Arab-Americans are part of the fabric of the US

I believe that the United States of America is at its best when it opens its arms to immigrants who come here to escape poverty, persecution, and lack of opportunity. Yet their efforts to thrive are sometimes frustrated by public distrust, misinformation, and plain outright hostility against immigrants, and Arab Americans are no exception. Saddled today with the twin burdens of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment, the voices of Arab Americans who have made important contributions to this country are seldom able to break through the sometimes hostile environment that reduces people from the Middle East to negative stereotypes and objects of verbal abuse. 

People are usually surprised when I say that Arab Americans are playing leading roles in many sectors, and yet the roster is quite impressive. In entertainment, many know the late Casey Kasem and Danny Thomas, and other icons like Frank Zappa, Paul Anka, Redone, and Tony Shalhoub. The list goes on in sports, business, and the media: Doug Flutie of the New England Patriots, Drew Haddad of the Buffalo Bills and Ronnie Seikaly of the Miami Heat; Kinko’s founder Paul Orfaleo and Joseph Jacobs of Jacobs engineering; the late White House correspondent Helen Thomas and CNN’s Hala Gorani, as well as NPR’s Diane Rehm. We have been part of the American fabric since large-scale immigration began in the mid-19^th century. 

{mosads}There is even less awareness of how Arab Americans have contributed to public service. Most would be surprised to learn that Arab Americans have “fought in every US war defending our constitution and our democracy,” including the U.S. struggle for independence in 1776. To open that space, the Arab American National Museum has produced an exhibit “Patriots & Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country.” It is the product of four years of research focusing on those who have served in the military, diplomatic service, and the Peace Corps. 

The exhibit is an interactive traveling production that was displayed in the Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda in Washington this past week. Among those that were highlighted for the Washington, DC exhibition were Ambassadors and members of the Foreign Service, former Peace Corps volunteers and staff, and key members of the Armed Services including General George Joulwan, General John P. Abizaid, and Col. Alfred H.M. Shehab. The diplomatic corps contingent included my fellow Ambassadors Phil Habib, Theodore Kattouf and Marcelle M. Wahba, and long-serving State Foreign Service officers such as Camille Nowfel, who was translator for five presidents, and Isa Khalil Sabbagh, who spent 30 years immersed in our government’s Arabic language and cultural programming. 

While I would like to list all those included in the exhibit, what is more important is to acknowledge that Arab Americans, like all ethnic minorities, deserve to be respected for what they have achieved, not denigrated for what others do in their countries of heritage. Arab Americans, from my grandparents to the newest refugees from Syria and Iraq, have earned their place in American society and continue to uphold and promote the values that bind us together as a society. 

We are all from somewhere else, and the more understanding and comprehension we can acquire of the roots and roles of our fellow citizens, the more we will enrich our country as a whole. Americans have shown time and again that racism and injustice will not endure as part of our values, and it is far past time to consider that anti-Arab and anti-Islamic labels in America can only undermine our capacity to lead and learn. 

Gabriel is of Lebanese heritage and a former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco. He currently advises the Kingdom of Morocco.