IMMIGRATION : Study Will Spotlight Record of Success by Arab-Americans

What ethnic immigrant group has the highest income, highest level of education, self-employment and professionalism?

“Arab-American would not pop into most Americans’ minds” when that question is posed, “but we answer all counts,” said James Zogby, executive director of the Arab American Institute.

His Washington-based political and policy analysis organization on Friday will release one of the first major looks at the demographics of the more than 2 million Arab-Americans, 350,000 of whom live in California.

The report, prepared with the help of unpublished 1980 census data, shows that Arab-Americans are “good immigrants, doing better than other ethnic groups and Americans in general,” said John Zogby, author of the report and president of his own marketing and research firm.

“We’re fairly affluent, educated, professional people. We’re self-starters. We’re a good example of the American success story,” said James Zogby.

The study is well-timed. Whenever tensions rise in the Middle East, Arab-Americans brace for an onslaught of racism, hatred and negative stereotyping, whether they are Saudis or Iraqis, foreign-born or 10th generation.

“There’s a heightened interest in Arab-Americans now and finally we have a basic profile,” said James Zogby. “We want to reach out and have fellow Americans understand us.”

The data shows that the median household income of Arab-Americans is $18,133, compared to $16,841 for Americans as a whole. While 4.6% of all American households earn more than $50,000 a year, 7.8% of all Arab-Americans do.

More than 75% of Arab-Americans are high school graduates--a figure that slightly outpaces Asian-Americans and beats the American average by more than 10 percentage points. Moreover, almost half of Arab-Americans have some college education, compared to just over 30% of Americans in general.

The report noted that while past immigrants from Arab nations tended to emphasize assimilation above ethnic identification, the new immigrants are bringing with them a high level of ethnic consciousness. Moreover, while older immigrants came for economic reasons, newer immigrants are fleeing political upheaval.

The new wave of immigrants “has demonstrated to many of the older immigrants the possibilities and potential of an organized ethnic constituency,” the report said.

It also noted the emergence of many successful, high-profile Arab-Americans like White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, radio personality Casey Kasem, consumer activist Ralph Nader, actor F. Murray Abraham and sports figures Doug Flutie and Rony Seikaly.

Yet many Arab-Americans still struggle to survive, especially newer immigrants.

The report shows that 10.5% of Arab families live in poverty, compared to 9.6% of American families as a whole.

“It’s a rougher story for new immigrants,” said Ishmael Ahmed, director of ACCESS, a metro Detroit human service center that helps about 24,000 new Arab immigrants a year.

Ahmed said that not only do the newer immigrants face a tougher job market than those who came before, they also face dangerous and volatile discrimination. That discrimination in isolated cases has even escalated into bomb threats and violence.

The neighborhood where ACCESS is based is 90% Arab, and the vast majority are new immigrants.

Zogby wrote in AAI’s report that Arab-Americans in the 1970s and 1980s have faced a widespread perception that they are “immigrants from hostile, enemy lands.”

“In this regard,” he added, “documenting the Arab-American experience has been a political imperative--a defensive tool against ignorance and hostility.”