Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

Arab-Americans and Discrimination

Discrimination has always been a problem of the society especially in the United States where many ethnic groups come to reside . Such ethnic groups include Mexicans , Hispanics , Africans , Asians and Arabs . Arabs or American-Arabs , in particular , have experienced much discrimination especially after the September 11 , 2001 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon . Most Arabs are also Muslims but being a Muslim does not necessarily constitute discrimination until the people come to know of it . In their everyday life , the Arabs experience different forms of

discrimination . Even when they are simply walking down a city street , people look at Arabs with discriminating eyes . At airports , Arabs undergo more scrutiny in airport security . People have developed a sense of fear from Muslim terrorists who are mostly from the Middle East which is why discrimination against Arabs are existent and is constantly on the rise

Since most Arabs are Muslims and most terrorists are Muslims , people tend to believe that all Arabs that they see are Muslims and terrorists - a rather false logic . Arabs and Muslims both experience discrimination . These are two types of discrimination - ethnic and religious , but ethnicity is more reason for discrimination because ethnicity can be identified merely by looking at a person

After the September 11 incidents , the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC ) stated that employment discrimination against Arabs and Muslims have continued to decline since 2002 while according to the Council on American and Islamic Relations , complaints regarding civil-rights and workplace discrimination increased in 2005 . From 1 ,522 reported cases of discrimination in 2004 , the figure went up to 1 ,972 in 2005 . According to Joan Ehrlich , the district director for the EEOC in San Francisco , the number of reported cases of discrimination does not really reflect the people are afraid to come to the authorities for help (The Los Angeles Times , 2006

According to a study done by the New York University School of Law 's Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ , US immigration practices discriminate people from the Middle East especially those with Arab names . The report stated that the government has turned immigration agencies into institutions that aim to secure national security . In airports , people who look Arabic and have names that sound Arabic undergo more routine security measures . The study also indicates that the United States has been forwarding democracy and human rights but has almost legalized discrimination against Arab Muslims . The study documents how Muslims are hindered from traveling in and out of the country and how they often undergo restrictions in their ability to work (Mekay , 2007

Airport officials require security personnel to check everyone with Muslim names and check for matches in a given list . The computers raise warnings even if the names are only similar to a small extent to a name in the list . Thus , the person will undergo more serious security and background checks . Muslims have also been reported to avoid public worship to avoid discrimination while some...