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thatarab-american · 2 years

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my mom always told me to “make our culture look good”.

like, to dress nice, because we’re the only arabs around and we don’t want people to think that arabs dress like hookers.

or, to keep my hair real flat and wavy, not to let my volume and curls show, because it’s too “unprofessional”. we don’t want people to think arabs are trashy!

to act like the white girls around me, because that’s how we make our culture look good.

what kind of logic is that??

what culture are we making look good if we’re just going to whitewash ourselves???????

i used to always be so ashamed of my culture, because it was embarrassing or something, but now i won’t hesitate to bring up race whenever that conversation is needed.

and it’s so frustrating to be told you can’t express yourself, because you’re told your cultures entire image is literally on you. like you have to make your culture look all good n nice. it’s not my fault people are so quick to stereotype. and telling your children to behave a certain way so people accept your background, that’s just giving up, i think. i don’t know, it just makes me mad.

instead of getting in trouble like normal people, being told i should be “ashamed of myself”, i grew up with “you’re making people ashamed of our culture”. that’s not my fault. i can’t help the fact that some people just suck!

whatever, i guess. i’m going to do whatever i want, and i literally don’t care what kind of impact that has on my local community’s view of my culture. because that shouldn’t be my responsibility. i should just be able to live normally, the fuck?

#arab #immigrants #race #culture #sterotypes #racisim

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thatarab-american · 2 years

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i can’t wait to see people like me in “trashy” romance novels.

like, arab people.

i found this REALLY good book about a girl who is so SO similar to my families background, called “Against the Loveless World” and im seriously obsessed with it!

it’s super intense and the themes are rlly mature, and it’s like really going deep into politics and all that - which is cool!

BUT, it would be so cool to read about people like me in fun books too. i don’t want every single bit of representation (which arabs like me barely get anyways) to be all serious and “though-provoking”. like, i LOVE chick-lit n chick-flicks n all that, and i would kill to read about an arab girl w olive skin and dark thick colors meeting the brown boy of her dreams and getting her happily ever.

btw, aladdin sucks. like, seriously. don’t get me started on it. i dont count that as representation. id prefer to pretend it doesn’t exist, thanks <3

#arab #chick lit #race #representation #romance #literature #ya books #books #romance books #brown girls #brown boys

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thatarab-american · 2 years

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stream breakfast by dove cameron <3

#breakfast #dove cameron #music #music video

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thatarab-american · 2 years

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PALESTINE/ISRAEL

i was born in jordan, but my ethnicity is a 100 and 10% palestinian. anyways, today a friend of mine i met recently told me she was half israeli, and i told her i’m palestinian.

at first, i wasn’t sure what to think. she’s my friend, and we clicked INSTANTLY.

she also told me she never really had a stance on the conflict, and she doesn’t really claim that side of her. she’s ethiopian, and that’s the side of her culture she really engages with.

anyways, we had a civil discussion about the topic, and it’s kinda weird bc i think both of us had to kind of be super mindful of what we were saying.

but we were talking about how parents of both palestinian and israeli children can definitely influence what WE think about each side.

palestine should be free, from river to sea. and israel is and has been committing severe cruelties to palestine.

buts it’s also like, she’s my friend and she was born israeli. i’m not going to hate her for that. it’s the government i hate. the citizens don’t have that kind of power to change things. kids and most people are just living there. like, what am i gonna do about it?

is it too late for a two-country solution? probably.

but sometimes it doesn’t really hit me how serious “politics” can be, until you meet someone who’s totally different from you, in whatever form that may be. it’s so weird, like eye-opening almost.

#palestine #israel #arab #culture #politics

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thatarab-american · 2 years

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” why do you put so much effort into educating about writing Arabic/Muslim culture ?”

Nothing brings me anxiety like hearing a piece of media has an Arab or Muslim character in it.

in media,

Muslims are terrorists eventhough the world Islam literally means Peace.

Arabs are yellow teethed dumb people who can’t operate a computer, even though the first university was introduced by Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihriya Al-Qurashiya, memorize that because it’s often credited to a white man.

muslim women are oppressed and need white savior to break them free from the shackles of community. Many Muslim women say they feel more confident and proud as hijabis. Islam honors women.

Arab women are fetishized, they’re only desirable as porn, otherwise they’re ugly. muslim men are abusive, even-though the Prophet would pray with his grandchildren hanging off his back, He wouldn’t stand up until they’re done playing. He’d cradle a baby in his arms while praying. Arab men lay on a couch cradling a big tummy and a giant tiger while the woman handles everything. Eventhough many Arabs consider it a shame when a man cannot cook or do shores. They’re often made fun of if they can’t hold the Arabic coffee kettle right.

Arabs and Muslims in media are demonized, fetishized, and dehumanized.

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thatarab-american · 2 years

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Community

animation can change your life.

ever since i watched emirichu’s video, “ My Asian-American Identity Crisis”, my viewpoint on well, everything, has changed (at least, when it comes the ethnic identity crisis’).

a little before i turned two years old, i moved to good old america with my mom and dad, the latter who’s job gave him an opportunity to work for the same company, just in another country. he took it — and here we are.

do i like it here? i’d say yeah. this country definitely has issues, but i can live a really good life here. although, i’m not just american. hell, up until a few years ago, i wasn’t even an american! (my american-born sister was always a citizen however) i mean, i have a whole other culture, with different foods, languages, traditions, holidays, religions, and wayy more.

emirichu is an asian-american. in her video, she talks about her racial identity crisis, and how hard it is to feel like you fit anywhere. watching that video made me realize that i felt the same way! and we weren’t alone. tons of people in the comments shared their stories, and thousands of people could relate.

you don’t even have to be an immigrant like me to understand where we’re coming from. maybe your parents were immigrants, or your grandparents, or great-grandparents, whatever. point is, you aren’t from here. and no, i don’t mean the europeans who colonized america in the first place. i mean people like me, who don’t know where they belong.

i’m too arab to be american. i’m too amercian to be arab. i don’t fit. i don’t belong anywhere. THAT identity crisis. the age old “who am i?” leaving you wondering what the hell you’re doing.

i’m arab but my arabic is broken and shitty. i’m american but my food is weird and gross. i’m arab but my clothes don’t represent that. i’m american but my traditions don’t represent that.

i can’t be just american, or just arab. i’m both, and i’ve come to not only accept, but love that about myself!!! still, it’s so, so lonely. and though TONS of people online relate, it’s like, do you people actually exist??? no one ever talks about it IRL, because let’s be real, it’s scary. race, ethnicity, whatever — people are still afraid to talk about it. and i get that. i’m afraid too. but fear won’t get you anywhere.

around six months ago i wrote a speech for a school assignment (which if you won, you could go up and compete professionally — i, and others, won the first round, but i didn’t go up any further) relating to this exact topic. MY arab-american identity crisis. i had my own personal experiences to add, but emirichu inspired me a LOT.

ever since then, i’ve wanted to share my stories with the world. like, we can do something about this, you know? it’s not fair, to live your whole life thinking your this weird freak who doesn’t belong anywhere. we have two homes, two cultures!! that’s sick. it’s hard to un-learn and re-learn literally everything you’ve been taught about social norms and shit, but it’s just not okay to be embarrassed about your culture, or change yourself to be more “american”, or be too scared and lonely to reach out, because this fucks with you. and this is something i’m so incredibly fucking passionate about, and i want to get my voice out there. i love writing. and i love my culture. and i know so many people relate.

this mini-essay is lowkey rlly messy, and it doesn’t tell everything i wanted to say, so basically: it sucks. it sucks to feel like you aren’t truly welcomed anywhere, that both of your homes don’t really accept you, you know, that stuff. it’s hard to learn a whole new language, or embrace your ethnic foods and traditions. but i promise you, you’re never alone no matter what you go through, and loving both sides of you is so worth it, and so fucking cool.

over and out.

youtube

#Youtube #arab #culture #human rights #identity #identity crisis #american #immigrants #who am i #crisis #essay #writing #activisim #emirichu

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