Arab-American Activism: Bridges to the 21st Century
January 16-17 1999

I believe in you, and I believe in your destiny.
I believe that you are contributors to this
new civilization.
I believe that you have inherited from your
forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a
prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a
gift of gratitude upon the lap of America.
I believe that you can say to the Founders of
this great nation, "Here I am, a youth, a
young tree, whose roots were plucked from
the hills of Lebanon, yet am I deeply rooted here,
and I will be fruitful.
-Khalil Gibran

Introduction

         As the 19th century came to an end Khalil Gibran found himself as a bewildered emigrant in Boston determined to make his mark on his new homeland. His journey from boyhood in Lebanon to artistic genius in America epitomizes the immigrant fairy tale of American culture. His inspiration came from his own internal conflict in bridging East and West, old and new. A hundred years later Arab-Americans still face the same questions that fueled Girban's imagination and talent. As we look forward to the turn of the century, we ask ourselves: "Have we become fruitful in our own right?"
   Today Michigan is home to the highest population of ethnic Arabs outside of the Arab world. Sadly, though, as a population we have had little success in consolidating our resources in order to voice our concerns as a community. Concepts of civic duty and responsibility are, therefore, hard to employ when most Arab-Americans feel powerless in their own communities. In the city of Dearborn, for example, which is home to 80% of Arab-Americans in Michigan, not a single person of Arab descent sits on the city council.
   In order to reverse this trend the Arab American students of the University of Michigan have decided to take their fate into their own hands. Starting last year, the Arab-American Anti- Discrimination Committee (ADC) of the University of Michigan began to build the Arab- American community that is needed to forge the path for future leaders. We have held social and cultural functions in an effort to educate students and faculty alike about our identity and issues. Working with other students groups we have helped rally support for several minority issues including Affirmative Action, and civil rights. In turn, we have received support from a wide range of student groups on many of our endeavors. Already Arab-Americans are beginning to see the fruits of their grass roots activism. In the year 2000 census, three million Arab-Americans will be allowed for the first time to identify their Middle Eastern/North African heritage.
Though we have been successful we cannot afford to stop. We need to grow beyond Ann Arbor; we need to branch out in order to reach the next Gibran. On the weekend preceding Martin Luther King Jr. Day Arab-American students from universities across the Midwest will descend upon the University of Michigan to participate in a conference intended to organize Arab- American leadership, and increase awareness of our issues as Americans. Arab-American Activism: Bridges to the 21st Century will be the first conference of its kind in the region and will hopefully be the spark that sets off a new era of Arab-American involvement in every aspect of the American cultural community and political arena.

Conference Goals

The primary goal of the conference is to strengthen Arab-American student organizations in the Midwest in an atmosphere that promotes honest and deep analysis of the issues most pertinent to our community. In doing so, we hope to be an educational resource to the University community by providing a safe and constructive venue for people to come and learn about what Arab-Americans face as an ethnic minority. Furthermore, we hope that other minority groups will realize that our challenges are not exclusive of their experiences and that together we can all stand as empowered members of our respective communities and validate our presence in society at large.
We also hope that we can gain the university's support by integrating the academic units into the heart of our forums. By doing so, we can guarantee focus on our issues in a scholarly and informative manner that benefits not only Arab-Americans, but all members of the academic community. We believe that it is the duty of the University of Michigan to take the initiative and help this minority group leave the shadows of marginality and take its right place along with other ethnic groups which have enriched the American experience throughout its history.

Logistics

The conference will be conducted over two days during which five seminars will be held. On the first day, four of the five seminars will be covered with time scheduled for participants to share experiences and ideas in a comfortable and safe environment. That evening we plan to integrate our conference with the planned Encompass cultural show. On the morning of the second day we will have our keynote speaker and our fifth and final seminar. Before we close, we will hold a debriefing session during which participants will be urged to take their experiences from Michigan back to their communities. We will also encourage participants to give us feedback on how we handled the conference in order to aid us in future endeavors.

Topics of Discussion

Over the last year we have researched and analyzed topics of discussion that seem to be of most import to the community. We have steered away from international issues (i.e. Arab-Israeli tensions, or the situation in Iraq) so as to maintain a clear focus on our domestic community building goals. The topics we have chosen are:

Issues of Identity: Despite a century of Arab immigration to the United States the Arab American community continues to face many of the identity crises faced by Asian Americans and other immigrants of color in the past. The objective of this seminar is to provide participants with a panel of accomplished Arab-American anthropologists and sociologists who will guide an intellectually stimulating journey into what it means to be an Arab-American at the turn of the century.
Women's Issues in the Arab-American Community: Living in a predominantly conservative social structure the Arab-American woman has found much difficulty in openly discussing and voicing her needs and concerns. The objective of this seminar is to allow for Arab-American women young and old to openly and frankly discuss issues that would ordinarily be glanced over by the larger community. In order to maximize participant interaction we have limited the number of panelists to three, and chosen them for their ability to direct group discussion.
Environmental Discrimination: Racism plays a key factor in environmental decision making, whether by design or intentional neglect. As is the story with many minority groups, Arab communities are disproportionately affected by environmental contamination. We aim to ask how we can stop and reverse the degradation of our neighborhoods. Our panelists will address issues of environmental justice in the Detroit Metro area, and other similarly affected areas.
Media Stereotypes and Discrimination: As we fight to gain acceptance in the larger society our struggles are hindered by the constant bombardment of negative stereotypes form the popular media. Many movies and television programs act to reinforce the image of Arabs as bloodthirsty savages, and choose to ignore the underlying history of Arabic culture and society. In this forum, we will attempt to explore methods and means for Arab-Americans to stop this pattern of Arab bashing. We hope that we can earn the respect of society by showing them the positive aspects of Arab culture which have been ignored for far too long.
Student Activism: In order for us to realize our goal we need to be able to organize and consolidate the resources of Arab-American students. Most important to us is to increase membership participation in civic duties and responsibilities. It is by becoming community leaders and activists that we can establish ourselves as integral members of the larger society. The forum will be run by veteran Arab-American activists who have had success in establishing themselves as student leaders. By sharing their experiences, they will help other students become more effective community leaders.

Support and Guidance

As we prepare for this conference, we are looking to the academic units of the University to guide us. We believe that each of the topics we have chosen caters to a specific part of the wide spectrum of studies at the University of Michigan. For example, the School of Natural Resources and the Environment has expressed interest in supporting the environmental discrimination seminar by providing both academic and financial assistance. We hope that by using such a method we can directly give back to the University by being a primary resource for instructors and their classes.
We also look forward to receiving support from the University's administration. By taking the initiative to support our project the University will be sending a clear message that it will continue to fight for minority justice regardless of the attacks on its Affirmative Action policies. Furthermore, the University of Michigan will be remembered as the pioneering institution that decided to take a stand and support students working for their communities here in the State of Michigan.
The most important resource that we need, however, is our own community. By joining hand in hand we can begin to leave the margins and root ourselves deeply into the fertile soil of America. We can build a future in which our trees will blossom with the fruit of our accomplishments. We hope to welcome you in Ann Arbor this January so that we may work together towards our common goal.

Contact Information
The ADC of the University of Michigan is can be reached at:
3909 Michigan Union
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Our web site can be found at:
http://www.umich.edu/~adcum
Please email us at:
Arab.Student.Conference@umich.edu