The Arab Americans

Abstract

Since 9/11, Arab Americans have been the subject of much discussion in both popular and scholarly forums. Books on the suddenly visible Arab- American community have been published recently or are forthcoming, and courses dealing with Arab Americans are gradually entering university curricula. This interest is cross-disciplinary, having become evident in numerous humanities and social science fields. Yet this interest is bound largely to the political marketplace of ideas, for an emergent Arab-American studies existed well before 9/11 and had been on the brink of increased visibility on the eve of 9/11. It took 9/11, however, for this body of scholarship to generate broad attention. In addition, 9/11 altered the trajectories that had already been established, though not as dramatically as an unaffiliated observer might believe. Gregory Orfalea was among the group of scholars and artists who were assessing Arab America before 9/11 through his work as a writer and editor. Orfalea continues his contribution to that project with his latest book, The Arab Americans: A History, a voluminous text that mixes exposition, commentary, and analysis. The author’s cross-disciplinary book will be of interest to students and scholars in the humanities and the social sciences, for it contains elements of historiography, sociology, literary criticism, memoir, and anthropology. The introduction and first chapter recount a trip he took as a young man in 1972 with his jaddu (grandfather) to Arbeen, Syria, his grandfather’s hometown. Subsequent chapters explore a number of sociocultural and political issues of interest to the Arab-American community, including the politics of the Arab world, activism (historical and contemporary) in Arab America, the relationship between Arab Americans and the American government at both the local and federal levels, religious traditions in Arab America, and the instability and diversity of Arab-American identity ...