Arab in AmericaThe eye-opening story of the life of an average Arab-American struggling with his identity in an increasingly hostile nation. Using the graphic novel as his medium, Lebanon-born Toufic El Rassi chronicles his experience growing up Arab in America. Keen observations, clever insights and painful honesty make El Rassi's work shine as a critical 21st century memoir. From childhood through adolescence, and as an adult, El Rassi illustrates the prejudice and discrimination Arabs and Muslims experience in American society. He contends with ignorant teachers, racist neighbors, bullying classmates, and a growing sense of alienation. El Rassi recounts his personal experiences after the 9/11 attacks and during the implementation of new security and immigration laws that followed. El Rassi gives context to current world events, providing readers with an overview of the modern history of the Middle East, including the Gulf wars. He also examines the roles American films and news media play in creating negative stereotypes of Arab-Americans, showing how difficult it is to have an Arab identity in a society saturated with anti-Arab images and messages. |
Contents
Section 1 | 16 |
Section 2 | 40 |
Section 3 | 58 |
Section 4 | 65 |
Section 5 | 72 |
Section 6 | 81 |
Section 7 | 86 |
Section 8 | 108 |
Section 9 | 116 |
Common terms and phrases
AFGHANISTAN AHMED AIRPORT AL QAEDA ARAB AMERICANS ARAB COUNTRY ARAB IN america ARAB WORLD ARABS AND MUSLIMS ARAR ARAR'S ASHAMED ASKED BEIRUT BOMB BORN BUSH CHRISTIAN CHUG COLLEGE CULTURE DELTA FORCE DEPORTED DETAINED ENEMY COMBATANT ETHNICITY FAMILY FEAR FELT FIGHT FILM FRIEND GUESS GULF GULF WAR HAMDI HAMID HELD HEZBOLLAH HIGH SCHOOL HIJAB HUSSEIN I-RACKEES IMAGES IMMIGRATION INVASION IRANIAN IRAQ IRAQIS ISLAM ISRAEL ISRAELI JORDAN KARZAI KESBEHS KIDS KILLING KNEW KNOW LEBANESE LEBANON LIBERAL LIVE LOOK MEANT MIDDLE EAST MIDDLE EASTERN MOVIE NAME NATIONALITY NEIGHBORHOOD NEVER NORTHERN ALLIANCE NUMBER OKAY PAKISTAN PALESTINE PALESTINIAN PARENTS PHOTO PLAYED PROUD QAEDA RADICAL RIGHT SADDAM SAUDI ARABIA SCARY SEPTEMBER II ATTACKS SHIA ARABS SOLDIERS SONG SPEAK ENGLISH SPOKE STEREOTYPES STUDENTS SUSPICIOUS SYRIA TALIBAN TATOOINE TERROR TERRORIST MOTHER FUCKER THING THINK TOUFIC EL RASSI U.S. CITIZEN U.S. GIVES U.S. MILITARY UM KULTHUM UNITED STATES INVADED WANTED WHITE YEAH