Arab Immigrant Integration In America
By: Udochi Esomonu/ Arab America Contributing Writer
America is a nation founded on the principle of welcoming diversity, of welcoming individuals from all walks of life, cultures, ethnicities, religions, creeds, and backgrounds. America is a nation that masks in the beauty of immigration; it celebrates the various stories of people who have bravely retreated from their homes to create a new in a unique and foreign environment.
Recently, as tensions regarding immigration laws in the United States rises, it has become more important than ever to be attentive to the many stories and experiences of our immigration history.
As the topic of immigration and immigration policy remains at the forefront of political rhetoric in America, many have constructed their own solutions to the immigration discussion, but the topic remains far from concluded. To conclude the immigration discussion, the reality of the immigrant-assimilation experience must be accounted for. Immigrants, when attempting to assimilate into their new environment, face a variety of challenges from language acquisition, culture preservation, placement in the workforce and professional sphere, access to services, and the obvious everyday social and cultural differences and barriers that prevent a steady adjustment into a new country.
Dr. Gary David is an author and professor of Sociology at Bentley University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. David specializes in the role that interpersonal interactions play in the formation of intergroup relations, specifically that of the Arab-American society. This topic of research directly relates to the topic of immigration and the act of assimilation into a unique society,
As his great-grandparents were immigrants from the Arab world, they too faced various challenges. Although challenges have evolved and have taken various changes over time, many challenges and fears persist.
Dr. David has spoken on the challenging experiences of Arab immigrants, “Arab immigrants are looking for education, professional jobs, and occupations, and an overall continuation of cultural values and principles.” he said, commenting on the motifs behind Arab immigration. While the challenges persist, Arab immigrants have persevered and have exercised their own cultural values to move forward within American society.
For Arabs, many have been coming for hundreds of years, and have worked tirelessly to adopt United States’ culture, “The question at hand is not whether or not Arab immigrants can assimilate into the U.S. culture, but it whether or not Arab immigrants will be welcomed by U.S. citizens into American society”, Dr. David explained.
Arab immigrants continue to face a variety of challenges when attempting to assimilate into the American way of life. Many, plagued by the many untrue stereotypes which have circulated throughout society, live in fear of being dehumanized and ultimately misunderstood. As they are willing to engage with society, society sometimes fails to welcome such an engagement by normalizing this constant fear and misunderstanding of Arabs.
Assimilation into society is the process through which immigrants incorporate aspects of American culture and society, and absorb it to mold it to fit their own culture. Accommodation in a society is the process through which members of a present society make attempts toward ensuring that they actively invite the unique identity of the newly integrated people, ensuring that the society itself adjusts to the integrated people as opposed to placing immense pressure on the immigrant’s ability to mold itself into a specific culture and society. For years, the comparison between assimilation and accommodation has been long debated. To what extent is an individual responsible for his/her own cultural assimilation and to what extent is it the society’s responsibility to invite and accommodate the people who comprise its nature?
“Americans should be able to accept Arabs and if not, then why not? What are Americans afraid of?” Dr. David presents as he speaks on the growing sentiments of a lack of acceptance of Arabs in American society.
What exactly attributes to the many social barriers that Arab immigrants tend to face when attempting to integrate into American culture and society? Is it the role of the immigrant to adjust him/herself or is it the role of the country’s society to accept and to create the opportunity for immigrants to properly adjust? This question remains at the forefront of the discussion on immigration and immigration policy. It is up to us, as human beings and citizens of this world to answer the question to the best of our ability.
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