attention they are getting and restore the image of Arab-Americans. By simply ignoring Arab-Americans they are throwing away hundreds of thousands of potential votes and tarnishing the American image as a whole.
“…in order to win the support of Arab-Americans, candidates on both sides of the fence must at least show a willingness to meet with them in person”, TIME writer Steven Gray stated.
Arab-Americans live, work, study and contribute to this country just like every other ethic group in America. The candidates refusal to not directly address them says a lot about their foreign policy and level of commitment to civil liberties. The Arab world will be the top priority of our nation’s foreign policy for many years to come and Arabs in this country will directly or indirectly be affected by those policies. By not making Arab-Americans a top priority candidates are throwing by the wayside another crucial issue- the right to privacy. This civil liberty was overtly violated after 9/11 such as with the NSA’s eavesdropping program. But, no other group was more directly violated than Arab-Americans. As stated before these people were not allowed on planes and unjustifiably targeted by law enforcement agencies. If you were intentionally arrested or harassed based solely on your ethnicity or religion, wouldn’t you want our next president to do something about it?
Whatever happened to our sacred freedoms that were envied by the rest of the world? If the government deliberately harasses one of us, don’t we all have a responsibility to keep our government in check?
It seems during the last six years we have tried to define what is and is not an American, selfishly excluding many ethnic groups. Who is and isn’t an American relies solely on the individual and their acceptance or denial of the responsibilities that come with being an American.
I guessed the basic message of this column could be summarized by the next quote from a press release on 9/11 by the Arab American Institute:
“We urge our fellow citizens not to rush to judgment and point fingers at their Arab American neighbors and colleagues who are suffering, like all Americans, from these despicable acts.
Regardless of who is […] responsible, no ethic or religious community should be treated as suspect and collectively blamed”
