We
were honored to bring together scholars, students and educators on
Wednesday to discuss Middle Eastern American identities. Dr. Mehdi
Bozorghmehr spoke first about the unique challenges of representation
that Middle Easterners face in post-9/11 America, and specifically the
ways in which the diversity of this heterogeneous group is overlooked.
The intense focus on the raging conflicts in the Middle East in American
popular culture reinforces existing negative stereotypes, further
concealing the diversity of this panethnic group. It is very difficult
for these ethnic minorities to overcome such challenges and advocate for
their interests, partly because Middle Eastern groups are not
recognized as official minorities. For instance, governmental forms
(e.g., the U.S. Census and those pertaining to affirmative action)
subsume Middle Easterners under the White racial category and hence
contribute to their invisibility and inability to combat discrimination.
Jonathan Friedlander expanded on the topic of diversity versus the monolithic image of Middle Easterners held in the collective imagination of American society. He talked about Middle Eastern identities "from A to Z" (Arab to Zoroastrian). While there is a sizeable population of individuals of Middle Eastern origin in the U.S., the group is more diverse here due to migrant selectivity (e.g., religious minorities from the Middle East are overrepresented in America). So, as we study the Middle East, it is important to remember that many Middle Eastern individuals we meet in the U.S. will not fit the expectation of what the Middle East tends to be (i.e., Arab and Muslim). For example, about half of Middle Eastern Americans are non-Arabs, and a large segment is also non-Muslim (Christian, Jewish, etc.).
We take this opportunity to thank our partner, Kenyon College, and all of the OSU sponsoring departments who helped make this and related events possible. They include the Mershon Center for International Security Studies; the Department of History; the Center for African Studies; the Undergraduate International Studies Program; the Department of African and African American Studies; and the Multicultural Center.
Jonathan Friedlander expanded on the topic of diversity versus the monolithic image of Middle Easterners held in the collective imagination of American society. He talked about Middle Eastern identities "from A to Z" (Arab to Zoroastrian). While there is a sizeable population of individuals of Middle Eastern origin in the U.S., the group is more diverse here due to migrant selectivity (e.g., religious minorities from the Middle East are overrepresented in America). So, as we study the Middle East, it is important to remember that many Middle Eastern individuals we meet in the U.S. will not fit the expectation of what the Middle East tends to be (i.e., Arab and Muslim). For example, about half of Middle Eastern Americans are non-Arabs, and a large segment is also non-Muslim (Christian, Jewish, etc.).
We take this opportunity to thank our partner, Kenyon College, and all of the OSU sponsoring departments who helped make this and related events possible. They include the Mershon Center for International Security Studies; the Department of History; the Center for African Studies; the Undergraduate International Studies Program; the Department of African and African American Studies; and the Multicultural Center.
The guest scholars were interviewed on "All Sides" with Ann Fisher while they were here. Please check it out! Here is a link to the recording from the "All Sides" page: http://streaming.osu.edu/wosu/allsides/091912a.mp3 We will be posting the video of their presentation, as well as other related materials in our Knowledge Bank Community.
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