Reaction StatementModule 6: Constructing Difference and DeculturalizationBy now, you should have a grasp on ideas that influenced the foundational structures of United States schooling. We are going to look at a lot of different perspectives of difference this week. After reading the pdf for this module, I ask that you review the series of media clips from UnNatural Causes. This is a critical moment in the semester because we start making historical connections to the current moment and it prepares us for the upcoming modules that zones in on the ideas of equality and equity.ReferencesSpring, J. (2014). The American school: A global context from the puritans to the Obama administration (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.Tozer, S., Senese, G., & Violas, P. C. (2013). School and society: Historical and contemporary perspectives (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.Module 6: Reading ExpectationsThe reading expecations for Module 6: Constructing Difference – Politics, Economics, and the “Science” of Inequality, Part II are:Choose one of the following pdfs: “Race, Politics, and Arab American Youth” by El Haj pdf or “Reclaiming the Gift” by McCarty;? View all of the media clips associated with UnNatural Causes;? Listen to the This American Life audio Act 1: If you are not able to listen within D2L, please copy and paste the following link into your web browser:? http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/322/shouting-across-the-divideRead El Haj_Race Politics and Arab American Youth the second attachmentListen to article http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/322/shouting-across-the-divideWatch videosDescription of Assignment:Reflective reaction paper and questions/comments for discussion (3 pts. each) – Approximately one-page paper (single spaced, 10-12 pt. font) in response to the assigned readings and daily content that includes at least two critical questions for discussion. Please do not provide a mere summary of the readings. Instead, please provide a thoughtful, scholarly reaction to the readings/content. Your reaction may include but is not limited to areas of agreement/disagreement, affirmation (or you can offer a counter argument with outside academic resource support), or other influences/connections. Your reaction statements should represent critical reflective thought.http://epx.sagepub.comEducational PolicyDOI: 10.1177/0895904805285287Educational Policy 2006; 20; 13Thea Renda Abu El-HajRace, Politics, and Arab American Youth: Shifting Frameworks for Conceptualizing Educational Equityhttp://epx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/1/13The online version of this article can be found at:Published by:http://www.sagepublications.comOn behalf of:Politics of Education AssociationAdditional services and information for Educational Policy can be found at:Email Alerts: http://epx.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsSubscriptions: http://epx.sagepub.com/subscriptionsReprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navPermissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008Section 1: Politics and theHuman ContextRace, Politics, andArab American YouthShifting Frameworks forConceptualizing Educational EquityThea Renda Abu El-HajRutgers UniversityEducators concerned with creating equitable school environments for ArabAmerican students must focus on how contemporary global and national politicsshape the lives of these youth and their families. Arab immigrants andArab American citizens alike experience specific forms of racial oppressionthat hold implications for school curricula, practices, and policies. Practitionerscommitted to social justice must assess how schools teach about culture, educatestudents for knowledgeable deliberation of global politics, and supportstudents and teachers to explore the passions of patriotism. The questionsraised by the education of Arab American youth have profound implicationsfor teaching for social justice in a world characterized by global interdependenceand increasing transnational migration. No longer can national boundariesmark the limit of concern for social justice. Educating for social justicerequires that we teach youth to confront racial, economic, social, and politicalinjustices within and beyond the borders of nation-states.Keywords: Arab American youth; social justice; marginalization; violence;cultural imperialismOn April 8, 2005, The New York Times reported the story of two 16-yearoldMuslim girls (one Bangladeshi and one Guinean) who were beingheld in a detention center for undocumented immigrants after an investigationby the FBI asserted that the girls posed an imminent threat to U.S.security and were planning suicide bombings (Bernstein, 2005a). The governmentbased its case on secret evidence that was being withheld from thegirls and their legal representatives, a practice that has become increasinglyfamiliar in the post–September 11, 2001 era. On June 17, 2005, The New YorkTimes reported that the Bangladeshi girl, Tashnuba Hayder, had been deportedto Bangladesh on immigration violation charges (Bernstein, 2005b). The FBIEducational PolicyVolume 20 Number 1January and March 2006 13-34© 2006 Corwin Press10.1177/0895904805285287http://epx.sagepub.comhosted athttp://online.sagepub.com13EP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 13© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008continued to refuse to reveal details of the case against her or her peer.Instead, the girls were charged with immigration violations.These items in The New York Times resonate with another story, this oneabout a U.S. citizen, a Palestinian American student in a large, urban publicschool where I have been conducting qualitative research with ArabAmerican youth for the past 3 years.1 Adam, one of the young men in thestudy, arrived home one afternoon to find Secret Service agents searchinghis house; his mother, confused and terrified, was unable to communicatewith the agents because she did not speak English. Apparently, the schoolhad called the secret service after charging that Adam’s brother, Ibrahim,had threatened to kill the president. According to the brothers and otherstudents present at the time of the alleged incident, in the midst of a heatedargument in which some students, referencing recent kidnappings andassassinations of foreigners in Iraq, were accusing Arabs of being prone toviolence, Ibrahim (who was still struggling with English proficiency) askedthe group how they would feel if one of their leaders were killed. Theteacher waited several days to report the incident to the dean’s office;according to her account, Ibrahim had threatened to kill the president. Itwas at that point, several days after the alleged threat occurred, that Ibrahimwas suspended and the Secret Service was called.I begin with these parallel stories to emphasize the political context thatis a reality for Muslim Arab and South Asian youth in these times: Indefinitedetentions without access to evidence, the threat of house searches, andeven the fear of extrajudicial rendition have all become part of the landscapefor their communities in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001,attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. These stories suggestthe extent to which the lives of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian youth,immigrant and citizen alike, are circumscribed by contemporary global politics.I start with these stories to state the obvious: The frameworks for conceptualizingsocial justice for Muslim, Arab, and South Asian youth in theUnited States must be radically reconstructed in the post–September 11,2001, political context.Although as these two stories point out there are similarities between thecurrent experiences of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian youth, in this article,I focus on fundamental questions about power, equity, and schooling in relationto Arab Muslim youth.2 I have chosen to narrow the scope of this articleto Arab Muslim youth for two reasons. As an ethnographic researcher,I have been documenting the lived experiences of Arab American Muslimyouth for the past 3 years. This article draws on examples from the qualitativestudy to support a broader set of claims I am making about creating14 Educational PolicyEP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 14© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008just, responsive educational environments for Arab American youth. Equallyimportantly, although the framework for understanding power and equitythat I propose in this article has implications for educating Muslim youthfrom a variety of ethnic communities, I am intentionally working against ageneral lack of knowledge by many people in the United States that erasesthe different histories, cultures and languages of the widely variable Muslimimmigrant communities.3In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, educators need a new frameworkfor understanding the particular equity issues that Muslim Arab youth facein U.S. schools. The dominant framework for understanding the experiencesof Arab American youth in U. S. schools has been an ethnicity modelthat focuses on cultural differences (Adeeb & Smith, 1995; Banks, 1997;Suleiman, 2004) or on the processes of cultural transformation throughimmigration (Sarroub, 2001). For the most part, the problem for Arab youthin U.S. schools has been defined primarily as a problem of what CharlesTaylor (1992) calls “misrecognition” and “nonrecognition.” Explicating theproblem caused by misrecognition of nonrecognition, Taylor writes,The thesis is that our identity is partly shaped by recognition or its absence,often by the misrecognition of others, and so a person or group of peoplecan suffer real damage, real distortion, if the people or society around themmirror back to them a confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves.Nonrecognition or misrecognition can inflict harm, can be a form ofoppression, imprisoning someone in a false, distorted, and reduced mode ofbeing. (p. 25)Knowledge about Arab culture has been absent, stereotypical, or misinformedwith the result that Arab youth feel alienated and misrecognized intheir classrooms and schools (Adeeb & Smith, 1995; Suleiman, 2004).Responding to the particular needs of Arab youth, then, demands that thecollective identities of these youth are accurately and visibly included in thecurriculum and that educators are informed about culturally appropriateways of interacting with Arab family and community members (Adeeb &Smith, 1995; Suleiman, 2004).In this article, I argue that focusing on understanding culture is an importantbut insufficient framework for addressing the needs of Arab Americanyouth. I suggest that to develop strategies for educational equity for ArabAmerican Muslim youth, educators must move beyond a model of culturalunderstanding and attend, instead, to the particular processes of racial subordinationto which these youth are subjected within and outside of schools.As other critical multicultural educators have argued (see for a few examples,Abu El-Haj / Race, Politics, and Arab American Youth 15EP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 15© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008Fine, 1997; Nieto, 2004) focusing on cultural differences is insufficient foraddressing institutionalized processes through which schools produce racialhierarchies.Although the processes of racial subordination share characteristicswith other racially subjugated populations, Arab American Muslim youth alsoface specific forms of racial oppression that are intimately interwoven withcontemporary global politics that lend their community permanent status asthe enemy within.I begin this article by exploring the processes of racial subordination towhich the Arab American communities are subjected at this historicalmoment. This context is critical for understanding the lived experiences ofArab American and Arab immigrant youth in schools. After discussing thepolitical landscape shaping Arab American communities today, I suggestthree important issues for educators to consider when building responsiveand equitable educational environments for Arab Muslim students. I examineand critique approaches to teaching about Arab culture. I argue that it isessential that schools in a democracy educate not for political conformityand consent but to foster deliberation and dissent. Finally, I suggest schoolsmust explore how they address violence and racial harassment directed atArab and other Muslim students. Education that hopes to stand against violencedirected at Arab and other Muslim youth must confront the passionsof patriotism that limit possibilities for peace and social justice.Arabs in U.S. Society: Contextualizingthe Experiences of YouthArab Americans have occupied an ambiguous position in the racializedlandscape of the United States (Naber, 2000; Samhan, 1999). Officially,Arabs are classified by the federal government as part of the racial categoryWhite that includes persons of European, Middle Eastern, and North Africanorigin. This classificatory system based on residual notions of race as a biologicalconcept rather than an outcome of mutable sociohistorical processes(Omi & Winant, 1994), positions Arabs invisibly within the boundaries ofWhiteness and flagrantly conceals the racialized discourses and practices towhich this community is subjected (Abu El-Haj, 2002, 2005; Naber, 2000;Samhan, 1999). These racialized discourses and practices take a variety offorms. Violence against people perceived to be of Arab, Muslim, or MiddleEastern origin constitutes an ongoing, although rarely recognized, problemin the United States (Ahmad, 2002; Naber, 2000; Volpp, 2002) Legislative,legal, and policing practices deny many Arabs even the most basic civil rights.16 Educational PolicyEP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 16© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008At the same time, within the public imagination, Arabs occupy unenviablepositions as, for example, enemies of the state, opponents of freedom anddemocracy, and oppressors of women.In this section, I address three key factors that contribute to the racialsubordination of Arabs and Arab Americans: violence against individualsperceived to be of Arab, Muslim, or Middle Eastern origin; state policiesthat target Arab and Muslim communities; and discursive practices that“Other” Arabs and Muslims. The political philosopher Iris Young (1990)offers a useful topography of the conditions through which the systemicoppression of groups of people is accomplished. Borrowing from her analysis,I argue that Arab Muslims in the United States are racially subordinatedthrough violence, marginalization, and cultural imperialism.Violence: Racial Hatred and Patriotic FervorMany groups suffer the oppression of systematic violence. Members of somegroups live with the knowledge that they must fear random, unprovokedattacks on their persons or property, which have no motive but to damage,humiliate, or destroy the person. (Young, 1990, p. 61)Perhaps the most vivid illustration of the reality that Arabs and otherimmigrant Muslims are a racialized minority in the United States restsin the violent attacks following September 11, 2001 on people acrossthe country who appeared to fit the generic mold of Arab, Muslim, MiddleEasterner—and therefore enemy alien in the public imagination (Ibish,2003). The victims of these attacks represented a wide range of ethnicand religious groups; the dead alone include people who were Christian,Muslim, and Hindu, of Arab, Pakistani, Sikh, and Indian descent (Ahmad,2002; Ibish, 2003; Volpp, 2002). After September 11, 2001, fear of violenceswept through Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities. Many in thesecommunities draped their homes and businesses in flags, hoping this patrioticsymbol would act as a protective shield. Sikh taxicab drivers in New YorkCity displayed signs informing others about their religious background andexplaining that they were neither Arabs nor Muslims. Many Muslim womenwho cover their hair remained indoors and some made the decision touncover their heads in public rather than take the risk of incurring someone’smisplaced ire.The racial violence that occurred in the aftermath of September 11, 2001,reflected and reinforced racial oppression to which Arab, Middle Eastern,and South Asian communities were already subjected. Violence againstAbu El-Haj / Race, Politics, and Arab American Youth 17EP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 17© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008these communities is not a new phenomenon; it has often accompaniedinternational conflicts such as the Iranian hostage crisis and the first GulfWar (Abraham, 1994). This violence draws on existing racist ideologiesthat led the perpetrators to target entire groups of people for the actions ofindividuals. There is, perhaps, no more dramatic illustration of this pointthan to note that after the Oklahoma City bombing, White men were nevertargeted or racially profiled for the actions of Timothy McVeigh (Volpp,2002); in fact, in the days following the explosion before McVeigh hademerged as a suspect, Arab Americans faced racial harassment (Morlino,2004). However, although the violence directed at Arab, Middle Eastern,and South Asian communities after September, 11, 2001, reflected existingracial ideologies, it also marked a turning point after which there has beena redrawing of national and citizenship boundaries in such a way as to excludethese communities, both literally and figuratively.Marginalization: The Policies of the StateMarginalization is perhaps the most dangerous form of oppression. A wholecategory of people is expelled from useful participation in social life. (Young,1990, p. 53)Although the violence directed at Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asiancommunities was perpetrated by individual citizens, it must be understoodas part of a context in which state-directed policies create a new category ofpersons who fall outside of the rights and protections afforded to citizens.Indefinite detention, secret evidence, and extrajudicial rendition of suspectsto countries that routinely practice torture have become part of the politicallandscape that circumscribes the lives of Arab and Muslim immigrants and,in some cases, citizens after September 11, 2001. Although the precedentsfor these policies were created well before the fall of 2001 (see Akram &Johnson, 2004; Moore, 1999), the actions of the U.S. government since 2001,including the passage of the USA Patriot Act, have created a new sense ofperil for Arab (and other Muslim) immigrants and citizens, alike (Murray,2004; Volpp, 2002).Fear and distrust in Arab American communities emerged in response tonumerous government actions in recent years. For example, immediatelyfollowing September 11, 2001, the government quickly detained more than1,200 noncitizens, refusing to release their names, whereabouts, or the chargesleveled against them (Ahmad, 2002; Murray, 2004; Volpp, 2002). Governmentofficials also sought interviews with thousands of Middle Eastern and Muslim18 Educational PolicyEP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 18© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008noncitizen males (Ahmad, 2002; Murray, 2004; Volpp, 2002). Secret evidence,no-fly lists, and the fact that the Department of Homeland Security requestedthe Census Bureau to release data on Arab Americans, including the zipcodes in which they reside4 reveal the precarious position that Arabs, ArabAmericans, and other Muslims occupy in relationship to national belongingin the United States today.My intention here is not to conduct a comprehensive review of statepolicies that affect the Arab American community (see Akram & Johnson,2004; Moore, 1999; Murray, 2004; Volpp, 2002) but rather to emphasizetwo points. First, educators must be aware that Arab and other Muslimyouths’ lives are deeply affected by these state policies as evidenced by thestories with which I began this article. The fear of detention and expulsionwithout due process is palpably present in their communities. Moreover,educators must understand that Arabs and Arab Americans have had reasonto fear that the government may at times blur the line between speech andaction, raising anxieties about the limits of political dissent in a time of war(Akram & Johnson, 2004; Moore, 1999; Volpp, 2003). How educationalcommunities address conflicting perspectives and political dissent is, asI argue later, critical to creating equitable educational environments forArab American students and is intimately connected to Young’s idea thatmarginalization—the expulsion of groups of people from “useful participationin social life” (1990, p. 53) is a key form of oppression. Moreover,political dissent is at the heart of maintaining the ideal of public educationas a site for democratic deliberation (Giroux, 2002; Gutmann, 1987).Cultural Imperialism: RacializedDiscourse in the Public SphereTo experience cultural imperialism means to experience how the dominantmeanings of society render the particular perspectives of one’s own groupinvisible at the same time as they stereotype one’s group and mark it out asthe “Other.” (Young, 1990, pp. 58-59)Racial and ethnic subordination is accomplished not only through theeveryday practices of individuals and the state but also through discursivepractices that construct our understanding of what race is and what it signifies(Omi & Winant, 1994). In the discursive realms of politics, popularmedia, and academia, the notion of culture continually recasts Arabs andother Muslims outside of the confines of civilization, enemies of freedom,tolerance, and pluralism. Of significance for this historical moment is theextra burden that Islam bears within this discourse of culture, a burdenAbu El-Haj / Race, Politics, and Arab American Youth 19EP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 19© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008imposed in both popular and academic venues. For it is Islam that is positedas most culturally “Other”, inimical to Western values and traditions in anessential clash of civilizations (see Lewis, 2002; Huntington, 1996; and forcritique, Said, 2001; Mamdani, 2002, 2004).Arab culture is represented as a static set of traditions, values, norms,and practices to which Arabs adhere. Culture becomes the explanation forall kinds of behaviors from the exotic to the inexplicable. Culture explainseverything from Arabs’ legendary hospitality to their alleged hostility todemocracy. Myriad articles and talk shows have sought to explain the culturalroots of suicide bombers. After the photographs revealing the tortureof detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the media emphasized that theinterrogation practices were particularly humiliating and degrading to Arabmales because of cultural prohibitions against nudity, sexuality, and homosexuality.If these actions had been perpetrated against U.S. citizens, wouldthey have been any less degrading? Should we understand the degradingnature of these interrogation practices in terms of cultural differences or is itmore fruitful to probe the ways that these practices violated the boundariesof internationally recognized legal practices that serve to protect and honorthe basic humanity of detainees everywhere? I raise these questions here tosuggest a point to which I return later: focusing on cultural differences canobscure more critical discussions about politics and power.Public discourse in the media and politics is replete with pronouncementsthat purport to explain the culture of Arabs and Muslims in ways thatallow us to dismiss their humanity, diversity, and agency. With one encompassinggesture, the language of culture and civilization wipes out diversity,conflicting perspectives, structural inequalities, histories of imperialismand colonialism in the name of “Other” people’s uniform adherence to away of life that seems incomprehensible to “us.” Thus, culture, a conceptthat is deeply contested among anthropologists, has been put to the serviceof what Omi and Winant (1994) term a racial project—an interpretationthat reorganizes and redistributes power.Educating for Social Justice: Policy ImplicationsIt is, then, within this broader context of racialized oppression of ArabMuslim communities through cultural imperialism, marginalization, andviolence that educational policy for Arab American students must be conceptualized.In this section, I examine three key issues that educatorsshould consider as they work to create safe, equitable school communitiesfor Arab and Arab American students.20 Educational PolicyEP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 20© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008Resisting Cultural Imperialism: ConsideringCulture From the Standpoint of ProductionRana called to relate the following story:A teacher yelled at one of the other Arab girls who was eating in the classroom,telling her she looked like a pig. When she got upset with him for callingher a pig, he began screaming at the whole group of Arab girls, “I’vevisited your country. I know how men treat women in your country.” Thegirls were upset responding, “What country is that? This is our country.”Bill Johnson (a school administrator) confidently informed me that Arab girlsand women are silent and never assert themselves. I challenged his assumptions,but he remained unshaken in his conviction. “It’s a cultural thing,” hetold me.Given the dominant ways that Arab Muslims are visible in U.S. society,it is not surprising that Arab youth in schools often find themselves confrontingnegative and monolithic images of their cultural or religious practices.In response to what they experienced as a pervasive climate ofignorance about or hostility toward Arab culture, youth in my study oftensought both formal and informal opportunities to educate their peers andteachers about their religious practices, cultural traditions, and political perspectives.Through these actions, they worked hard to provide alternativevantage points from which their peers and teachers could view and evaluateArabs. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks and the ensuingviolence against Middle Eastern and South Asian communities, Arabsand Arab Americans have looked to education as a vehicle for reducingprejudice and racial hatred. In community centers and schools across thenation, Arabs and other Muslims have sought opportunities to educate othersabout their cultural and religious practices. In the face of the silencingeffects of cultural imperialism (Young, 1990), Arab youth, educators, andtheir allies find ways to resist harmful, degrading, and inaccurate imagesthat deny the richness and complexity of Arab communities.Educational literature that addresses the concerns of Arab Americans hasnoted the problems of both visibility and invisibility for these communities.5Negative images and stereotypes of Arabs and Arab Americans abound inthe United States (Al-Ani, 1995; Shaheen, 1984; Stockton, 1994; Suleiman,2004). Even before September 11, 2001, popular media promoted numerousharmful images of Arabs and Arab Americans: most prominently, as terrorists,rich oil sheikhs, and oppressed women. Across the nation, a majority ofAbu El-Haj / Race, Politics, and Arab American Youth 21EP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 21© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008non-Arab students and teachers are likely to have gained many of theirbeliefs about Arabs from popular movies that tend to portray exoticized,degrading, or distorted images of Arabs, Arab Americans, and the Arabworld (Shaheen, 1984; Volpp, 2002). Students and teachers are also likely toencounter news reports about Arabs and the Arab world almost exclusivelyin relationship to political conflicts, women’s oppression, and terrorism(Seikaly, 2001; Volpp, 2002). If negative images and stereotypes representone problem for Arab Americans, invisibility has been another. Educatorsoften have faced difficulties in learning about Arabs and Arab Americans asmany discussions of cultural diversity in U.S. schools fail to include informationabout Arab Americans. Despite a long presence in the United States—the first wave of Arab immigration began in 1880—the significance of ArabAmericans as a minority racial and ethnic group has rarely been recognizedin the area of multicultural education (For exceptions, see Adeeb & Smith,1995; Al-Ani, 1995; Banks, 1997; Nieto, 2004; Suleiman, 2004).Arab Americans have fought to counter both their visibility and invisibilityby developing curriculum that reflects accurate information, important contributions,and positive images about the history and culture of Arabs and ArabAmericans. Major Arab American political organizations such as the ArabAmerican Anti-Discrimination Committee and social services organizationssuch as the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services—located in Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to the largest community ofArab Americans—recognize a necessary relationship between advocacy forthe rights of Arab Americans and the need for educational materials aboutArabs, Arab Americans, and the Arab world. Curriculum that educates accuratelyabout Arabs and Arab Americans can be viewed as an important vehiclefor lessening the prejudice and misconceptions that non-Arab students andeducators hold; at the same time, it plays an important role in educating Araband Arab American youth who also need access to such information.Arab American educators have proposed that in addition to developingcurriculum that educates Arab and non-Arab students alike about Arabculture and history, schools must learn more about Arab cultural norms,values, and expectations to provide Arab American students with culturallyresponsive classrooms (Adeeb & Smith, 1995; Suleiman, 2004)—that is,combating hostile, inequitable educational environments for Arab Americanstudents takes more than accurate knowledge and representation. Educatorscannot hope to provide equitable schooling experiences for Arab Americanstudents if they fail to recognize cultural patterns and values that are particularto the Arab American community. Teaching that is culturally responsiveasks that educators focus on, rather than ignore, cultural differences.22 Educational PolicyEP285287.qxd 12/30/2005 2:31 PM Page 22© 2006 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.Downloaded from http://epx.sagepub.com at UNIV OF ILLINOIS URBANA on January 8, 2008Equitable education for Arab American students must address the needfor better information about the cultures and history of Arabs and ArabAmericans. This demands that educators develop in-depth, nuanced knowledgeabout Arab history and culture. However, focusing on culture is fraughtwith the risk of reinforcing, rather than dislodging, cultural imperialism. AsI argued earlier, discourse about culture has been a primary vehicle throughwhich racial subordination of Arabs and Muslims has been mobilized. Theissue, then, is not simply that practitioners need more and better informationabout Arab culture; it is a question of what view of culture is offered.Many multicultural programs aimed at helping educators understanda particular group of students offer a view of culture as, in a sense, a setof possessions and traditions (values, beliefs, customs, behaviors) thatstudents bring to school (Erickson,