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Ethnic Studies Review

Ethnic Studies Review

Orginal Publication Date

2008

Journal Title

Ethnic Studies Review

Volume

31

Issue

esr/vol31/iss1

First Page

65

Last Page

79

Comments

Ethnicity: Questions, Trends and Interpretations

Abstract

In an urban neighborhood with a large Jewish population near my home, there is an Arabic restaurant. Name, menu and ownership mark its ethnic identification, yet its politics are otherwise obscured. An American flag, permanently placed in the restaurant's window since 9/11, greets American customers with a message of reconciliation. I am one of you, it says: come; eat; you are welcome here. In a climate where "Arabs, Arab-Americans and people with Middle Eastern features, everywhere are struggling to merely survive the United States' aggressive drive to 'bring democracy to the Middle East'" (Elia 160) and where the hostility toward Arab Americans is manifest in covert "othering" and aggressive acts of surveillance, detainment and bodily harm, the steady bustle of my neighborhood eatery is of consequence.

Rights

​Copyright ©ESR, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 2008

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