Page - 199 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Kenneth Starck | Perpetuating Prejudice 199 throughout the U.S. Abourezk was the first Arab American to be elected to the U.S. Senate. His parents of Lebanese descent were homesteaders and peddlers. The ADC is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their cultural heritage. The ADC Website (See Appendix B) states that it “is at the forefront in combating defamation and negative stereotyping of Arab Americans in the media and wherever else it is practiced.” Members of the ADC Advisory Committee include Muhammad Ali, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, U.S. Congress- men John Conyers of Michigan, and radio personality Casey Kasem. Arab language media also have been instrumental in helping build a sense of community among the diverse groups of Arab Americans. The first Arabic language publication in the United States was Kawkab Amirka (Star of America). A weekly, it was founded in New York in 1892 by two brothers, Ibrahim and Najib, of a prominent Syrian family, Arbeely. By 1919 some 70,000 immigrants supported nine Arabic language newspapers, many of them dailies. The most important publication of the time was a journal, Syrian World, whose distinguished writers included Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883- 1931) of Lebanese descent (Al-Issa, 2003). By the end of 2002, according to Kayyali (2006), there were some 45 Arabic print publications with a combined circulation of half a million. Electronically, Arabic media also have amplified the voice of Arab Americans. The Arab Network of America was the first Arabic-language cable television network to broadcast in North America and parts of Central and South America. The Internet also has seen the rise of sites focusing on political and social issues. One study showed Arab Americans boasting the highest level of connectivity of any group with three-fourths of all Arab American adults having access to the Internet and a majority regularly visiting Arabic websites (Stapp 2005). Organization and influence, however, do not necessarily go hand in hand. This was evident during the Lebanese conflict of the summer of 2006. Both Jewish and Arab organizations sprang into action in the U.S. Arab-American efforts to get the White House or legislators to call for an immediate ceasefire were mostly rebuffed, as noted by James Zogby. Zogby has been a leader in the Arab-American community and a staunch advocate of Arabs telling their own story. He is founder and president of the Arab American Institute, which was established in 1985 to take on an activist role in terms of political and civic engagement. Concerning the negligible impact the Arab voice had on efforts to achieve a ceasefire, he commented, “I’m devastated. I thought we’d come further” (Goodstein 2006).