Communications Director Lectures College Class on Discrimination faced by Arab and Muslim Americans ADC Communications Director, Raed Jarrar, spoke to an Introduction to Islam class at the College of William and Mary campus in Washington, D.C. Jarrar’s lecture focused on the complex history of Islam in the U.S., and the various misconceptions the American public holds toward Arab and Muslim populations within the U.S. “When someone identifies as an Arab, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a Muslim. Half of the Arabs in the U.S. are actually Christian... and even within the Muslim population, only about a quarter of all Muslims in the U.S. are Arabs.” Said Jarrar, addressing the common misidentification of Arab and Muslim Americans. Although the recent advent of Islamic radicalism has misappropriately stigmatized the Muslim American community, Islam’s history in U.S. is more storied and nuanced than these recent labels on Islam. Jarrar noted how Islam was first brought to the U.S. in the 17th century on slave ships arriving from West Africa, and later in the early 20th century following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. While Islam has over 300 years of history in the U.S., recent FBI hate crime statistics show an exponential rise in targeted crimes against Muslims in the U.S. This “active hatred” that Jarrar describes towards Muslims, has personally affected him, as he shared details of his discrimination suit against Jet Blue Airways and the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), after he was forbidden to board his flight out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York due to having Arabic script on his shirt. After fielding questions from students, Jarrar injected some optimism to the discrimination faced by Arab and Muslim Americans, mentioning how there have been fewer heinous cases of discrimination, relative to other targeted hate crimes of the past U.S. history. Jarrar was invited to lecture students partaking in the William & Mary Summer Session Program in Dupont Circle by former ADC Legal Intern, Professor Chrystie Swiney. Those in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area who are interested in having an ADC representative speak at a formal gathering or institution, please contact: [email protected].
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 22:44:41 +0000
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