After the September 11 terror attacks American Arabs and Muslims became targets of hate crimes and subjects for government roundups and detention. Even before it was determined that the hijackers were Arab Muslims who had lived in the United States varying lengths of time, Americans who looked Middle Eastern were harassed, assaulted and their property vandalized in a wave of misplaced retaliation. The FBI reported that hate crimes against people who were or looked to be of Middle Eastern descent increased from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001, an increase of more than 1,500 percent. (Fears, 2002)
Several newspaper stories depicted Arab Americans' complaints of ethnic profiling and stereotyping. A Los Angeles Times story met the issue head-on in an article headlined "Negative Stereotyping Distorts Arabs' Image." The author, Howard Rosenberg, noting the overwhelmingly negative portrayals of Arabs in films and on television, wrote, "With no more Soviets for U.S. heroes to fight on TV, thanks to the Cold War's ending, however, Arabs have become the clay pigeon of choice." The article quoted several scholars and activists who were lobbying against the portrayals. (Rosenberg, 2001)
A Chicago Tribune article reported allegations of ethnic profiling of Arab Americans by a suburban police department and the officers' denial in an even-handed manner, quoting sources on both sides. (Ritchie, 2001) An article in The St. Petersburg Times discussed Arab Americans' disillusionment with the Bush administration's inaction on the use of secret evidence in cases of immigrants with alleged ties to terrorists. The story was framed as a political analysis, hinging on Arab Americans' and Muslims' endorsement of Bush's candidacy, partly because he had objected to secret evidence during the campaign. (Aschoff, 2001)
In the days immediately after Sept. 11 Arab Americans became double victims: They suffered, as did everyone at the horror.......
