But Brooklyn is also home to the largest group of people in the US who trace their lineage back to the Arab world, according to census data.
Is this a recent change? I was always under the impression that Dearborn was the largest Arab community in the US, but that might just be my local biases showing...
wikipedia says Dearborn has the highest concentration. Perhaps it's a difference in measure of percent of population vs total number? Just throwing out guesses though.
Thanks for posting. A couple years ago, I was unaware of a systematic problem with Islamophobia--other than just after 9/11--but now I see it online and even hear it from people who should know better. It's as if the west is at war with Islam rather than the Taliban.
What happened to understanding that fundamentalists and extremists of any sort are problematic?
Yeah, when the one girl was talking about checking herself as "African-American", I was like...oh. I wish the media would pay attention to the fact that Arab Muslims aren't the only Muslims. It's awful to be subject to that level of national scrutiny, but it's even more awful to not even have a place to comfortably go and commune with other Muslims when you're tired of it all.
I'm also speaking from my own pretty embittered experiences, though, so.
Yeah, when the one girl was talking about checking herself as "African-American", I was like...oh.
Yeah, I side-eyed that too. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that the decision was truly borne of ignorance (I dunno why the article framed it as being "assertive") Being North African myself, I know lots of other North Africans who are genuinely confused as to what box to check off when asked about race. Personally, I used to always check off "other" until I got to the common app and learned that "white" in the US actually encompassed Middle Eastern/North African.
I live in a Queens neighborhood with a lot of south asian people, and quite a few of them are muslim. Even the ones who aren't were very affected by the wave of islamophobia after 9/11 (attacks on sikhs and hindus are up significantly since then). We're close to Jamaica, which has 81 mosques, many of them serving african-american muslims as well.
I think this is an important article, but I think it should have been clearer that it only discusses a small slice of the muslim experience, even in New York.
Hey, neighbor! I'm over by Kew Gardens Hills; there's a large Muslim population in my neighborhood, right smack dab next to a large Orthodox Jewish area. (Friday nights in fall and spring are a study in contrasts: the Jewish guys running home for Shabbos in their long black coats and the big ol' hats, the Muslim guys in the long white robes and their hats answering the call to prayer.)
Our neighborhood's been lucky; so far as I know, the only effects of Islamophobia around us have been an increase in the American flag branding on South Asian businesses.
I think this is an important article, but I think it should have been clearer that it only discusses a small slice of the muslim experience, even in New York. This, yes.
Oh, I remember that - the Kabul Market changed its name that week. I'm still in mourning for the afghani restaurant on Parsons that couldn't keep going.
Just, my kid was going to elementary school in Briarwood, and the day the school opened again, there were women in salwar kameez trying to get their terrified children to let go and go inside. It still sticks in my mind.
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But Brooklyn is also home to the largest group of people in the US who trace their lineage back to the Arab world, according to census data.
Is this a recent change? I was always under the impression that Dearborn was the largest Arab community in the US, but that might just be my local biases showing...
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What happened to understanding that fundamentalists and extremists of any sort are problematic?
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I wish the media would pay attention to the fact that Arab Muslims aren't the only Muslims. It's awful to be subject to that level of national scrutiny, but it's even more awful to not even have a place to comfortably go and commune with other Muslims when you're tired of it all.
I'm also speaking from my own pretty embittered experiences, though, so.
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Yeah, I side-eyed that too. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that the decision was truly borne of ignorance (I dunno why the article framed it as being "assertive") Being North African myself, I know lots of other North Africans who are genuinely confused as to what box to check off when asked about race. Personally, I used to always check off "other" until I got to the common app and learned that "white" in the US actually encompassed Middle Eastern/North African.
Reply
I think this is an important article, but I think it should have been clearer that it only discusses a small slice of the muslim experience, even in New York.
Reply
Our neighborhood's been lucky; so far as I know, the only effects of Islamophobia around us have been an increase in the American flag branding on South Asian businesses.
I think this is an important article, but I think it should have been clearer that it only discusses a small slice of the muslim experience, even in New York. This, yes.
Reply
Just, my kid was going to elementary school in Briarwood, and the day the school opened again, there were women in salwar kameez trying to get their terrified children to let go and go inside. It still sticks in my mind.
Reply
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