Whenever violent confrontations in the Middle East reach one of their periodic surges, Marvin Wingfield braces for the worst: ethnic taunts, stereotypes in the mass media, and violence against Arab Americans.
"The pattern seems to be that whenever there is a crisis in the Mideast, the incidence of hate crimes against Arab Americans increases," says Wingfield, coordinator of conflict resolution for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington, D.C. "It becomes even more pronounced when the United States is involved directly."
The backlash, Wingfield notes, is simply one manifestation of centuries-old misperceptions in the West about the nature of Arab culture. Colonial arrogance, he says, fostered stereotypes of Arabs as camel-riding hedonists and devious traders. The more modern stereotype of the "Muslim terrorist" led initially to false assumptions about the Oklahoma City bombing.
Another offshoot of this arrogance, Wingfield points out, is the tendency of many white Americans to view other broad segments of the population as homogeneous. References to "the black community," for example, ignore the diversity among African Americans and their interests. Similarly, "the Arab World" is vast and varied. Most Arabs speak Arabic, and most are Islamic, but the Chaldeans prove that neither attribute is a prerequisite for "Arab-ness."
Part of the ADC's mission is to help combat stereotypes and reduce anti-Arab hate crimes through educational and political programs. A large part of this effort involves encouraging Arab Americans to play higher-profile roles in their communities.
The ADC has prepared guidelines for community activists to follow in trying to increase the presence and awareness of Arab culture in school districts. Called "Working With School Systems," it describes various scenarios for involvement, ranging from volunteering at the classroom level to lobbying for district-wide curriculum development. One notable success occurred in Portland, Ore., where Arab American activitists persuaded the local newspaper, The Oregonian, to include a special Mideast page in its annual "Newspapers in Education" issue.
"Our program is multifaceted," Wingfield says. "It's not a curriculum that can be taken into the schools. Instead, we have many different people doing many different things. We encourage people to take actions on their own horizons."
In metro Detroit, several programs through public schools and nonprofit organizations work to bridge differences between Arab Americans and the broader community. An organization called Arab-Jewish Friends runs an annual contest in which Arab and Jewish high school students co-write essays. It helps the students break down their own stereotypes by working with students from cultures with whom they have historically been at odds.
"We have them write about issues that are important to Arabs and Jews," says Jeannie Weiner, one of the contest's founders. "It's good for them to put these thoughts down in writing. And it's good for us because we can use the essays as tools to show what the kids are thinking."
Another project, directed by Wayne State University's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, brought together students from high schools in suburban Dearborn, where metro Detroit's Arab Muslim population is concentrated, to negotiate a contract for behavior among Arab and non-Arab students. They quickly found common ground in their dissatisfaction with the district's multicultural programs and petitioned school officials for classes in such topics as world religions.
Little came of the demands, but the students learned that they have more in common than they thought, says Mickey Petera, assistant director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Department. While she supports programs that break down barriers among older students and adults, Petera says she is particularly encouraged by Greenfield Union's efforts to reach students at earlier ages.
"We need to start at the elementary and preschool levels," she says, "and raise a generation of students that can get along."