Arab-American Ethnicity:Issues & Concepts

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OTA 105878/Xenia Jones
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1. Please explain the concept of "hybrid ethnicity."

Ethnicity refers to the ethnic traits, background (cultural, political, religious, academic, social), allegiance, or association we refer to as part of our identity, i.e. Hispanic, Jewish, Chinese, Native American. In the case of Arab-Americans, they refer to their Arabic heritage be it cultural or linguistic. Arab Americans are Americans whose roots can be traced to any of the 23 countries in the Arab world (Wiki 2009); from the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.), Libya, Egypt and Sudan in North Africa, to the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine - Gaza Strip and West Bank; Israel, Jordan, Iraq.) and the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait). Arab Americans are predominantly Christian (65%) compared to the predominantly Muslim population of their ethnic 'home' nations. When we speak of a 'Hybrid', we refer to 'plurality' - the presence of a myriad of influences from different origins and of sometimes opposing values and purposes. We also refer to a 'developed pairing' where the original 'versions' have been put together, at least elements from them, to produce a more relevant, far reaching version. In the case of 'hybrid ethnicities', we refer to the boundary crossing and eventual combination of several cultural and linguistic heritage in an individual, one who has not one but varied ethnic influences. Children of immigrant parents for example easily develop Hybrid ethnicities but the further down the line (in terms of generation from migrant parents to descendants) we go, the more diluted the original ethnic influences become with the assimilated ethnicity becoming more pronounced in the individual. Nevertheless, the cultural and linguistic heritage of the ethnicity from one's migrant elders will always be assimilated in its varied elements into the lives of the descendants via their socialization. This usually manifests itself in belief systems, traditions and practiced philosophies side by side with the culture the individual practices which is prevalent in the society the individual is ...