Loading ...Features of Student Life of Arab Americans
It is a time to recognize Arab Americans’ contributions in music, film, television, politics, and other industries. Many famous Americans, including Paula Abdul, Rami Malek, Ralph Nader, and Salma Hayek, are of Arab descent. But there is always a hidden path to success behind all the successful adults. Perhaps, when they were students, they looked for the cheapest essay writing service to cheat at the exam. Or they had to combine their education and a part-time job of a china clipper. Moreover, they may have been bullied and faced racial discrimination because of their origin. And what about the student life of Arab Americans today? We have prepared material for you about their lives in colleges and universities in the USA in 2020.
Who are Arab Americans?
Americans of Arab origin are U.S. citizens who belong to the Arab ethnos or define their identity as Arab. Over 3.5 million Americans are of Arab descent. Although American Arabs make up only about 1% of the U.S. population, their contribution to science, art, and many other disciplines is remarkable. Arab diaspora is one of the most cultural and educated in modern America. Its representatives own lots of large businesses, such as textiles, metalworking, the production of spare parts for cars, and even electrical appliances. Every year, they invest millions of dollars in social, cultural, educational, and charitable projects in the United States.
Education for Arab Americans
Education plays a significant role in the lives of Arab Americans. Many immigrants went to the United States to give their children better opportunities and education. They understood and accepted that their children would have to face racial discrimination, adapt to the Western Society, and learn to balance their traditions and culture by accepting the rules and regulations of a foreign country. Education in the U.S. is primarily focused on locals and does not offer any changes or adaptations in the curriculum for immigrants. However, all of these factors have failed to influence Arab Americans’ ardent desire to gain the desired knowledge and experience. In this case, statistics are louder than any words. About 50% of Arab Americans have graduated from a higher educational institution in the USA and have a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degrees. At the same time, only 32% of U.S. citizens can boast of the same figures.
Features of student life of Arab Americans
Many students of Arab origin still face misunderstandings and prejudices related to stereotypical thinking. For example, Mariam Jalloul, who studied at Harvard, always felt the people staring at her, once she came into an audience wearing a headscarf. Upon enrolling in university, she immediately felt that she had lost her identity. She was no longer just a Mariam. She became just “that Muslim girl”. However, this did not break the young woman and only made her work even harder to prove that she was a Harvard student like everyone else and deserved the same attitude. She often faced protests for liberating Muslim women from the necessity of wearing a hijab. And what was incomprehensible and confusing to the Western world was a tradition of her culture. For her, freedom was quite the opposite. It was a chance to wear the headscarf and not being forced to take it off.
Many students in American universities also face the challenge of fulfilling their religious needs. Not all universities and schools provided their students with mats or separate prayer rooms. This is particularly relevant for Arab Americans during the Ramadan period. Recently, however, President Trump has been actively supporting the rights of religious minorities and advocating for special prayer rooms. Moreover, most universities already have prayer rooms on campus.
The student life of Arab Americans is still full of misunderstandings and awkward situations. It is related to eating habits and cultural aspects of their lifestyle. Imagine being invited to a BBQ party, where there’s nothing else but pork? However, the cultural gap is getting less, and it’s not many Arab Americans claim that they do not feel so much pressure in their social life. They do hang out in bars with their group mates but prefer non-alcoholic cocktails. However, the majority of students of Arabic origin claim that it’s sometimes hard for them to communicate with people outside of their community as they have to explain every detail of the context.
Still, the most challenging and hardest thing the Arab Americans students have to deal with is breaking the stereotypical image of the Muslims. The youth say that they constantly have to prove to others that they are not terrorists and that their believes are peaceful, honest, and kind.
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