03). Arab and Muslim students represent a large and growing minority on many American college and university campuses. Though many of these students live in the United States only temporarily, a number of them find jobs and elect to make their home in this country after graduation from college. Thus, the Arab-American community or communities can be described as growing and likely to grow even more in the future.
Unlike many Western European immigrants or temporary residents of the United States, Arab-Americans seem to be a distinct minority group. Seylabenhabib (2002) pointed out that minority groups that are superficially "different" often experience difficulties in becoming a part of a mainstream culture. When events like the terrorist attack on the United States take place, people who resemble the terrorists may find that they become the victims of racism, discrimination, and even hate crimes (Human Rights Watch, 2002).
In fact, Human Rights Watch reported that in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. became victims "of a severe wave of backlash violence" that included the crimes of "murder, beatings, arson, attacks on mosques, shootings, vehicular assaults, and verbal threats" (2002, p. 1). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported a 17-fold increase in anti-Muslim crimes across the U.S. in 2001. Human Rights Watch (2002) stated that U.S. government officials, including President George Bush quickly responded to the events of September 11th and spoke out against those crimes.
Nevertheless, Arab-Americans and Arab or Muslim students in the United States remain concerned about their safety. Many members of these groups are also concerned about Americans' understanding of Arab politics, the religion of Islam, and the conflicts that are taking place in the Middle East (A year of living nervously, 2002). These concerns are important and must be understood better....