This month we’re exploring the diversity of Arab American identities, as well as their mental health experiences, and honoring Armenian American Heritage Month 🌍
السلام عليكم, As-salām ʿalaykum,
In Arabic, this greeting is translated to “peace be upon you!” This month of April, we are celebrating National Arab American Heritage Month! |
National Arab American Heritage Month
National Arab American Heritage Month was federally recognized quite recently in 2022 by President Biden, though advocacy began in the 1980s, as Congress proclaimed October 25th, 1989 National Arab American Day. Multiple states, including California, passed permanent legislation designating April as NAAHM prior to 2022.
The first Arabs arrived in the U.S. around 1528 as enslaved Africans, though few details and written records about them exist. Immigration of Arabs to America are categorized by four waves: the first wave were predominantly Lebanese and Syrians working as grocers and merchants in the Northeast and Midwest. Detroit’s auto industry attracted Arab immigrants during the second wave in the early 1900s, and the third wave drew folks escaping war and poverty from countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen, ending in 1990. The current fourth wave hugely consists of refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, and Syria who have been impacted by political violence.
Arab American Identity: Fighting the Monolith
Arab Americans come from the 22 countries in the League of Arab States, including (Southwest Asian region): Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The North African Arab States include: Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, and Tunisia. Collectively, these countries are often referred to as the “Middle East” or as “Middle East North Africa” (MENA), however, efforts as of late to decolonize the term from the Eurocentric lens instead refer to the region as SWANA, or Southwest Asia and North Africa. Non-Arab states in the SWANA region include: Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Cyprus (sometimes).
An estimated 3.7 million Arab Americans call the U.S. home, however, it is worth noting that this population has historically been undercounted due to the pressures to be classified as white. During the Naturalization Act of 1870, which restricted naturalized citizenship to “free white and Black persons,” immigrants needed to prove their “whiteness” to gain citizenship, and also avoid being deemed as “Asian,” particularly during the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Many Arab immigrants needed to argue this on legal terms, for example, the case of Dow v. United States (1915), which successfully deemed Syrians as white. Early legal cases favored Christian Arabs, as religion became a proxy for race, with “Arab” being synonymous with “Muslim” — a common misconception that has continued today. Additionally, some judges used “the look test” to assess a person’s facial features as “white enough.”
Read more here: Between Muslim and White: The Legal Construction of Arab Identity by Khaled A. Beydoun
For this, and other reasons, Arab American identities have become invisibilized, and have morphed into a flattened monolith that is peppered by assumptions and misunderstandings. Peoples of these regions are hugely diverse, with rich, distinctive cultures, beliefs, and traditions. Arabs may racially identify as white, Brown, Black, or multiracial, with Afro-Arabs as particularly underlooked. As stated earlier, they are often assumed to be Muslim, but Arabs are also Christian, Jewish, Druze, not devout, or non-religious. While these countries are unified on the basis of speaking Arabic, there are many dialects of the Arabic language, and some families, such as those living in the U.S. for multiple generations, may primarily speak English. And, while many Arab Americans may share specific cultural attributes, such as being very family centered, the ways in which gender roles and family structures operate can still widely vary.
Arab American Mental Health
For many Arab Americans, encountering barriers to feeling safe is a prominent theme shaped by ongoing experiences of surveillance, discrimination, and sociopolitical marginalization. Over the past century, geopolitical interventions by the U.S. and our allies have contributed to war, deaths and genocide, the destruction of homelands, and consistent infringements upon safety to peoples throughout the SWANA region, seen most recently in Gaza. This has created patterns of displacement amongst Arab communities. Even after resettlement, many Arab immigrants continue to carry the emotional weight of danger as it unfolds in real time for family and communities back home, alongside experiencing survivor’s guilt. Trauma related to war and displacement may be transmitted across generations through family narratives, silence, or patterns of hypervigilance and loss. Chronic exposure to painful events in one’s homeland on the news or social media can create understandable worry, anxiety, and dis-ease.
Like many immigrants and descendants of immigrants, Arab Americans can experience a sense of being “in-between” two or more cultures, and feeling as though they don’t quite fit in. Arab Americans may experience anti-Arab racism, defined as hostility, prejudice, or discrimination targeted at Arab people, culture, or the Arabic language, and Islamophobia, or fear and hostility towards the religion of Islam and Muslims. Within the media, depictions of Arabs as “terrorists” and other similar tropes only contribute to anti-Arab sentiments. Attacks or harassment to those who wear religious coverings, the continued profiling of Arabs and Arab Americans when traveling, and microaggressions along the lines of “go back to where you came from” create a chronic erosion of trust and belonging. This repeated exposure of stigma and bigoted narratives is not only taxing, but can greatly impact one’s self-worth and self-concept.
When it comes to mental health, some Arab Americans may encounter minimizing attitudes, denial of mental health issues, or choosing to keep them private within the family due to fears around shame or misunderstanding. At the same time, there is a growing movement toward culturally responsive care, such as in the Islamic Psychology approach, which integrates contemporary clinical practice with key principles from Islam and the Qur’an.
Some key concepts are:
Qalb: heart, or one’s spiritual center; helps us in determining what is natural and right, and focuses on accountability and emotional balance.
ʿAql: translates to“shackle,” associated with intellect, discernment, and reason.
Hawā: animal drives, urges, and desires.
Ruh: a source of meaning and connection to Allah.
The nafs: varying states of the self.
Healing is understood as the process of realigning the self, where intellect (‘aql), desire (hawā), and the heart (qalb) move in greater harmony with one’s values and spiritual orientation.
Arab American Pride
Beneath the many challenges that Arab Americans face is the thread of resilience, or as Palestinian theologians define it, sumud (Arabic for “steadfastness”), seen in the phrase “to exist is to resist.” Today, many are reclaiming identity in the face of stereotypes, discrimination, and marginalization, and asserting the richness and diversity of their heritage. Arab American pride is found through cultural and religious celebrations, through joy, strength, and creativity, and the enduring connections that sustain across time and place.
Armenian American Heritage Month & Armenian Genocide Remembrance Month
April is also Armenian American Heritage Month, and coincides with the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed and displaced. This history remains central to Armenian identity and diaspora formation, shaping collective memory across generations. For many Armenian Americans, remembrance is not only an act of honoring those lost, but also a response to the ongoing impacts of denial, displacement, and cultural erasure. At the same time, Armenian American communities continue to preserve their legacy through their language, religion, and food, but especially through their strong communal ties.
Resources
Islamic Society of Santa Barbara - 302 N Los Carneros Rd, Goleta, CA 93117
Armenian and Arab American Heritage Month Events and Programs - Pasadena
Arab American Heritage Month Books and Events - LA County Public Library
AMENA-PSY (American Arab, Middle Eastern, North African Psychological Association)
Armenian Mental Health Program - Didi Hirsch (Los Angeles)
@armenianmentalhealth - Instagram
LA-CAMFT MENA Therapists Community Group - First Monday of Every Month, 9am on Zoom (Link to register for May 4th meeting)
Relief Organizations
Gaza: Gaza remains in a state of catastrophic humanitarian crisis where over two years of conflict have left over 72,000 Palestinians dead, destroyed most infrastructure, and resulted in widespread, persistent famine and disease. Currently, severe restrictions and sanctions have continuously blocked humanitarian aid. Here are a few organizations providing on the ground care:
Anera: provides food, medications, and other material goods to Gazans and refugees
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: provides medical care
Doctors Without Borders: provides medical care
Sudan: Sudan is experiencing a catastrophic civil war that began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), creating the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis. Over 150,000 people have been killed, with widespread sexual violence, famine, and destruction of infrastructure creating a massive humanitarian disaster.
Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition: mutual aid providing direct aid
Sudan Relief Fund: provides water, healthcare, and education
Project Hope: provides medical care and disaster relief
Iran: Some major themes shared in this newsletter also apply to folks throughout the SWANA diaspora, including Iranian Americans. Iran is currently facing overlapping crises, including state repression of mass protests, escalating regional conflict involving the U.S. and Israel, and ongoing instability that continues to affect civilians and diaspora communities. Currently there are sanctions impacting the delivery of aid. Here are two organizations working to provide support and advocacy:
Iranian Red Crescent Society: focuses on disaster relief and emergency aid
Center for Human Rights in Iran: focuses on documenting and advocating for human rights
April is also Autism Awareness Month, Earth Month, Celebrate Diversity Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and National Volunteer Month, amongst these notable dates:
April 1 – Passover begins (Jewish)
April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day
April 3 – Good Friday
April 5 – Easter
April 9 – Passover ends (Jewish)
April 10 – National Day of Silence (LGBTQ+)
April 13 – Vaisakhi (Sikh)
April 19 – Patriot Day
April 20 – Start of Ridvan (Baha'i)
April 22 – Earth Day
April 13 – Yom Hashoah begins at sunset (Jewish)
April 30 – Beltane - (Northern Hemisphere) begins at sunset - Wicca/Paganism
I recognize that discussions, particularly about the events and history of the SWANA area, can be divisive and controversial, and I honor that members may potentially hold differing perspectives on what is shared here. I approach these newsletters with a liberation-centered, social-justice based, decolonial lens. Any feedback, as well as corrections and questions, are welcome, and can be sent to my email.
Մնաք բարով,
(Mnash barov, Armenian for “stay in goodness” as a form of farewell),
Aute Porter, LMFT #153925
(she/her/'ona)
Director of Diversity, SBCAMFT
Located on the unceded lands of the Chumash-Barbareño people.
