How Does It Feel to Be A Problem: Being Young and Arab in America (2008)

Many of the young Arab-American narratives in How Does It Feel To Be A Problem examine the particular struggle of confronting negative stereotypes and discrimination after the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Negative news-media representations of Arabs contribute to popular misunderstandings, and these misunderstandings generate harmful, unjust prejudice toward Arab-Americans who have not committed crimes. For Rasha, this prejudice leads to her family’s unjust imprisonment in a wave of post 9/11 “anti-terrorist” raids. Sami observes this prejudice in soldiers’ treatment of innocent Iraqi civilians (as well as his anxiety about appearing “soft on the enemy” (65) and thus exposing his own Arab identity to scrutiny). Akram faces discrimination in high school when teachers misinterpret his keffiyeh as a symbol of hate toward Jewish people. Lina seeks a new home in Syria when the depictions of Iraq “she sees on television” (183) are no longer recognizable. As Omar explains in his interview with the Arab news outlet Al Jazeera, “News controls the world nowadays. Whatever people see, they believe” (205).

The inspiring stories of Rasha, Sami, Yasmin, Akram, Lina, Omar, and Rami’s struggles in How Does It Feel To Be A Problem offer positive representations of Arab-Americans and a corresponding call for greater Arab-American visibility.