Perception
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (2011), many Arab Americans are Christian and not Muslim contrary to popular belief. However, perception continues to exist that most of the Arabs in the United States are Muslim. This is because Arab-speaking countries are often predominantly Muslim. For example, there is a perception that all native Arab speakers are Muslim. Bell (2012) defines Arab-Americans as immigrants from Arab-speaking countries of North Africa and the Middle East. Arab-speaking countries consist of Arab League members and range from Iraq in the east to Morocco in the west. It is important to note that people from Turkey and Iran who predominantly speak Turkish and Farsi are not considered to be of Arab origin.
Results of the 2000 census from the US Census Bureau indicate that the main Arab-speaking nations that were cited included Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine (Bell, 2012). The same statistics indicate that 63% of Arabs in America are Christian, and 24 percent are Muslim. The misconception comes about as a result of many Arab-speaking countries being Muslim. However, it is important to observe that many Arab-Americans are Christian because they are descendants of Arab immigrants who arrived in the late 19th century and early 20th century (D.O.J., 2011). Many people tend to forget that Islam is a religion and Arab is a language. Muslims are also inclusive on non-Arabs such as Turks, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Iranians and Indians.
Profiling
Many people are profiled as being Arab or Muslim when they are not. This is indicative of the misconception about the identifiability characterizations of minority groups. Dunn (2010) defines minority groups as categories of people whose cultural characteristics or physical appearance are described as being different from the characteristics of a dominant group. Therefore, minority groups tend to possess an identifiable cultural or physical trait. However, these identifiability characterizations are open to misperception, because they result in generalizations. For example, an Arab might be profiled as a Muslim and yet he or she is a Christian. Some African-Americans can be Muslim, some non-Hispanic Whites can be Muslim and some Hispanics can be Muslim. Identifiable characterizations lead to generalizations which results in people being profiled as a group they are not.
Implications
Such mistakes have a number of implications both for perpetrators of profiling and hate crime and their targets. The targets become victims of generalizations and these are accompanied by profiling and hate crimes being committed against them. A stereotype that has long existed is that Arabs and Muslims are associated with extremism and terrorist activities. For example, after the September 9/11 attacks, there was an increase in the monitoring of Muslim and Arab Americans for security reasons (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). This is plain example of Arab and Muslim Americans became victims of profiling. This has negative implications on such groups. They live in constant fear of being targeted and their normal lives are affected. For example, after the recent Woolwich murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in the UK, Muslims in the UK have become targets of revenge attacks. According to Clay (2011), Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans were traumatized by the hate-fueled incidents that followed the 9/11 attacks. For perpetrators, such mistakes turn them into irrational beings that let out their hate on innocent people. For the victims, it is more traumatizing because a whole group of people is made to bear the consequences of a few individuals.
References
Bell, M.P. (2012) Diversity in Organizations. Mason, OH: South-Western.
Dunn, R. (2010, March 14) Dominant and Minority Groups. Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/m33866/latest/
Khan, M. & Ecklund, K. (2012) Attitudes Toward Muslim Americans Post-9/11. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 2012; 7(1): 1-16.
Clay, R.A. (2011) Muslims in America, Post 9/11. Monitor on Psychology, 2011; 42(8): 72.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2011) Understanding Arab and Muslim Americans. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/crs/training_video/3to5_lan/transcript.html
