LEGALLY WHITE, EFFECTIVELY OTHERED: RECOGNIZING AND INVESTING IN ARAB AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

By Mona Alsaidi [PDF]

This Comment focuses on the discrimination that Arab Americans have faced throughout the history of the United States. It highlights how past and present incidents of discrimination and marginalization demonstrate that Arab Americans have never been afforded the privileges of whiteness and should therefore be granted the benefit of recognition as a distinct group. In the employment law context, Arab Americans have been protected by laws that address race- and ethnicity-based discrimination. However, in other areas of law, they are neither legally recognized as a distinct group nor entitled to many federal benefits provided to other minorities.