Do Americans Hate Arabs?

Two nights ago I was invited to a dialogue the university was hosting ..they were inviting the American students to ask/answer questions from Jordanians. Of the 20 or so of us invited to attend, only 6 of us came.. while probably 40 or so Jordanians showed up. Only the Americans were asked to introduce ourselves, while the Arab students were told just to introduce themselves when they had a comment or question to make … that right away set a strange tone .. We felt that we were definitely about to represent all of America (its government, its values, its foreign policies, etc) to this group of students, most of whom have had little exposure to actual Americans. That in and of itself was a scary thing.

Anyways it started out with some mutual questions about why study Arabic, or why study English, etc… but fairly quickly moved on to other topics… although we tried to change the subject time & time again… the question all the students had was, “why do Americans hate us?”

I was so saddened to hear that the majority of them (many of them English literature majors) felt as a whole my country had a terrible view of them.. and in fact it went beyond that…. They asked if they were to come and study at our university, would people want to be friends with them? Would they stare at how they dressed? Would they think they were some sort of terrorist? …. It became very apparent that the general consensus was that Westerners, mostly Americans, and especially Christians were among the most unfriendly people to Arabs… not only did they feel we’re generally ignorant to the situation here, but that we’re increasingly hostile to them - particularly after 9/11.

I felt really dismayed hearing all of this ….and while I wanted to say “no, you’re wrong! .. we don’t think like that … we aren’t like that”… I couldn’t help but realize that many of their feelings are based in reality.

They asked us how many of us have Arabs in our close circle of friends back home .. and sadly.. I found myself saying “well..none really”.

While not all of this is my fault.. minorities tend to hang out in more isolated groups (as I can verify, since I am currently a minority)… and there are a lot less of them where I live.. yet does that excuse me from trying harder? And why.. why must I say “them”.. as if they aren’t like “me”?

More than ever I find myself thinking less in nationalistic terms, and more in globalistic terms.. I don’t mean that in a bad way – I love where I’m from .. but I don’t want to love it at the expense of other people. I don’t want the media to dictate who I’m supposed to look like any more than I want my gov’t to tell me who I should be afraid of..

*sigh*… sometimes I worry that I won’t convey my thoughts on here very well and people will misinterpret my words…and more than anything, I don’t want that to happen..

I just know that my worldview is changing.. a lot.. I’m finally learning to see outside of my box.. not just to see beyond it, I know its there.. but now its a matter of trying to tear it down.

These feelings of distrust don’t just stem from what happened in New York.. I really think it goes beyond that … its not just Americans, its everyone.. people are afraid .. afraid of what they don’t know.. afraid of what they think they know .. its just all about fear. .. Someone I  trust said, “Perfect love gets rid of fear.” =)  .. so thats my proposed solution to the problems of the world .. maybe it seems overly simplistic for a rationalist who looks at the terrible realities & disparaties .. the social injustices.. the misunderstandings between cultures.. the fear that disables “us” from really knowing “them”… but it really all comes down to love .. and I think real love takes effort .. it takes saying hi .. it takes building cultural bridges.. it takes tearing down walls we, or maybe our society, has built .. but in the end .. its the only thing that can unite us..

Well.. its Saturday and I’m sitting at an internet cafe… I’ve been here for going on five hours I believe… This weekend has been solely devoted to studying and writing for my paper thats due on Monday.. although I’ve intermittedly taken a break to read some Dante. I have this huge reading list I’ve acquired over the past few years… I feel compelled to read the classics that people always refer to in academia… so next on my list is the City of God by Augustus. 

I’m finally done researching for my paper!.. now its just a matter of putting all my thoughts down, which is the easiest part of the whole process. Once I have the info, I’m generally good to go. =)

My topic is the Umayyad dynasty that established itself in Southern Spain and the subsequent results of the Islamic influence on Spain… yadda yadda yadda… its actually really interesting though …and I’m doing a 20min presentation/lecture on Monday for our class on the subject which I’m really excited about (I love standing in front of the class transferring knowledge) … I’m really such a dork at heart. =)

Anyways … not much else is happening these days… just the normal routine of life. Yesterday I went to a craft bazaar sponsored by the American Women of Amman … it seriously could’ve been held in Corvallis, or any other town in the states…. there were hand-woven Santas, and cross-stiched banners to hang on doors declaring “Merry Christmas”… and I was able to buy some really cute Christmas cards that said “Wise men still seek Him” in English & “Merry Christmas” in Arabic ..

So yah…. I need to go back to being productive since I procrastinated until this weekend, along with all the other students in my class. Today is Cedo’s (my host-grandpa) birthday but we’re not really doing anything for it. I had bought a cake mix to make for this dinner I was supposed to make for my family.. but I came home last night to find they’d made it for his birthday… which is fine… but it would’ve tasted better if they’d also used the frosting I had got =)

Hope finals are going well for everyone … I believe that they’re beginning at OSU now …. our semester ends in two weeks I think… I miss 10wk terms .. I don’t really like these 16wk terms as well …. but no biggie =)

Hope everyones having a great last month of the year! Talk to ya soon…