Facing Down Stereotypes

Arab and Arab-American students on campus constitute a small but increasingly vocal community. In recent years, the Society of Arab Students has developed an increasingly strong presence on campus in an attempt to counteract insensitive jokes and stock images about Arabs perpetuated in student publications and by classmates. Arab students at Harvard complain that too often they find themselves...

When Haneen M. Rabie '95 read the latest issue of the Harvard Lampoon, she did not laugh. She got angry.

The Lampoon had published an article recounting a fictitious "near-death experience" of a character named Achmed Mohammed.

"My name is Achmed," read the article. "While fighting against the Zionist state, my commanding officer approached me and asked me to drive a truck full of explosives into a barracks full of imperialist United States forces. But I did not know how to drive stick. My brother Harouk took the mission, but I would have gladly died for the struggle."

Rabie, who is president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Arab Students, says the Lampoon's article perpetuates existing stereotypes of Arabs as violent, American-hating terrorists. Rabie also pointed to a recent cartoon in The Crimson which a mouse named "Ignatz" Celebrates the bombing of New York's World Trade Center, a crime for which two Arab youths have been charged.

Many Arab and Arab-American students say stereotypes are the worst problem they face at Harvard. Though students interviewed last week said they had not encountered overt discrimination in their interpersonal relationships, they said the images perpetuated in publications recently have cast a racist pall over the campus.

"There is a lot of stereotyping," Rabie says. "You can't help but feel discriminated against."

Society Co-Secretary Luma Al-Attar '95 says she is troubled not only by stock images of Arabs depicted in campus publications like the Lampoon, Peninsula and The Crimson but also by racist jokes made by students.

"With the recent war, [with] a lot of jokes people make about Arabs and Iraqis you don't know whether to laugh or to be offended," says Al-Attar, who is Iraqi. "You are often faced with the conflict--should I laugh or says something?"

Nadim I. Salfiti '95, a student from Jordan, says comments by students, who may not have racist prejudices, still perpetuate an uncomfortable atmosphere.

"[Students] might not actually think every Muslim is crazy and wants to blow up the world, but many students make jokes about it anyway. It frustrates me," Salfiti says.

These problems may arise out of ignorance instead of racism, according to Arab and Arab-American students interviewed last week. Non-Arab students have misperceptions about Arab culture and tend to generalize from the images presented by the national media, the students say. In reality, Arabs are a diverse group whose culture and views on political issues vary widely.

"One of our main goals is to show what Arab culture is really like," says the society's former President Laila F. Sahyoun '94.

A Strong Voice

In recent years, SAS officers have established a strong voice on campus to combat stereotyping and insensitivity. Rabie usually writes letters to publications, and has recently written letters to the editors of both the Lampoon and The Crimson.

The increased visibility and political action of SAS has seen results recently. Two weeks ago, SAS was given a permanent seat on the Foundation's Student Advisory Committee along with several other groups. The society is also a member of the recently formed Coalition for Diversity, a group of nine minority groups calling for a program of University-wide reforms.

Through the coalition, the group hopes to promote the hiring of more Arab faculty, the expansion of an Arab studies curriculum and an increased recruitment of the number of Arabs in the student body, according to Rabie.

In addition to SAS' efforts, a group formed last semester with the expressed goal of fighting discrimination against Arabs. The 17 members of Harvard's chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a national organization with chapters of 40 to 50 campuses nation-wide, will try to respond to incidents of stereotyping, according to chapter founder Naseem T. Tuffaha '94.

This new group is also planning programs to educate the campus about the diversity of the Arab community and to sensitize students about issues of concern to Arabs and Arab-Americans.

Education is the only solution in the longrun, says Tuffaha, and toward that end the fledgling chapter is planning to have speakers come to Harvard later this spring.

Some students say the best education Arab students can give to their peers is simply be being at Harvard and by interacting with their classmates on a daily basis.

Not a 'Designated Minority'

Despite the fact that students say they feel stereotyped as an ethnic group, they say that Harvard does not give Arabs and Arab-Americans the same benefits it gives other minority groups.

The Harvard admissions office does not track how many Arab or Arab-American students enroll in the University, according to Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70.

Lewis says federal regulations do not require that Arab students be accounted for, and counting students of Arab descent would be extremely difficult because they often come from countries all over the world.

"It falls in the category of students who are distinctive in one way but whom we just don't have a handle on." Lewis says.

Without the admissions office assistance, tracking Arab students is a difficult process, Rabie says. Consequently, SAS spends a lot of time trying to attract new members, according to Rabie.

"Targeting people for membership is difficult. A lot of our energy is spent finding out who is Arab," she says. Frustration has prompted the group to consider even inefficient means of recruitment. "We've thought of scanning the phone book for Arab-sounding names," she says.

Some Arab and Arab-American students say the small size of there community at Harvard and not being a "designated minority" contribute to feelings that Arabs at Harvard are not a bona fide minority group.

As a result, Rabie says Arab students--and the SAS in particular--are often excluded from minority events and discussions.

"Whenever there is a minority panel there are never any Arab students on the panel," she says.

Students also say they are denied some of the benefits received by recognized minorities. Malick W. Ghachem '93 said he could not get summer grant money targeted for minorities in the sciences because he was told he did not qualify.

Rabie says the College administration does not give SAS enough attention.

She says the administration has been slow to respond to the group's queries about why the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations gave the society a grant of $60 this fall. The group received $700 for similar proposals last spring, Rabie says.

"I feel like we are not taken as seriously as I would like us to be," she says.

Dean of Students Archive C. Epps III has launched an official investigation of SAS' charges that their Foundation grant was mishandled.

Foundation Director S. Allen Counter expanded the committee to include more minority representatives, after SAS officers said the controversy over their grant may have been avoided if they had a voice on the committee.

A Comfortable Atmosphere

Although SAS has developed a reputation as a politically oriented organization, members say it is also a place to socialize with people of similar backgrounds.

Some students interviewed said SAS provides a comfortable social environment for them on a campus which at times can be less then understanding of their needs and perspectives.

Amar A. Hamoudi '96 says that although he has not encountered a lot of discrimination at Harvard, first-years often come to Harvard unprepared for the diverse cultures that exist in the students body.

"In the freshman class, when you come here it's taken for granted that everyone has the same Western high school [background]," Hamoudi says. "I hope its something people outgrow."

For Hamoudi, the society provides interaction with people with similar experiences.

But one student who does not belong to the society says he feels comfortable being Arab on his own because of his strong Arab identify. "I cannot divorce myself from my Arabness," says the student, who asked not to be identified. "A lot of Arab-Americans come here at a young age. In my case, my first year here was ninth grade. We speak Arabic at home."

Arab students who have grown up in the U.S. find themselves caught between two cultures, says Rabie. Consequently they feel like they don't quite fit in at Harvard or overseas.

"Here I'm never going to be in the mainstream--I'm an Arab. In an Arab country I look different because I've grown up in America," Rabie says. "I fit in with my friends who are split down the middle as well."

Al-Attar agrees. "What I like is being able to speak Arabic to may friends here," she says. "It feels good to be part of the group just to voice your opinions and your culture. All people know are the jokes."

Leith M. Masri '93 says he doesn't mind feeling different from his non-Arab classmates. "A lot of us are kind of half-breeds. We speak Arabic, but not as well as if we had grown up there," he says. "I don't mind feeling Arab--it's an important heritage. I think it's nice to have some part of your background be different from the norm."

Ghachem, whose parents are Tunisian, 'says he can reconcile the parts of his identity. "I'm proud to be American but I don't feel I have to choose between being American and being of Arab descent," he says.

Even though students like Masri and Ghachem say they are comfortable at Harvard, SAS leaders say the College administration must work harder to improve the atmosphere for Arab and Arab-American students on Campus.