Page - 198 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Kenneth Starck | Perpetuating Prejudice 198 essential to being able to correct inaccurate information and to dispel mis- perceptions. In the mid-1960s Arab Americans began finding that voice. 5. Giving Voice to the Arab-American Perspective Though it is not the focus of this paper, some mention must be made of efforts by Arab Americans to correct the inaccurate stereotypes and negative portrayals of themselves and their communities. Until the 1967 Six-Day War, Arab-American organizational activity centered on social and religious activities. The war signaled the need for Arab-American voices to be heard in political and foreign affairs. Samhan underscored this line of reasoning. While blaming Israeli propaganda for discrediting Arab-American activity, Samhan pointed to “a clear relationship between the pervasiveness of negative images and stereotypes in the media and anti-Arab prejudice” (1987, p. 18). During the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, Arab Americans formed a number of influential organizations (Kayyali 2006). Four are introduced here. Additional details about each appear in Appendix B. The first national organization to promote Arab-American interests was the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG). It was founded in 1968. Besides trying to assure the dissemination of accurate infor- mation about the Arab world and the Arab-American community, it serves as a network for Arab academics and professionals. Its publications include the Arab Studies Quarterly. Among its founders was Edward Said. (More infor- mation about AAUG and other Arab organizations appears in Appendix B.) A local organization with national influence is the Arab Community Cen- ter for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) based in Dearborn, Michigan, which is among the largest and most prominent Arab-American communities in the United States. It was founded in 1972 to assist immigrants in coping with language, cultural, and social barriers. Another organization established in 1972 was the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA). Formed by businessmen and professionals with Arab backgrounds, the NAAA served as a lobbying organization, which, according to its Website (see Appendix B), is “dedicated to the formulation and implementation of an objective and nonpartisan U.S. foreign policy agenda in the Middle East”. In January 2002 officials of the NAAA and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) announced the merger of the two organizations, bringing together two of the oldest and most prominent Arab-American organizations. The ADC, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, was founded in 1980 by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk of South Dakota and has chapters