Arab Stereotypes

For this week we studied something that I am very passionate over. We studied the idea of Arab stereotypes and how they affect childrens literature as well as the media in general. If you think about it chances are, most of the media you've seen or been exposed to with Arab characters usually portrayed them with negative stigmas playing the villan or causing trouble. We are also made to believe that every Arab is Muslim thanks in large part to the stereotypes our media paints for us. In reality only 20% of Muslim practicers are Arab. The question comes though, who do we blame for these stereotypes? We can blame it on the media, or even the news that reports on everything negative in the Middle East, but should we blame our schools as well. Personally, I feel that school is a place to break our stereotypes and learn about diversity in a positive way. In their article, "The Minority of Suspicion: Arab Americans" Tami Al-Hazza and Bob Lucking claim that there are still many textbooks that portray Arabs as living in the desert, riding camels around. In reality a very small percentage of Arabs still live like this. They rather live in modern cities with those amenities that Americans have. A good way to break these stereotypes and educate our students in a good way are thorough books, such as "Habibi".
In "Habibi" a young girl moves to Palestine from America, and struggles to adjust to her new lifestyle. This is a good book because not only does it talk about peace between the people, but also because it shows this young girl living in modern city, in her own house, with her family. We must provide our students with more books like this. In the article, "Arab Children's Literature: An Update" by Tami C. Al-Hazza, the author provides us with an array of different books perfect for exposing our children to the reality of Arab Americans and Arabs around the world. "Habibi" author Naomi Shihab Nye has another book on the list, along with "Habibi". This picture book, "Sitti's Secrets" is about a young girl who travels to Palestine and builds a relationship with her grandmother, or Sitti. This would be a good book because not only will it tell a different side of the Arab culture but also give children something to relate to. There are resources out there to teach our students about Arab culture. It is just a matter of finding them and using them in the correct way. If we are able to do this though, we may be able to change a whole generations way of thinking and give Arabs the respect that they, and everyone else deserves.