Silent tension between Arab Americans and Black Americans (I)

This week I’ve chosen to highlight a barely discussed but potentially explosive issue: anti-black racism in Arab America. The issue was brought to the fore late last year by a certain Imam Dawud Walid, who is the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In an article titled “Fellow […]

This week I’ve chosen to highlight a barely discussed but potentially explosive issue: anti-black racism in Arab America. The issue was brought to the fore late last year by a certain Imam Dawud Walid, who is the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In an article titled “Fellow humans are not ‘abeed,’” (which is republished here) Walid called attention to the fact that many Arab Americans call black Americans “abeed,” the Arabic word for “slaves.”
“Calling a black person an ‘abed’ (abeed in plural) is offensive,” he wrote.  “The term has been used for so long in certain segments of the Arab World that many people have become desensitized to its meaning.  I know that all people do not use the term with overtly malicious intent; however, the word is disturbing, nonetheless.”
The reaction to his article (read it next week here) by young Arab Americans on Twitter was even more disturbing. The writer was cursed by some, called an “abed” by others (because he is a Black American Muslim), and Arab Americans who supported his advocacy for the boycott of the term were called “abeed lovers”—borrowing a leaf from white supremacists who call liberal, anti-racist white people “nigger lovers.”
Well, it certainly isn’t news that the name for black people in the Arab world is “abeed” and that black people are at the bottom of the totem pole there—as they are everywhere, including America. What is surprising, for me at least, is that Arabs born in racially sensitive America, who are beneficiaries of the gains of the civil rights struggles of black Americans, would choose to use an unabashedly derogatory racial slur to refer to their compatriots—and feel no qualms about it.
 This is particularly troubling because (Christian) black America is, from my observation, very tolerant of Islam—for the most part. As I wrote in my August 6, 2011 column titled “Islamophilia in Christian Black America,”  “although black Americans are some of the most devout Christians you can find anywhere in the world, they are also arguably the most tolerant people toward Muslims and Islam.”
In the article, I suggested that part of the reasons Christian black America is tolerant, even accepting, of Muslims is that “American blacks have been victims of institutional exclusion and oppression for several centuries. So they know what it feels to be unfairly stereotyped and demonized on account of the misdeeds of a few people who happen to share similar primordial traits with you.”
 Interestingly, the templates, and even vocabularies, that Arab Americans now deploy to fight for greater inclusion in the American society are borrowed directly from the civil rights struggles of American blacks.
Read Dawud’s articles to get a sense of the contempt that some Arab Americans have for American blacks.
Fellow humans are not “abeed”

Dawud Walid

I was prompted to write this after a recent Facebook discussion, which I weighed in on, when the term “abeed” (slaves) was used in a thread, in reference to a news story about an African American woman, who flashed an Arab American businessman in Detroit, during a verbal dispute. What was disturbing about the initial thread, before further discussion, was not simply the racist comments that were used about the unruly woman, but that some showed a profound lack of empathy when I mentioned that the term “abeed” is a hurtful word.
Calling a black person an “abed” (abeed in plural) is offensive.  The term has been used for so long in certain segments of the Arab World that many people have become desensitized to its meaning.  I know that all people do not use the term with overtly malicious intent; however, the word is disturbing, nonetheless.
“Abed” is a term that, at one time, had a general meaning of slave, then became a specific term, referring to blacks, who were viewed as subservient.  For instance, “mamluk,” another term that is used for an enslaved person, came to specifically refer to a non-black slave, such as a Turk.  Hence, “abeed” became nomenclature, which strictly referred to people with darker skin, as it is continued to be used today.
It is disingenuous to say that it is a good word, because excellent worshippers of God are “abeed.”  When people use that term, it is not because they are saying that black people are the best worshippers, nor do they call lighter skin persons, or their own pious family members, “abeed.”  The term has ugly roots and is derogatory; therefore, its usage should cease, instead of explaining it off to the offended and telling them not to be so sensitive, because it’s a compliment. 
What was positive about the Facebook discussion though was that many young Arab Americans pushed back against those who used the term, pointing out that it should not be dismissed as non-offensive.  I know Arab American activists throughout the country that promote solidarity between African Americans and Arab Americans.  Moreover, some of them have directly challenged the usage of the term “abeed.”  Likewise, I know of numerous African American leaders, who have spoken out against anti-Arab bigotry among other black people and confronted bigots, like Terry Jones. 
So, the next time you hear someone using the terms “abed,” or “abeed,” politely recap the points made above.  If we want people to be sensitive to us, we must be sensitive to others.  Fellow humans are not “abeed.” 
To be concluded next week