Arab Americans finally got their month, the State Department designated the month of April as Arab American Heritage Month, recognizing Arab American’s contributions to the US! “The United States is home to more than 3.5 million (more like 6M) Arab Americans representing a diverse array of cultures and traditions. Like their fellow citizens, Americans of Arab heritage are very much a part of the fabric of this nation,” Ned Price, a state department spokesman, said in a video statement on April 1, honestly, I thought it was another April Fool Prank. “, So if African Americans got the shortest month of the year, Arab Americans got the one that starts with a fool.
Tag: George Floyd
THE HOLY WAR
The Arab American community must face its own prejudices, bigotry and biases, much of these the residual effects of colonial history and pure ignorance of Arab history and culture. Arabs themselves are people of color, our heroes were blacks, our prophets were blacks, our teachers our neighbors and friends were blacks.
A few summers ago, it was Friday noonish, and I was standing by the door of Holy Land Grocery in Northeast Minneapolis. The place was vibrant; people were coming and going at a fast pace. A Somali man in his ironed white khamiis was rushing out of the door carrying some grocery bags. A policeman hanging around outside seemed concerned and confused by the man. I told him to relax and that the man was not shoplifting. “He probably wants to get home to beat the products’ expiration dates.” True story.
Unless you were in COVID coma or under strict quarantine, you probably know by now the debacle around the Holy Land Grocery. To recap, the owner’s daughter, Lianne Wadi, posted racist comments on social media, which were recently dug out and brought to the attention of the public creating a huge reaction. Let me be clear here. The postings were repugnant, racist, xenophobic, antisemitic, and homophobic, too. That clarified, these comments were posted between 2012 and 2014, however, when Lianne Wadi was only 14 she assimilated too fast. That is not by any means an excuse, which she even said, “I was so shocked that I even posted something so offensive,” she wrote. “I recognize the gravity of my words and how hurtful they can be and how hurtful they were. I wasn’t thinking. I was a teenager at the time (although my youth is not an excuse).” she wrote. When the Holy Land CEO Majdi Wadi, Lianne’s father, fired his daughter, who had up to then been the catering manager for Holy Land.
WE ALL GUILTY!!
The killing of George Floyd, by a white police officer, triggered lots of debates and uproars in America and around the world. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took over the case arresting all four officers involved in the killing of George Floyd and elevated the charges against them. Ellison asked activists and protesters to grant him some “space” to persecute the case. “it’s hard to convict the police” in such a case.” he said on Monday. The history of police brutality and violence against blacks is long; many police officers are murdering blacks and getting away with it.
