How Second-Generation Muslim Egyptian American Students Navigate Racial Erasure and Cultural Bifurcation

THE “OTHER” WHITES: HOW SECOND-GENERATION MUSLIM EGYPTIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS NAVIGATE RACIAL ERASURE AND CULTURAL BIFURCATION

Fatma Elsawaf B.A., Alexandria University, Egypt, 1992 M.A., San Jose State University, CA, 2004

DISSERTATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO

SPRING 2020

ii THE “OTHER” WHITES: HOW SECOND-GENERATION MUSLIM EGYPTIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS NAVIGATE RACIAL ERASURE AND CULTURAL BIFURCATION

A Dissertation

Fatma Elsawaf

Approved by Dissertation Committee:

Caroline Turner, Ph.D., Chair

Frank Adamson, Ph.D.

Sarah-Marie Jouganatos, Ed.D.

SPRING 2020

iii THE “OTHER” WHITES: HOW SECOND-GENERATION MUSLIM EGYPTIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS NAVIGATE RACIAL ERASURE AND CULTURAL BIFURCATION

Student: Fatma Elsawaf

I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and this dissertation is suitable for electronic submission to the library and credit is to be awarded for the dissertation.

, Graduate Coordinator Rose Borunda, Ph.D. Date

iv DEDICATION

To my children, Taha and Ayah, who inspired me to do this study so I can understand the challenges that face them as second-generation Muslim Egyptian Americans and help them navigate those challenges peacefully.

I love you with all my heart.

v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the participants who shared their stories. This dissertation would not have been possible without you.

Thank you to my chair, Dr. Caroline Turner, and committee members, Dr. Frank

Adamson, and Dr. Sarah-Marie Jouganatos. Your recommendations enriched my study and your support allowed me to challenge myself and believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you to all my previous and current teachers and professors. You have taught me by example, and you have encouraged me to keep learning.

Thank you to my family. You mean the world to me. I could not have made it without your love, encouragement, and support.

vi CURRICULUM VITAE

CAREER AND QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY:

• Over 20 years-experience in education, working with all age groups from infants to aging adults. • Extensive leadership and organizational skills in designing and teaching curricula that meet diverse students’ needs, interests and abilities. • Social Justice advocate and change agent through being multilingual and multicultural minority backed by extensive education and experience in this field. • International experience in education, as well as experience teaching and designing a dual immersion program, and an ESL curriculum. • Passion about empowering all students to achieve to their full potential and have fulfilled, happy lives.

EDUCATION:

Doctor in Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2020 Emphasis on K-16 Educational Policy and Leadership California State University, Sacramento Master of Arts, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 2004 (TESOL) Emphasis on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) California State University, San Jose

Master of Arts, Elementary Education Emphasis on Social Justice (pending Thesis) California State University, San Jose

Bachelor of Arts, English Language and Literature 1992 Emphasis on English Literature Alexandria University, Egypt

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Preliminary Administrative Credential Expected: 2021 • Clear Multiple Subjects Credential 2013 • Clear Adult Education Credentials: 2004 Full-Time, Designated Subjects: English, ESL, and Parent/Family Education • Site Supervisor Permit: Early Childhood Education 2009 vii TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

• Sixth Grade STEAM-Teacher, Mentor-Teacher, Lead-Teacher, Vice-Principal: Folsom Educational Academy (K-6), Folsom, CA (August 2019-present) • Taught core subjects using best practices and latest technological advanced tools to prepare students for the rapidly changing technological field in the near future. • Mentored a student teacher in her teacher induction program. • Lead staff through ongoing professional development aimed at collaboration, empowerment, and community building. • Supported the principal in leadership through research based educational practices that utilize transformational leadership to empower and motivate staff.

• Fifth Grade Teacher: Folsom Educational Academy (K-5), Folsom, CA (August 2018-2019) • Focused on the whole child through project-based learning, differentiation, training, and collaboration with parents and colleagues to ensure a positive, holistic learning experience for every student.

• Fourth and Fifth Grade Teacher: Regency Park Elementary School, Sacramento, CA (August 2016 – June 2018) • Demonstrated excellence in guiding student success, resulting in my classes achieving the highest state test scores in my grade level teams. • Conducted project-based learning workshops that integrated multiple subjects and were highly successful and engaging. Taught all subjects using California Common Core Standards. • Tutored English Language Learners individually and in groups. • Used project-based learning to enhance learning, promote self-confidence, and create a positive learning environment. • Utilized technology such as smart boards, google classroom, and interactive educational applications to promote research and independent learning. • Demonstrated public speaking skills in presentations (in-person, round table, or online). • Motivated others to do their best and to create a positive work environment.

• Fifth Grade Teacher: D. J. Sedgwick Elementary School, Cupertino, CA (September 2015 - June 2016) • Supported my students so that 94% of them achieved above grade level. • Differentiated instruction, resulting in my students achieving at least two levels higher than their initial levels. • Incorporated cooperative learning, assertive discipline, and whole language approaches.

viii • First and Second Grade Teacher: Fame Public Charter School, Fremont, CA (August 2013 – June 2015) • By the end of second grade, my students were able to read complete story books in Arabic, which, in most cases, is their third language. • By the end of second grade, most students were able to write a complete paragraph in Arabic using proper language conventions. • By the end of second grade, students were able to conduct conversation about their culture and heritage in Arabic, English, and a third language. • Used manipulatives and multi-sensory approaches. • Differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students. • Assessed students’ reading fluency and comprehension levels and designed a program that meets their needs.

• ESL Teacher: Metropolitan Adult Education School, San Jose, CA (February 2004 – September 2007) • Worked collaboratively with adult students from 16 different countries and varied language proficiency skills. • Designed curriculum that meets my diverse students’ needs interests and abilities. • Advocated for my students and helped them get jobs, apply for legal documents, get drivers licenses, library cards, medical insurance, and much more. • Adapted a positive discipline policy that highlights the strengths in every student. • Modified instruction to meet students’ needs. • Demonstrated leadership skills in collaborating with other professionals to create and maintain a positive learning experience for all.

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE:

• Owner, Director, and Teacher: Fun Land Learning Center, Campbell, CA (August 1998 – August 2010)

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Established and maintained a budget and enrollment targets. • Demonstrated success with running high-quality educational program for young children. • Implemented developmentally appropriate practices and project-based learning. • Created a safe, caring and enriched environment with quality learning experiences. • Collaborated with other staff members to promote a team mentality. • Created an enjoyable and efficient work environment for my staff. • Demonstrated excellent communication skills to ensure quality customer service. • Made authentic connections with families, school, and community.

ix STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

• Second Grade Student Teacher: McEntee Academy Alum Rock School District, San Jose, CA Mentor Teacher: Olena Mclin (January 2013 – May 2013)

• Fifth Grade Student Teacher: Russo Academy Alum Rock School District, San Jose, CA Mentor Teacher: Kasturi Basu (September 2012 – December 2012)

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• High School English Teacher: El-Nasr Girls’ College, Alexandria, Egypt (August 1994 - November 1995)

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Taught English as a foreign language to high school students in a highly reputable English boarding school. • Assisted with the full implementation of government standards and district-adopted instructional materials. • Participated in grade level meetings. • Attended all professional training on content and teaching procedures. • Provided leadership in assessing, identifying, formulating, and implementing the district Reading/Language Arts and English Language Development program based on grade level standards.

1. Medical Interpreter: King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (August 1993 – August 1994) 2. Translator/Interpreter: American Translation center, San Francisco, CA (December 1995 – August 1998)

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Provided medical, legal, and technical interpretation between English and Arabic. • Provided simultaneous interpretation as needed. • Translated documents from Arabic to English and vice versa. • Demonstrated ethical behavior in dealing with patients and clients.

x FIELDS OF STUDY:

English, English as a Second Language, P-12 Education, Arab-American Studies, Assimilation and Acculturation

xi Abstract

THE “OTHER” WHITES: HOW SECOND-GENERATION MUSLIM EGYPTIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS NAVIGATE RACIAL ERASURE AND CULTURAL BIFURCATION

Fatma Elsawaf

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how second generation Muslim Egyptian American students navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. Grounded in segmented assimilation and cultural-ecological theories, this study highlighted the perceptions and experiences of second generation Muslim Egyptian American students and alumni regarding their schooling experiences, cultural transitions and adjustments, and how they navigate the dominant culture. Twelve second generation Muslim second generation Egyptian American students and alumni were interviewed.

The qualitative analysis revealed 22 themes. Six themes emerged regarding their schooling experience: academic challenges, cultural challenges, religious challenges, positive relationships with teachers, negative experiences with teachers, resiliency and perseverance.

Seven themes emerged relating to their home school adjustments: language, cultural and religious norms, conflicts with parents, discrimination at school, activism, beliefs about home culture, friends. Nine themes emerged regarding how they navigate the dominant culture: beliefs about the dominant culture, positive work experiences, negative work experiences,

xii positive community experiences, negative community experiences, positive effects of technology, negative effects of technology, support systems, and racial ambiguity

The study used these themes to discuss the findings, explain the implications for policy and practice, and offer recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Arab-American, Egyptian American, second generation, schooling experience, cultural transition, dominant culture, segmented assimilation, cultural ecology

xiii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

Dedication...... v

Acknowledgements ...... vi

Curriculum Vitae ...... vii

List of Tables ...... xvii

List of Figures...... xviii

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Problem Statement ...... 4

Background ...... 5

Nature of the Study ...... 6

Theoretical Frameworks ...... 7

Operational Definitions ...... 8

Limitations ...... 9

Significance ...... 10

Conclusion ...... 11

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...... 15

Brief History of Arab Populations ...... 16

Brief Background about Egypt ...... 17

Arabs/ Egyptians in the United States...... 19

Reasons for Immigration ...... 21

xiv Governmental Reception of Arab/ Egyptian Immigrants ...... 23

Diaspora ...... 26

American Society’s Perception/Treatment of Arab Immigrants ...... 27

A Stolen Identity ...... 29

Arab Immigrants’ Perceptions of the New Land ...... 30

Egyptian-American Muslim Students in School ...... 31

Egyptian-American Muslim Students’ Cultural Adjustment Mechanisms ...... 32

Theoretical Underpinning ...... 35

Cultural-Ecological Theory...... 45

Convergence of Frameworks ...... 53

Conclusion ...... 55

3. METHODOLOGY ...... 56

Research Design ...... 57

Role of the Researcher ...... 58

Research Questions ...... 60

Setting, Population, and Sample ...... 61

Data Collection and Instrumentation ...... 63

Data Analysis ...... 64

Protection of Participants ...... 65

Conclusion ...... 67

xv 4. ANALYSIS OF DATA ...... 68

Description of Participants ...... 74

Research Sub-question 1: Schooling Experience ...... 86

Research Sub-question 2: Home/ School Adjustments...... 107

Research Sub-question 3: Navigating the Dominant Culture ...... 127

Overarching Research Question: What Does It Mean to Be a Second

Generation Muslim Egyptian American Student in America? ...... 149

5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 157

Summary and Interpretations of Findings ...... 158

Theoretical Application...... 172

Implications of Findings ...... 179

Recommendations for Policy and Practice ...... 181

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research ...... 183

Researcher’s Notes ...... 185

APPENDICES ...... 186

Appendix A: Demographic Information Survey ...... 187

Appendix B: Interview Questions ...... 189

Appendix C: Informed Consent Form ...... 191

Appendix D: Flyer to Recruit Participants ...... 194

REFERENCES ...... 196

xvi LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Educational Attainment Comparison between Arab Americans and the

National Average ...... 33

2. The Language Fluency of Participants ...... 70

3. Activity Frequency of Participants ...... 71

4. Participants’ Self-Identification ...... 72

5. Comfort Level Among Arab vs. Non-Arab Peers ...... 73

6. Description of the Demographic Information of Participants ...... 76

7. Participants from the Same Family ...... 86

8. Summary of Interview Themes: School Experiences...... 151

9. Summary of Interview Themes: Home/School Adjustments ...... 153

10. Summary of Interview Themes: Navigating the Dominant Culture ...... 155

11. Research Questions and Themes ...... 160

xvii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Region and Country of Last Residence: Africa/Egypt ...... 12

2. Persons obtaining lawful Permanent Resident Status by Region and Country

of Birth. Fiscal Years 2008-2017 – Africa/Egypt...... 12

3. Refugee Arrivals by Region and Country of Nationality: Fiscal Years 2008

to 2017 Region and Country of Nationality: Africa/Egypt ...... 13

4. Individuals Granted Asylum Affirmatively by Region and Country of

Nationality: Fiscal Years 2008-2017 Region and Country of Nationality:

Africa/Egypt ...... 13

5. Persons Naturalized by Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Years 2008-2017

Region and Country of Nationality: Africa/Egypt ...... 14

6. The Process of Segmented Assimilation: A Model ...... 37

7. Two Parts of the Problem of Minority Schooling: A Model ...... 51

8. White Treatment or “Collective Treatment” faced by Minorities: A Model ...... 52

9. Convergence of Cultural Ecological Theory and Segmented Assimilation Theory,

A Model ...... 55

10. Sampling Matrix of Participants in the Study ...... 62

11. Participants’ Self-Identification Chart ...... 72

12. Comfort Level among Arab vs. Non-Arab Peers ...... 73

13 Alignments of Research Questions, Findings, and Theoretical Framework ...... 178

xviii 1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The 1990s witnessed the second and largest wave of Egyptian immigration to the

United States since the1960s. In 1965, the Hart-Cellar Act (also known as the Immigration

Act of 1965) was passed. This Act removed immigration quotas based on country of origin, which revitalized Arab immigration to the United States (Ameri & Arida, 2012). Egyptian immigrants at that time assimilated easily into the American mainstream, and many achieved upward economic and social mobility. In fact, those immigrants, among other Arab and

Middle Eastern immigrants were considered a model minority. Nevertheless, since the

American sanctions on Iraq in 1990, followed by the American war on Iraq in 2003, and the increased American presence in the Middle East after that, life for Muslim Egyptian and

Arab Americans took a downward turn (Orfalea, 2006).

Conversely, Egyptians, among other Arab and Muslim South Asian immigrants, were very highly impacted by the anti-Arab/ anti-Muslim sentiment that grew exponentially in the

United States since the sanctions on Iraq in 1990 and reached its peak in the aftermath of the

September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. There is ample research that documents the increased need of counseling and support services to Arab Muslims as a result of anti-Arab discrimination post 9/11 events. Most of this research has been done by mental health practitioners who noticed an increased demand for their services following the

September 11 events (Ali, Milstein, & Marzouk, 2005). However, other research on this population is very limited (Nassar-McMillan & Hakim-Larson, 2003). There is very little research on the circumstances surrounding Arab Muslims, and specifically Egyptian immigrants, and the impact of their assimilation and integration trajectories on them and on

2 their future generations. Consequently, the academic field will benefit from shedding light on the experiences and challenges of this relatively new and rather complex population.

In addition, the research on the second generation (G2) Muslim Egyptian Americans who are the target population of this study is even more limited. Many of the studies that exist focus on Arab Americans or Muslim Americans and they fail to account for the fundamental differences between these variously distinct sub-ethnic groups (Naber, 2012;

Orfalea, 2006). Furthermore, there is no information relating Islam to moderate Muslims in

America (Nassar-McMillan & Hakim-Larson, 2003; Salari, 2002).

Second-generation (G2) Muslim Egyptian Americans are the first American born generation of Egyptian heritage that could have a compounded burden of living in a diametrically polarized environment that forces them to abandon one part of their identity to gain another. Being consciously aware that they are being perceived as the “enemy within,” their Islamic identity can be perceived to conflict with their American identity, and their criticism of American imperialistic policies toward the Middle East is perceived as anti-

American (Naber, 2012). Added to this dilemma is the negative effects of inter-generational conflicts and intra-group dynamics among other Arab and Muslim sub-ethnic groups.

This study investigates the perceptions of some second generation (G2) Muslim

Egyptian Americans and their understanding of their Egyptian, Arabic, Islamic, and

American identities as a diaspora in America, and how they weave these somewhat paradoxical identities into a unique identity of their own. This study also explores the roles that parents, teachers, and policy makers can play in supporting G2 Muslim Egyptian

American college students through inclusion and acceptance so they may reach their full potential.

This issue is especially significant because Muslim Egyptian Americans constitute a very small sub-ethnic group that is often overlooked in the literature. It is usually extremely difficult to estimate their exact numbers because they are usually included with other larger ethnic groups of Arabs, Middle Easterners, or other Muslim minorities. In addition, although

Egyptians are Arabs, and both groups share some of the same characteristics, such as the dominant language (Arabic) and religion (Islam), Egyptian Americans are unique in the fact that they carry with them a very rich and old heritage that shapes their identity in a highly complex and intriguing way. The fact that they descend from the oldest civilization on Earth that continues to dazzle the whole world about its precision and sophistication until today, and the richness and depth of their heritage having had successive civilizations and having been exposed to different cultures through a long history of colonization help to shape their unique identity and make them stand out from other nations. They have managed to become a hybrid of their own, a unique blend of the East and the West, and a rich blend of cultures and civilizations that is so diverse yet distinct in its own way.

Furthermore, because the most important asset that immigrants contribute to the

American society is their humanity, it is beneficial to understand the struggles and challenges that face every immigrant group to inform the academic field of the perceptions and unique experiences of each group to enrich the collective knowledge and awareness of the dominant culture and maximize each group’s potential. Also, the lack of literature about Egyptian

Americans calls for further research into the geo-political and global influences that affect their identity development especially now that they are increasing in numbers and becoming a great asset to the development of the United States.

Due to the United States’ pan-ethnic policies and its obsessive preoccupation with racial classification, very little research has been done on Egyptian Americans in general due to their relatively new history in the United States and their very limited numbers, and due to the fact that all Arabs and Middle Easterners are officially classified as “White”.

Nevertheless, some (though limited) research has been done on Arab Americans which will be the starting point from which this study will take place (Boosahda, 2003; Naber, 2012;

Orfalea, 2006).

The following sections of this study will outline the problem statement, provide a historical and socio-political background, as well as explain the nature of the study, the theoretical framework, operating definitions and the limitations of the study.

First, the research study will rely on the basic principles of Ogbu and Simon’s (1998)

Cultural Ecological Theory and Portes and Zhou’s (1993) Segmented Assimilation and

Acculturation Theory to help understand the impact of multiple conflicting influences on such a unique sub-ethnic group. Then, the study will analyze the principles discussed in both theories in light of the findings of this research. Finally, the study aims at adding insight regarding the location and effect of the participants of this study on the continuum of ethnic and religious minority placement in the dominant American culture.

Problem Statement

Second generation Muslim Egyptian American students (G2MEAS) face unique challenges that relate to their religious, linguistic, bi-cultural and bi-national identities. This phenomenological qualitative study attempts to understand these challenges and to explore their implications on that selectively visible group. After the September 11, 2001 bombing of the Twin Towers in New York, Muslims of all nationalities have been stereotyped, their

5 loyalty and affiliation to America have been questioned, their adherence to their religion has been portrayed as an antonym to their American identity (Bayoumi, 2008; Naber, 2012).

Many Muslim ethnic groups have managed to develop emerging socio-political, activist,

Muslim identities. This sub-ethnic group, however, seemed to be less able to resist and was much easily driven to either assimilate to the point of extinction, or resist to the point of extremism. The goal of this study is to understand the experiences and the challenges of this young population and acknowledge its potential with the hope of increasing awareness about the effects of the dominant culture on this sub-ethnic group.

Background

Egyptians have managed to maintain their unique culture and identity for over 7000 years. They have lived on the same land and were able to preserve their heritage despite all attempts of changing their language and culture. Due to its prime location and natural resources, Egypt has been the target of many colonizers who understood the value of occupying such a rich and resourceful country. One-way in which Egyptians were able to preserve their identity was through citizenship policies. Egyptian citizenship can only be acquired through birth, or through having an Egyptian father, and only recently, Egyptian mother. In this way, Egyptians have managed to preserve their own unique culture and nationality. This, however, did not prevent them from being open to other cultures and nations, whether by choice through tourism, or by force through colonization. Another way

Egyptians were able to preserve their unique identity was through language. For centuries,

Egyptians managed to maintain their Arabic language despite successive occupations and colonization. This is mainly because the Arabic language is the language of the Quran, the

Islamic holy book, and all Muslims are required to read it and understand it if they are to

6 properly follow it. However, the latest wave of western mental colonization as well as globalization both shook this unique identity to the core and made visible dents in its genetic make-up. For example, there is an overrepresentation of international schools in Egypt and many forms of western representation that was less visible even during colonization eras.

In addition, the experiences of first-generation Egyptian Americans are totally different from their offspring. First-generation Egyptian Americans grew up as part of the dominant culture in their homeland and migrated to the United States when they were adults.

Second-generation Egyptian Americans, however, grow up in the United States as a minority group that share the same experiences with other minorities despite being officially classified as “White.” This study aims at giving them a voice so they may explain their experiences and enlighten the academic field of their struggles and the challenges that they face in their rather unique positionality.

Nature of the Study

This study attempts to identify the challenges that second generation Muslim

Egyptian American students (G2MEAS) face and explores the implications of these challenges on their identity development. The study poses the following questions:

1. What does it mean to be a Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American student in

America?

a. Based on their perceptions, how do Second-generation Muslim Egyptian

American students experience schooling in America?

b. How do Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students balance/

assimilate in their home and school environments?

c. How are Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students affected by

the dominant culture?

This phenomenological qualitative research study uses personal interviews with

(G2MEAS) to get a rich description of their perspectives and how much (if at all) they feel that they fit within different settings such as their school, home environment, and the dominant culture out in the community. In doing so, the study attempts to capture their perspectives with the hope of informing policy makers of the experiences and the challenges of such a new population.

Historically, qualitative research provided representations of reports about “The

Other”. In the colonial context, research was a means of representing the dark skinned other to the white world (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008). This qualitative research is different in the fact that the researcher is trying to understand the experiences of newer generations from her own sub-ethnic group. These two goals are fundamentally different. Before, the West studied indigenous people with the maxim “know your enemy” to colonize them. However, the researcher is studying her own sub-ethnic group to gain understanding of the challenges that they face to help inform research of their needs and experiences.

Theoretical Frameworks

The research study will rely on Ogbu and Simon’s (1998) Cultural Ecological

Theory, and Portes and Zhou’s (1993) Segmented Assimilation and Acculturation Theory to develop a deeper understanding of the contributions and challenges that face G2MEAS and to inform research about this highly intellectual and promising group. Ogbu and Simons

(1998) discuss the effects of familial, societal, and community forces on different minority groups, while they differentiate between voluntary and involuntary immigrants and explain

8 how the immigrants’ perceptions of these forces and their reaction to them are greatly shaped by their historical experiences in the United States, or even more by the experiences of their ancestors.

Portes and Zhou (1993) on the other hand, posit that, unlike classical assimilation theory, newer immigrants come from more diverse backgrounds and have different trajectories of assimilation into the American mainstream. Understanding the pace and types of acculturation, modes of incorporation, barriers and protective factors that influence where and how newer immigrants assimilate into the American mainstream will help inform research about the needs of these diverse ethnic groups. This study hopes to add a critical lens to these theories by explaining the difference between the participants of this study and other immigrants from other sub-ethnic groups and how they perceive their integration into the American mainstream compared to other sub-ethnic religious minorities.

Operational Definitions

Muslim

For the purposes of this study, “Muslim” refers to Sunni Muslims who were born in

Sunni Muslim families that follow the religion of Islam and the teachings of prophet

Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him).

Second-Generation (G2)

American-born Egyptians who may or may not have dual citizenship.

Egyptian

Anyone who was born in Egypt and/or has an Egyptian citizenship.

Second-Generation Egyptian American

A person who is born in America, or came to America before the age of five, but whose father and mother were born in Egypt.

Second-Generation Muslim Egyptian American students (G2MEAS)

Students who were born in America, or who moved to America before the age of six, whose parents were born in Egypt and migrated to the United States as adults, and who identify as Muslims.

Hijab

The covering up of a woman’s body including, but not limited to, the head scarf.

Arab

Any person whose native language is Arabic and who was born in an Arab country.

Limitations

The small scale of this study may make it difficult to generalize to all G2MEAS in

North America. Also, there may be different variables that can have an influence on the perspectives of some G2MEAS such as whether they are bilingual or not, and how much

Arabic they know or use? How often do they go back to Egypt? And how long they stay there? Also, how much (if at all) they follow Islam? and how much religion influences their identities? In addition, the variance of their exposure to and affiliation with other Arabic,

Middle Eastern, and Muslim sub-ethnic groups plays a role in their perception and shapes their perspectives. Many of these variables are hard to control but influence the perspectives of the participants in the study and thus, are responsible for the variance in responses.

Having lived the first half of her life in Egypt and the second half in America, the researcher is able to provide a rather informed perspective of both societies and cultures.

However, this experience does not completely free the researcher from having some biases that may stem from the researcher’s deep love, pride, and affiliation with her cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage. Nevertheless, the researcher will practice bracketing to be extremely mindful not to include her own biases in the study by substantiating all claims with evidence from the literature and supporting her theory with multiple examples from participants in the study. The researcher’s bi-cultural identity can be useful in deeply understanding the issues in both cultures and accurately interpreting them in a way that very few others can. Nevertheless, as a first generation Egyptian-American, the researcher does not have the same life experiences as the participants in the study and did not experience the challenges that they currently do. Therefore, the researcher will go to great lengths to ensure an accurate and honest representation of their challenges and perspectives through giving them a voice and being honest in documenting their perceptions accurately and objectively.

Significance

This study is significant because it addresses a group of students who have officially been ethnically included as “White” but treated as “the Other” (Naber, 2012; U.S. Census,

2000). In light of the latest international terrorist attacks and the rise of extremist groups that use religion to propagate their political agenda, many G2MEAS have been victims of unfair practices that brought them to the forefront of suspicious listings without any clear cause from their perspective. They suddenly feel the need to justify their every move and prove that they are truly Americans. Some studies have been done on post 9/11 American policies on the Muslim community in America in general. But none has been done on American born

Egyptians who feel like the ugly duckling who was born different but has nowhere else to go.

This research aims to inform the literature and guide future teachers, researchers, and policy

11 makers in devising policies that consider the needs and strengths of this amazing group of bright, promising individuals. In doing so, educational leaders can hone-in on the specific linguistic, religious, and social-emotional needs of those students so they can protect their fragile identities while these identities are developing.

Conclusion

This chapter discusses the need to study second-generation Muslim Egyptian

American College students (G2MEACS) and alumni, as they contribute to a rapidly changing demographics in the United States, and many seem to have positive contributions to the

American society as they grow to be professionals and successful businessmen and businesswomen. The researcher explains the background of the problem, the nature and the significance of the study, the theoretical framework used to define the problem, as well as the operational definitions and limitations of this dissertation. The following graphs represent the immigration of Egyptians to the United States from the last century until the present. The next chapter will address the historical background that affects second generation Muslim

Egyptian American college students’ and alumni’s perceptions of their status as a diaspora in

America, and it will focus on reviewing the literature relevant to their situation by explaining the theoretical framework that is used to define their paradoxical existence as a selectively visible minority.

EGYPTIAN IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S.

90832

81564

44604

26744

23543

NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS OF NUMBER

5581

1996

1631

1,063

781

145

8 5

0 0 0 0 0

51 29

WAVES OF IMMIGRATION

Figure 1. Region and Country of Last Residence: Africa/Egypt. (Source: 2017 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, July 2019)

PERSONS OBTAINING LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS BY REGION AND COUNTRY OF BIRTH

Year of residency Number of Egyptian Residents

12,085

12,045

11,477

10,294

9,834

8,988

8,978

8,844

8,712

7,778

2017

2015 2016

2012 2013 2014

2010 2009 2011 2008

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Figure 2. Persons obtaining lawful Permanent Resident Status by Region and Country of Birth. Fiscal Years 2008-2017 – Africa/Egypt.

Egyptian Refugees in the United States 2500 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2000

1500

1000

500 Number of Refugeesof Number 5 7 15 6 13 3 21 13 21 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year of Immigration

year number

Figure 3. Refugee Arrivals by Region and Country of Nationality: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017 Region and Country of Nationality: Africa/Egypt. (Source: 2017 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, July 2019)

Egyptians Granted Assylum in the US

3,069

2,571 2,581

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

1,513

1,021 751 679

235 308 311

Figure 4. Individuals Granted Asylum Affirmatively by Region and Country of Nationality: Fiscal years 2008-2017 Region and Country of Nationality: Africa/Egypt. (Source:2017 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, July 2019)

Egyptians Naturalized in the US 2008-2017

6,191 6,213 5,860 5,848 5,693 5,696 5,224 5,094 5,154

4,165

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

year number

Figure 5. Persons Naturalized by Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal years 2008-2017 Region and Country of Nationality: Africa/Egypt. (Source: 2017 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, July 2019)

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Research on Egyptian Americans is very limited. Egyptian Americans are often included either with Arab Americans or Muslim Americans. Even research on Arab

Americans and Muslim Americans is quite recent (Abraham & Abraham 1981; Assari &

Lankarani, 2017; Holsinger 2009; Ikizler & Szymanski, 2018) most of which are post the

September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, and most focus on the implications of such events on these populations (Ali et al., 2005; Aloud & Rathur, 2004;

Amer, 2005; Khan, 2003). Although Egyptian Americans are Arabs, as Egypt is an Arabic speaking country that is part of the Arab League, and although most of Egypt’s population is predominantly Sunni Muslims, Egypt is also a Middle Eastern and North African country that had been colonized by multiple European countries for centuries and adopted many characteristics of all those European nations. In addition, there are many Christian Egyptians who trace back to the Coptic Era before Islam. Furthermore, Egyptian Jews lived in Egypt from the time of the Pharaohs until Israel occupied Palestine in 1948 and called all the Jews to emigrate to it to start a new life in the newly declared Jewish state.

Egypt is unique in its history, geography, and culture. Egypt houses the oldest civilization on Earth. The 7,000-year-old country is so rich and complex in an amazingly unique way. Its dazzling monuments speak of an extraordinary science, religion, and culture.

The Pyramids of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world, are proof of an exceptionally advanced civilization lasting thousands of years and continuing to baffle the whole world with its grandeur and sophistication until the present. The fact that ancient Egyptian history is taught in schools around the world is proof of the exceptional significance of this amazing

16 civilization. No country can withstand thousands of years of occupation, corruption, and looting and still stand on its feet unless it has reserve of resiliency and strength in its collective mind. Egyptian Americans are a unique blend of multiple races, cultures, and religions, and they are the product of their own political and cultural circumstances.

To provide a political, cultural, and historical context of G2 Muslim Egyptian

American college students in the United States, the first section of this review provides an overview of the Arab populations, followed by a historical context of Egyptians in their homeland. The second section includes a brief history of Arab/Egyptian immigration to the

United States. The following sections of this review explain the theoretical frameworks used to understand the experiences of both first and second-generation Muslim Egyptian

Americans in the United States.

Brief History of Arab Populations

There are 22 Arabic speaking countries that make up the members of the Arab League.

These countries are located in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of East Africa. The

Arab World stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west all the way to the Arabian Sea in the east and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. In 1945, the Arab countries united under an overarching umbrella called “the

Arab League”. The goal of this coalition is to stand as a strong unified body that represents the interests of the Arabs especially in the face of the escalating western political involvement in the Arab World during the post-colonial era.

The Arab League has a combined population of about 280 million (Seib, 2005). The

Arab countries that are members of the Arab League in alphabetical order are: Algeria,

Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania,

Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab

Emirates, and Yemen. These countries share the Arabic language and have all been recently liberated from successive occupations and colonization that lasted for hundreds of years.

However, each country is unique in its culture, customs, history, and demographic composition. In addition, there are many indigenous and diasporic peoples who live in the

Arab world who are not "Arabs," such as Berbers, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, and

Circassians, to name a few (Cainkar, 2013).

There has always been a misconception that Arabs are Muslims. Many Arabs are not

Muslims. There are Christian and Jewish Arabs that are natives of many Arab countries.

Also, many Muslims are not Arabs. In fact, Arab Muslims constitute only 15% of Muslims in the world (Huda, 2020). Most Muslims live in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia,

Nigeria, Bangladesh, Iran, and Turkey, as well as other non-Arab countries. Perhaps the reason for this misconception is that the Quran, the holy Muslim scripture, was revealed in

Arabic, and Muslims have to perform their daily prayers in Arabic even if they do not speak the language. That is why most Muslims attempt to learn at least some Arabic words and phrases to successfully perform their prayers.

Brief Background about Egypt

Egypt is considered an Arab and Muslim country because according to the Egyptian constitution, the official language is Arabic and most of the population - estimated 95% - are

Muslims (Pariona, 2018). Yet, since Egypt lies in North Africa, it is also an African country that shares history, geography and cultural heritage with other African nations. Most notably,

The Nile River, the longest river in the world (approximately 4,258 miles) which begins just south of the Equator and flows through many African countries, ends in Egypt. It starts in

Rwanda, and passes by Burundi, Eritrea, Tanzania, Kenya, the Sahara Desert, Zaire,

Ethiopia, Uganda, South and North Sudan, and ends at the Mediterranean Sea at the North

Coast of Egypt.

Egypt is also connected to Asia from the east through the Red Sea and the Sinai

Peninsula. Due to Egypt’s proximity to the Arab nations in that region, Egyptians have established trade and marital relations throughout the centuries with many of Egypt’s neighboring countries. Egypt’s geographical location is a double-edged weapon. The fact that

Egypt lies on the Mediterranean from the north and on the Red Sea from the east allows it to be a gatekeeper through which many travelers across the world get access to countries on other parts of the world. But this also made it a prime target for occupation and colonization.

Egypt is also a country that is very rich in natural resources. The centuries’ old temples, monuments, and artifacts that are made of pure gold and massive stones are living witness to its rich resources. Egypt is also rich in oil, zinc, phosphate and other minerals.

That was another reason why it has always been a prime target for thieves, conquerors and colonizers.

Egypt’s geographical location on the Mediterranean has made it accessible to

Europeans-Turks, British, French, Germans and Italians-who either occupied it or, at least, tried to occupy it at different times in history. First, Egypt was part of the Roman Empire from 30 BCE to 640 CE until the Arabs annexed it in 640 CE. The Ottoman Empire took control of Egypt from 1517 to 1867. The French occupied it for three years (1798-1801) only. However, that invasion marked the beginning of modern-day Egypt as it opened the door for Egyptians to be exposed to European science and culture. The British occupied

Egypt for seventy-four years (1882-1956). and the Italians tried to invade Egypt three times but failed and were expelled and forced to retreat in 1942.

Egypt with its rich history, culture, and unique composition, is called Hollywood of the East (Ouf, 2015). It has housed people from all races, cultures and religions and still managed to keep its unique identity despite the numerous attempts of its conquerors to change its language and its cultural composition. The spread of Egyptian movies, music and songs across the Arab world made many Arabs familiar with the Egyptian dialect. However,

Egyptians were not as exposed to other Arabic dialects unless they traveled to specific Arab countries. That is why many Arabs could understand Egyptians when they speak while many

Egyptians could not clearly understand other Arabs. Egypt is also called The Land of

Religions (Naiem, 2018) because the ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religious beliefs, and Egypt has housed many religions since then.

Arabs/ Egyptians in the United States

Orfalea (2006) offers the most comprehensive documentation of the waves of Arab immigration to the United States. He states that the first record of Egyptians entering the U.S. ports is traced back to the 1850s. However, they only came in the one and two-digit numbers until the 1920s. The period from 1924 to 1947 witnessed the birth of the first generation of

Arab-Americans. Those were the children of the first wavers. However, those were mainly

Syrians and Lebanese. The second wave of Arab immigration to America (1947-1966) was relatively small as well (about 80,000 in nineteen years) but much larger than the first wave.

The majority of those were Palestinians (45,201) who were negatively affected by the debacle of Palestine. This wave mainly included the beginning of what would be called the

“brain drain” from newly independent Arab countries, such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq,

Lebanon, and Yemen because many of those immigrants were highly educated professionals who opposed the existing regimes and aspired for a better life for themselves and their children. Those immigrants, other than the Palestinians, were fleeing countries that were just emerging into independence and going through the hardships and turmoil of revolutions, purges, redistribution of wealth, corruption, and megalomania. The largest portion of those immigrants were Egyptian (about 20,000).

The third wave (1967-2003) was thirteen times larger than the second wave (757,626

Arab immigrants). The Palestinians also constituted the largest segment of this group even though they came through Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf countries because, by that time, they were forced to leave Israel and became refugees in neighboring Arab countries. Many were professionals like the second wavers. That trend continued to intensify.

On September 16, 1983, Middle East International reported that half of all Arab science and engineering Ph.Ds. had left the Arab world” (Orfalea, 2006, p.189).

The reason for that massive increase in immigration was due, in part, to the loosening of US immigration restrictions as a result of the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act/ Immigration and

Nationality Act (Ameri & Arida, 2012; Krogstad & Radford, 2017). In addition, the third wave was fleeing not only intensified Israeli aggression but also intra-Arab warfare that was escalating on an unpresented scale since the mid-nineteenth century. Iraqis, Lebanese, and

Syrians were leaving their homelands that were wracked by abysmal violence (Orfalea,

2006). Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon coupled with Lebanon’s barbaric 1975 civil war both resulted in the emigration of 119,562 Lebanese to America (Orfalea, 2006). In addition, for the first time, Iraqis began to come to the United States in large numbers (108,144 since

1967) after being one of the richest countries in the world due to the American sanctions on

Iraq in 1990 followed by the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Syrians too, who suffered from the corruption and brutality of the Assad regime, whose crushing of Islamic fundamentalist rebels at Hama in 1982 caused the death of 20,000 civilians, started coming in even greater numbers (71,033 since 1967).

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the Middle East fueled the third wave of immigration by Christian Arabs (though at least 60% of third wavers are Muslim). Certain

Egyptian Copts felt threatened and isolated in their societies. So, they started to come to the

United States in larger numbers to a handful of beachheads that had already been established for them by some earlier Egyptian immigrants. The number of Egyptians immigrating from

1967 to 2003 is 129,518 many of them Copts (Orfalea, 2006). Those Arab immigrants were less likely to return to their homelands because of the escalating conflicts that existed compared to previous periods (Orfalea, 2006).

However, that trend of increasing Arab immigration slowed down dramatically after

September 11, 2001(Orfalea, 2006) and continued to decrease until the present due to stricter immigration restrictions on immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries post the September

11, 2001 events. This Fourth Wave (2003-2018) included, but were not limited to, Islamic fundamentalists and other opposition groups who fled the Arab World in the aftermath of the

Arab Spring Revolutions.

Reasons for Immigration

The reasons for immigrating to the United States varied greatly among groups and across different time frames. Arabs have always been great travelers and adventurers. Ibn

Battuta, the great Moroccan scholar and explorer, traveled the Arab and Muslim World for almost thirty years (1325-1354) and wrote about his travels in the famous historical book

22 titled A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Traveling.

The prime location of the Arab World in the Middle East, at the center of the world, with access to water and land routes allows Arabs to travel and explore the world.

However, America was not always a desired destination for the Arabs due to its remoteness and relatively recent inception. The lack of history and culture compared to

European and Far-Eastern countries was not appealing to the Arab adventurers at the time.

However, it was not until much later, when America replaced the Soviet Union as the sole super power in the world, and when tensions escalated in their homelands, that some Arabs started considering America as a safe haven away from the unjust treatment that they had faced in many European countries. Many Arabs, as other populations, believed in the

American dream and the American propaganda about democracy and freedom. According to the political economist, Charles Issawi (1975), Arab immigration to the New World was sparked by “tensions accompanying economic and social transformation; the imposition of conscription; the spread of foreign education; the improvement of transportation; and the massacres of 1860” (cited in Orfalea, 2006, pp. 50, 51).

Economic prosperity has always been a great motivation for many who seek better lives for themselves and their children. However, economic prosperity, on its own, is not a good enough reason for many people to leave their homeland and immigrate to another far way land half the world across the globe. Most Arabs-including Egyptians-from less affluent states managed to achieve economic prosperity by getting work visas to some of the affluent

Arab countries in the Arabian Gulf such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar,

Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq. They would, in most cases, leave their families, work in those countries for several years, save some money, and then go back and open a business in their

23 homeland. Most of the Egyptians who chose to immigrate to the United States were well- educated, upper-middle class professionals who spoke English well and therefore had a much higher probability of assimilating into the American culture (Orfalea, 2006). Many came because they were seeking career and upward mobility opportunities that were not available in Egypt at the time. Others came for political and religious freedom, or so they thought.

Governmental Reception of Arab/Egyptian Immigrants

The American government’s policies towards Arab and Muslim immigrants are best understood in terms of American perception of and interest in the Middle East. In the late

1800s, Syrians were forbidden to vote in many states as part of the “yellow race” because they were occupied by the Turks and did not get a definitive court ruling on their right of franchise until 1915. This created a chronic question of “what color hole to fit the Arab in?” that compounded the Arab community’s identity crisis (Orfalea, 2006).

However, the early Arab immigrants in the United States were considered a model minority until the initiation of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the political events that occurred after that, which eventually led them to turn into a problem minority in the early 1990s. In the

1940s, the United States Census Bureau determined that Arab Americans were to be treated like European immigrant communities and officially categorized them as “White” according to the U.S. government (Majaj 2000; Samhan, 1999). Meanwhile, the U.S. media has consistently represented Arabs as different from and inferior to whites (Naber, 2012).

The American government always had two complementary policies toward Arabs and

Muslims from the Middle East. The American foreign policy has always been focused on maintaining a steady supply of Middle Eastern oil, keeping oil prices stable, but not necessarily low, and supporting pro-American regimes in the Middle East (Jones, 2012). The

24 successive American governments utilized every possible means to maintain America’s interests in the Middle East including the militarization of authoritarian regimes and increasing American military presence to protect its interests. The American troops continue to sprawl across the Arab and Muslim World until today. According to the Press TV (2018), the United States has military bases in around 150 countries, most of them are located in the

Middle East. According to the Pentagon data (2018), America has about 54,000 troops in fourteen countries in the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq,

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain) and maintains military bases in seven of those countries namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan,

Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, with Qatar having the largest base of an estimated

10,000 American military personnel deployed there.

Domestically, the United States has had very hostile and sometimes inhumane policies towards people who identified as Arabs and Muslims especially in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, and the troubling Patriot Act that followed. For example, a member of the Bush-appointed U.S. Civil Rights Commission during a 2002 hearing in Detroit predicted that Arab Americans would be rounded up in camps in the event of a new terrorist attack (Orfalea, 2006).

Another example of public propaganda that shaped American perception of Arabs and Muslims is Trump’s jihad versus Muslims during his election campaign and his claim that “thousands and thousands” of Arabs and Muslims in New Jersey were cheering as the

World Trade Center came down on 9/11 (Obeidallah, 2015). A poll was released in 2015 finding that three-quarters of Republicans think Islam is “at odds” with American values

(Obeidallah, 2015). Trump told a crowd during a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2015, “I

25 want surveillance of these people.” (referring to Muslims). Trump adopted the policy of demonizing minorities to earn the praise of White supremacist groups. He was open to creating a Muslim database and possibly even requiring Muslims to carry special ID cards.

He pledged to order warrantless spying on Muslim Americans and even to close American mosques.

Educational texts and other media sources also contain many negative and stereotypical images of Arabs and Arab Americans (Barry, Elliot, & Evans, 2000). Elizabeth

Barlow, Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Middle East and North African Studies at the

University of Michigan, coordinated a project to review educational texts for biases toward various ethnic groups. She found out that there was consistent negative bias towards all portrayals of the Middle East and those of Middle Eastern and Arab descent (Barlow, 1995).

According to the Arab American Institute, a post 9/11 U.S. Department of Justice

Inspector General report documented detentions of predominantly Muslims, Arabs, and

South Asians for weeks or longer without notice to detainees as to the reason for their detention, a right to legal representation, or any contact with their families. It documented hundreds of cases of those men who reported for a “call-in” special registration program instituted by the federal government to track individuals from specific ethnic groups (Nassar-

McMillan, 2011). These policies intentionally singled out Muslim Arabs disproportionately compared to their Christian counterparts (Naber, 2012).

This hostility toward Arab and Muslim discourses that originated since the beginning of the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, was reflected in the dominant current in U.S. academia through hostility to Arab and Arab American political narratives by censoring any public talks that call the U.S. empire into question, especially in relation to Palestine (Roy, 2007;

Samman, 2005). According to Naber (2012), the U.S. imperial discourse fabricates an imagined “Arab-Middle Eastern-Muslim" as the enemy of the nation to justify its imperial expansion in the Middle East. This marked the shift for the Arabs from being a model minority to becoming a problem minority.

Diaspora

Many scholars have noted the complexity of defining diaspora (Cainkar, 2013;

Cohen, 2008; Safran, 1991). According to the dictionary definition, diaspora refers to a group migration from a country or region and the physical relocation of an ethnic or religious group within a dominant culture or religion. This study, however, utilizes William Safran’s (1991) framework that describes diasporas’ main characteristics as (a) the dispersion from an original center, (b) collective memory of homeland, (c) social, cultural, and political distance from the host society, (d) communally shared hope for return, and (e) solidarity around commitment to building the homeland.” Some sociologists, however, point to the importance of distinguishing between migrants who have left their homelands as adults and those born in the "host" country, as well as subsequent generations that are different from both of those groups (Cainkar, 2013). It is the generational interaction between the Muslim Arab diaspora in America and their American-born off-springs that is the focus of this study. It is important however to note that Egyptian Americans are not a diaspora by themselves because the majority of them are legal immigrants. However, they are considered a diaspora because they are Arabs. Many Arabs were forced to leave their lands and immigrate to the United States against their will because of wars and political turmoils in their countries such as

Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians, and Lebanese. Since the American mainstream can hardly

27 distinguish between these groups, Egyptian Americans are generally treated like Arab

Americans in the United States.

One manifestation of the articulation of Arabness through the concept of diaspora is the fact that the Arab-American cultural identity is hyphenated. According to Bhabha

(1994), “the hyphen does not mark a simple duality between two distinct cultural heritages.”

But rather the hyphen between the categories “Arab” and “American” emphasizes the multiple local and global conditions that shape identity” and happens when different narratives of nations, classes, genders, generations, sexualities, and so on collide with one another as “interstices” or “third-space” (p. 224). This indicates a superior/inferior relationship, a dominant/minority dichotomy that leads to major social, economic, and geo- political repercussions.

American Society’s Perception/Treatment of Arab Immigrants

The first problem that many Arabs face in the American society is stereotyping.

Stereotyping of Arabs in the media, books, and public arenas grew exponentially during and after the 1991 American War on Iraq and after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and is responsible, in part, for the widespread of subliminal hatred, apprehension, or fear of the

Arab in U.S. society (Orfalea, 2006). Following these events, Orfalea (2006) reports that many second and third-generation Arab Americans were called “foreigners” in Detroit schools. Other stereotypes such as dirty, dusty, swarthy, camel-riding, desert-dwelling, barbarous peoples (Shaheen, 1997; Zogby, 1984) flourished and were constantly perpetuated by the news media as well as television and movies throughout American history and into the present day. Many scholars have noted the power of the press in reinforcing negative images of Arabs and Muslims in the minds of the American public, particularly, around U.S. foreign

28 policies toward the Middle East (Bennett, 1994; Chomsky, 1986; Shaheen, 1985, cited in

Nassar-McMillan, 2011) For example, the movies Son of Tarzan (1920), Tarzan’s Revenge

(1938), Legion of the Doomed (1958), Exodus (1960), The Black Stallion (1979), Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), True Lies, (1994), and Rules of Engagement (2000), Four Feathers

(2002), Hidalgo (2004), Secondhand Lions (2004), Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

(2005), and The Kingdom (2007) were just a few examples of American stereotyping of

Arabs in the media (Nassar-McMillan, 2011). These movies among others were partly responsible for preparing the American society by September 11, 2001 to be ready to pounce back in the event of any further eruption of terrorism on U.S. soil.

Cainkar (2002) indicated that after September 11, 2001, violence, discrimination, defamation, and intolerance against Arab Americans has reached its peak in the history of

Arabs in America. Within one year after the events of September 11, 2001, the Human Rights

Watch reported a 1700% increase in reported hate and bias crimes against Arabs, Muslims, and those perceived to be Arab or Muslim (Human Rights Watch, 2002). Jacki Lyden, NPR news Host for All Things Considered (11/26/2002), cites an FBI report confirming the dramatic increase in hate crimes against Arab Americans after 9/11; citing 481 attacks against Muslims and/or Middle Easterners, an increase of 1500% of the previous year. The

Washington report on Middle East Affairs also reflected over 1000 reported hate incidents and hate crimes, including murders, arson, vandalism, physical and verbal assaults, and telephoned threats during the same time period. Individuals and families were threatened with death threats and assault, while homes, schools, and other community facilities, were targeted with bomb scares and vandalism (Abdelkarim, 2002).

A Stolen Identity

Another challenge that Arabs face in America is the fact that not only do they deal with the trauma of losing their homelands, but they are also stripped of their heritage, customs and traditions. For example, Arabs see “Hummus”, the Arabic spread made of chickpeas, being called “Israeli dip” in the Farmer’s Market near Beverly Hills (Orfalea,

2006). The breeding of the culture of silence that prevailed among the Arab diaspora began to be shattered by the second and third generations whose religious and political activism was a cry for help in their attempt to hold on to their stolen identity. However, they, too, paid a dear price for speaking up. Incidents of hatred towards public officials who voice their sympathy with Palestine or criticism of American foreign policies in the Middle East have increased as well. Alex Odeh, the director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) was assassinated in 1985 by a pipe bomb that exploded as he opened his car door. The FBI classified the murder as a hate crime. The murderers have not been apprehended. A statue erected in downtown Santa Ana in Odeh’s honor has been vandalized twice, in 1995 and again in 1997, despite its close proximity to the police department there. Such anti-Arab sentiment made many Arab Americans reluctant to express their views, particularly on foreign policy issues for fear that they too become labeled as un-American or unpatriotic

(Shain, 1996).

Another compounded layer of challenges is the perceived differences between Islam and Christianity, the dominant religion in the United States. The superficial and naïve understanding of Islam by some non-Muslims may lead the average American to misinterpret some verses of the Quran especially when these misinterpretations are being propagated in the media, which fosters even more negative or hostile feelings toward Muslims, and thus,

Arab Americans in general. Despite contrary empirical evidence, it seems that in the Western

World, at least, Muslims and Arabs are perceived to be the primary instigators of terrorist acts (Nassar-McMillan, 2011). This toxic environment resulted in the spread of hate crimes against Muslims, Arabs, and anyone who is perceived to be Muslim or Arab. The American

Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in its 2001-2002 report documented many of those crimes including physical assault, death threats, overt ethnic and religious bigotry in schools and in college campuses, harassment and bias against both Arab American and

Muslim American students by teachers and administrators.

In June 2004, the Rights Working Group, a coalition of human rights, civil liberties, civil rights, and immigrant rights organizations, formed to urge Congress to pass a bill introduced by a group of U.S. Senators. The bill attempted to correct various post-9/11 policies toward arbitrary and indefinite detentions, secret hearings, restrictions on due process, First Amendment rights violations, and special registration programs (National

Immigration Forum, 2002). Specific aspects of the bill included: ending secret arrests and governmental blanket authority to close deportation hearings that allow the closing of all or part of court proceedings only after an immigration judge determines that there is compelling privacy or national security interest; right to detainees to be advised of charges within 48 hours and the right to a fair bond hearing; elimination of criminal penalties for minor technical violations such as failing to report a change of address within 10 days; and restricting the secret seizure of private databases and records.

Arab Immigrants’ Perceptions of the New Land

Arabs were drawn by U.S. freedom and democracy, but concomitantly repelled by

U.S. foreign policies such as unconditionally supporting Israel despite Israel’s major

31 violations of human rights. This love/hate relationship caused extremely torn feelings and ambiguities. These conflicting feelings resulted in furthering the Arab and Muslim alienation and intensifying the culture of silence (Orfalea 2006). The children of Third Wave Arab immigrants, and their children, have a markedly different experience adjusting to American norms. In a mid-1990s study of Dearborn Arab-American teens, one sociologist noted the greater weight of change on the girls:

The essence of being Arab was most sharply expressed by the behavior of the females… The Arab-American girls are the only ones who seem to feel more tension between the two pertinent forces. They feel more pressure to act honorably, yet, are lured by the perceived autonomy possessed by “American girls.” (Orfalea, 2006, p.191)

However, Arab girls were not the only victims of such hostilities. Kira (2004) examined the traumatic effects of the 9/11 backlash on Arab Americans. It was found that after September 11, 2001, a common initial response among Arab Americans to any terrorist attack was a fervent wish that the perpetrator was non-Arab (Nassar-McMillan, 2011). Blair

(2002) noted the negative effects of post immigration traumas on individuals’ wellbeing and acculturation. Orley (1994) discussed post-migration stress such as culture shock and rejection by the host culture. MacMillan (2011) further notes that even later generations can be drastically impacted by both overt and covert acts of hostility and discrimination. This phenomenon is compounded for Arab Americans because they have become a visible problem minority.

Egyptian-American Muslim Students in School

Aside from stereotyping and negative bias in textbooks, Muslim and Arab students deal with all forms of physical assaults, micro and macro-aggressions, overt and covert

32 religious bigotry, and bias and harassment on college campuses and schools. Samman (2005) notes that academia, especially in the United States, tends to see “Arabs” and “Muslims” from an Orientalist perspective and to use methodologies that reinforce histories of imperial domination and racism against them. In addition, many scholars have noted that a huge gap exists between the actual concerns of Arab Americans and their portrayal in current academic and popular literatures. This is what this study attempts to investigate.

Egyptian-American Muslim Students’ Cultural Adjustment Mechanisms

The Arabs and Muslims’ typical reaction to the array of negative messages that they get on a daily basis is manifested in a classic case of “avoidance syndrome” in the emigrant community, that is; avoiding trouble by not talking about it (Orfalea, 2006, p. 71). One of the ways Muslim Arabs avoid trouble is by hiding their identity. The first thing many Muslim

Arabs do to avoid trouble is change their names sometimes by translating them into English and sometimes by shortening them or picking an American convenient name that is close.

For example, Mohammad becomes Mo, Abdullah becomes Abdul, Yousef becomes Joseph, and Tarek becomes Terri. Hisham Sharabi, Georgetown University professor, felt that for successful Arab Americans “those who make it, one of the first reactions is to get out of it, to disassociate themselves-they want nothing to do with the community” (quoted by Orfalea,

2006, p. 178). Many women who cover their hair and bodies take off their hijab-head scarf- for fear of persecution or discrimination, and some fear even for their lives.

Another strive to assimilate is through intermarriage relationships. A study based on the 1990 U.S. Census showed over 80% of U.S. born Arab Americans had non-Arab spouses, inter-marriage rates much higher than other non-European ethnicities. This may be related to the fear factor that intensified after the events of September 11, 2001 until it led to this

33 extraordinary trend toward assimilation; in fact, Orfalea (2006) warns that “this ethnic identity may very well be in an advanced stage of disappearance.” (p.97)

For Arab Americans, as well as for other voluntary immigrants, education was the

“Holy Grail” (Ogbu, 1991; Orfalea, 2006, p. 131). This is especially true for the Second

Wave onward. Education is highly valued in Arab societies, for men and women alike. Thus,

Arab Americans tend to be somewhat more educated than the American population. Eighty- five percent of Arab Americans have a high school diploma (higher than the overall U.S. population at eighty percent). Over 40% have at least a bachelor’s degree (significantly higher than the American general at 24%). Seventeen percent have post-graduate degrees, as compared to the national average of 9% (Arab American Institute, 2004; Cainkar, 2013)

However, many Arab immigrants focus on Internationalism, especially those who go back to the Middle East often and travel around the world. (Naber, 2012).

Table 1

Educational Attainment Comparison between Arab Americans and the National Average

Educational Attainment Arab-Americans National Average

High school diploma 85% 80%

University degree 40+% 24%

Post-graduate degree 17% 9%

In her explanation of Muslim Arabs’ response to stereotyping, hostility, and discrimination, Nadine Naber (2012) notes that most Arabs prefer to adapt by “playing safe” for fear of repatriation. They aim for the “bicultural middle” where individuals choose to claim an ethnic or an Americanized identity based on the situation in order to avoid stigma

34 and criticism, without challenging the larger racial order. She talks about the sense of

“collective fear” that swept the Arab and Muslim community at that time and explains that it stemmed from the fear of being monitored by the government or simply being mistrusted.

She also mentions another type of fear that many Arabs have; the fear of losing the white- middle class acceptability privileges, which may result in either criminalization or social, political, or economic marginalization. Arab Americans understood that making it in

America would require silence about U.S. policies in public arenas or even hiding one’s Arab identity altogether. In fact, some Muslim Arabs strive to be “whitewashed” so they can fit in and be “cool” according to the mainstream standards (Pyke & Dang, 2003).

This led the G2 Muslim Arab Americans to feel torn between the conflicting forces of an empire and a diaspora. They were torn between their need to assimilate with their first- generation immigrant parents’ culture, their intra-Arab community, their Muslim non-Arab community, and the dominant culture. These visibly opposing, yet interconnected forces created a sense of rebellion in that population that made them lost in between and wanting to rebel against them all.

Naber (2012) explains, “The Arab Americans live in two conflicting domains that reflect a “messier reality, where a more complete articulation of self can be found in the entanglement of cultures, histories, and politics among Arabs in America” (p. 14).

A recent coping mechanism against this mental, psychological, and economic attack is the growing trend among Arab American young adults to claim their identity as Muslim first, Arab second.” (Naber, 2012). This is because Islam, as a universal religion, transcends cultures, nationalities, races, and languages. It unifies people and dignifies them as human beings, even those who do not believe in it. The concept of the Muslim “Ummah”, or nation,

35 has recently become increasingly appealing to many young Muslims who failed to unite under any other umbrella.

Theoretical Underpinning

This qualitative phenomenological study is grounded in two frameworks: segmented assimilation theory and cultural-ecological theory. In order to understand the challenges that face G2 Muslim Egyptian American college students in the United States, it is very important to understand how these two theories interconnectedly play a role in the perceptions of G2

MEAS. The following sections provide an explanation of each of these theories and outline their respective roles in understanding this new sub-ethnic group.

Segmented Assimilation Theory

Portes and Zhou (1993) developed segmented assimilation theory in response to the classical definition of assimilation that describes assimilation as a straightforward cultural, social, and economic path into the middle-class American mainstream (Warner & Srole

1945). The classical assimilation theory was developed based on an initial stream of white

Europeans emigrating to the United States. It suggested that there is a straightforward path to assimilation although the process of assimilation is a long process and may take multiple generations depending on the circumstances of the immigrant group (Gordon 1964; Park

1950; Park & Burgess, 1924; Warner & Srole, 1945). For example, Warner & Srole (1945) claimed that groups whose characteristics were similar to or closer to the American mainstream, culturally, socially, and economically, were more likely to assimilate than those who did not have similar characteristics.

Lately, however, the number of non-white immigrants who have migrated to the

United States has exponentially increased. These immigrants have different characteristics,

36 use different trajectories, and have different assimilation outcomes than their previously dominant European counterparts (Faulkner, 2011). In addition, second generation immigrants experience varied and complex acculturation processes into the American mainstream. These processes involve four factors: modes of incorporation, pace of acculturation, barriers, and social capital (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). The interaction of these four factors helps predict the assimilation outcomes for second generation immigrants. These outcomes include classical upward mobility, downward mobility, and segmented assimilation (Portes &

Rumbaut, 1996; Rumbaut, 2008).

Unlike classical assimilation theory, segmented assimilation theory posits that not all assimilation happens in a unidirectional path. Instead, second generation immigrants use varied and complex methods of acculturation into the American mainstream society (Portes

& Zhou, 2005). Portes and Zhou (1993) identify three paths of assimilation. The first is the classical form of assimilation in which immigrants integrate into the white middle class. The second involves a downward mobility into poverty and assimilation into the underclass. The third is segmented assimilation, which is a result of the rapid economic advancement in which the immigrant community expresses tight solidarity to preserve its values against fierce assimilation and integration pressures.

Figure 6. The Process of Segmented Assimilation: A Model. (Source: Portes & Rumbaut, 2001, p. 63).

Modes of Incorporation

Rumbaut (2008) indicates three modes of incorporation that influence the immigrants’ mode and segment of assimilation based on their national origin and their circumstances. These modes are governmental, societal, and communal reception of different immigrant groups. He also adds that the mode in which the government receives different immigrant groups influences the type of support and resources these groups receive. He classifies the three modes discussed above as negative, neutral, and positive. The first mode includes illegal immigrants who often have lower levels of education. These immigrants usually encounter negative or hostile reception that affects their assimilation into the host society. The second mode includes legal immigrants with higher levels of education whose governmental reception is usually neutral unless there are other factors or circumstances affecting the reception of these groups. The third mode includes refugees who have mixed

38 human capital. These groups are offered more support and resources and better reception unless other factors interfere in offsetting that support.

Modes of incorporation also include societal reception of different immigrant groups.

Portes and Rumbaut (2001) suggest that recently, because the majority of immigrants to the

United States have been “non-white”, their reception was rather prejudiced. Finally, they describe communal reception as the type of resources that the immigrant community can provide each other based on its size, socioeconomic status, and concentration. Zhou (1997) argues that strong co-ethnic communities can provide social capital and economic resources for immigrants while weak co-ethnic communities with limited resources negatively impact the upward mobility of immigrants. On the other hand, Portes & Rumbaut (2001) argue that well-off communities that are widely dispersed cannot provide the resources that their members need because their dispersion makes their communities less cohesive and ultimately less effective in meeting the needs of their members. The Egyptian American community in the United States, despite being somewhat affluent compared to other sub-ethnic groups, yet it is so widely dispersed, which makes it hard for its members to unite or support each other.

Other factors that will be later discussed also come into play. Ultimately, Portes and

Rumbaut (1998) argue that those who experience positive governmental and societal reception have higher chances of achieving upward mobility, while those who have a strong positive communal reception hold on to their cultural values.

Pace of Acculturation

The pace of acculturation refers to the rate by which the immigrant groups and their off springs assimilate into the host society. This pace can be supportive of, or inhibiting to, acculturation and assimilation based on a number of factors. These factors include the

39 immigrant group’s human, financial, and social capital as well as barriers. In order to understand this phenomenon, let’s us start with the barriers.

Barriers

According to the segmented assimilation theorists, barriers are referred to as downward leveling factors. These factors include racial discrimination, the hourglass economy, growing inequality, and inner-city subcultures. Racial discrimination refers to the governmental and societal reception of the immigrant groups and the prejudice and discrimination that these groups experience in the host society based on their language, skin color, physical appearance, education, religion, or class (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). They assert that racial discrimination “throws a barrier in the path of occupational mobility and social acceptance” for non-whites whether or not they are of immigrant origin (Portes &

Rumbaut, 2001a, p. 56). Racial discrimination, then, can be a limiting factor to many immigrants’ economic success. Moreover, it is likely to increase their inclination to reject mainstream cultural norms and adopt more “underclass” cultural forms. Theorists argue that the immigrants’ visibly darker skin color automatically classifies them as the “other” in the eyes of the American mainstream (Waters 1990, 1999), which counteracts any economic or educational advancement they may possess.

Second, the hourglass economy is another downward leveling factor that makes it more difficult for children of immigrants to move up the occupational ladder. The hourglass economy refers to the abundance of jobs at the bottom and at the top of the job market with only a few jobs in between. This situation makes occupational advancement much more challenging as it requires significant gains in educational attainment. These gains usually take immigrant groups many generations to make (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001a). Segmented

40 assimilation theory predicts that the hourglass economy will reduce economic success for children of immigrants, and that many will remain trapped at the bottom of the economic hierarchy. However, this may be less so when their parents have more resources.

Finally, segmented assimilation theory posits that growing inequality and inner-city subcultures are countercultures that relate to the social context that individuals encounter.

These countercultures play a role as a downward leveling factor that negatively affects assimilation into the mainstream society. According to this theory, poor individuals, particularly non-whites, are geographically concentrated in inner-city neighborhoods. These neighborhoods house behaviors and values that are antithetical to the mainstream discourse such as low labor force attachment, welfare use, and crime. Immigrants, particularly poor, non-white immigrants, often reside in these areas. This is where they and their children are exposed to these behaviors and values. According to segmented assimilation theory, many second-generation immigrants who reside in these neighborhoods get to believe that racial discrimination limits their chances of economic and social mainstream success, so they reject these modes of upward economic mobility and adopt oppositional norms and behaviors in solidarity with their own and other minorities. Portes and Rumbaut (2001a, p. 60) assert, “A crucial consequence of social and economic marginalization is the emergence of a measure of solidarity in opposition to external discrimination, based on the central notion that the plight of the minority is due to the hostility of mainstream institutions.” This is also based on

Ogbu’s (1991) theory of voluntary and involuntary minorities.

In addition, Portes and Rumbaut (2001a) note two general patterns among children of immigrants that they believe challenge classical assimilation theory. First, they note a pattern of self-identification among G2 immigrants in which they identify themselves with their

41 country of origin rather than with a hyphenated or American identity. This resonates with

Naber’s (2012) assertion that G2 Arabs identify as Muslim first, Arab second. Second, they identify some negative repercussions to assimilation that happen due to immigrants’ change of health behaviors to those of the dominant culture (Harris 1999). The Egyptian immigrant community in the United States has already been subjected to American food and luxury/ sedentary lifestyle that has invaded the Arab world in the recent years, and it continues to replace its healthy Mediterranean diet with more highly processed western diet that is widely spread in the United States today.

Protective Factors

Nevertheless, Portes & Rumbaut (2001), also identify two main protective factors that facilitate and expedite assimilation of the immigrant group into the mainstream society.

These factors are parent-child acculturation and social capital. Portes and Rumbaut (2001) identify three types of parent-child acculturation that immigrants and their children experience in the host society.

Types of Acculturation

The three types of acculturation that Portes and Rumbaut (2001) refer to are dissonant, consonant, and selective acculturation respectively. Dissonant acculturation occurs when children adopt American cultural characteristics at a faster rate than their parents. This causes a problem because when children encounter American norms in isolation from their parents, they often experience role reversal in which they become the sources of outside information for their parents and they take on responsibility for important family decisions.

According to segmented assimilation theory, this dissonant type of parent-child acculturation is likely to lead to children’s loss of parental language and cultural norms and ties and “does

42 not necessarily lead to downward assimilation but…places children at risk” (Portes &

Rumbaut, 2001a, p. 54), especially when these families have very limited economic resources as well. Zhou (1997), however, argues that this may put children at risk for downward assimilation. Either way, this dissonant form of parent-child acculturation has negative implications on both immigrant parents and their children and leads to negative relationships between children and their parents.

Contrary to this type is consonant parent-child acculturation when parents and children acculturate at the same rate. In this type of acculturation, immigrant parents and their children learn English and American cultural norms at relatively similar rates, while gradually losing their culture and language (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). In consonant acculturation, parents maintain their authority and are more able to protect their children from negative outside influences especially because many parents in this case have enough human capital to provide their children with the resources the children need to achieve upward mobility and assimilation (Zhou, 1997).

Selective acculturation, however, is the only form of parent-child acculturation that allows immigrant groups and their children to preserve their language and culture while learning the English language and adopting American mainstream cultural norms (Portes &

Rumbaut, 2001). This healthy form of acculturation creates strong co-ethnic communities that succeed in providing both social and cultural capital for their children, which in turn, provide a communal shield against discrimination.

Social Capital

Portes and colleagues consider social capital to be a predictor of assimilation experiences. They define it as the “ability to gain access to resources by virtue of

43 membership in social networks and other social structures” (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001a, p.

353). Coleman (1988, p. S95) states that social capital includes “obligations and expectations, information channels, and social norms.” According to Portes and Rumbaut (2001), the immigrants’ own characteristics influence their reception and incorporation into the host society. These characteristics include human, social, and financial capital that immigrants bring with them to their new countries. Portes and colleagues indicate that generally, immigrants with more human capital are financially more successful than others with less human capital and are more able to provide their children with the necessary resources for upward mobility in the host society. However, they may also use their resources to send their children to ethnic or religious schools which strengthens their cultural ties, or they may even send their children back to their countries for vacations or to study, which may slow the classical forms of assimilation.

Forms of Social Capital

Portes and Rumbaut (2001a) identify five forms of social capital. The first is parental status. They argue that families who have higher socioeconomic status tend to have “greater information about opportunities and pitfalls in the surrounding environment… [and] they can earn higher incomes giving them access to strategic goods” (p. 64). The second form of social capital is family structure. They argue that households that have two parents, rather than one, can provide more social capital to their children, as two parents are likely to have more time and energy to devote to their children and are more able to maintain good relations with them (Coleman 1988). In addition, two-parent families are likely to have more outside connections to their immediate extended families and beyond, which increases the chances of their ability to provide more information and resources than single parents. Third, Portes and

Rumbaut (2001a) consider gender to be a form of social capital. They argue that, “females

tend to be more under the influence of their parents because of the less autonomous and more

protective character of their upbringing” (p. 64). Therefore, females are more likely to be

more influenced by social capital within the family than males. The fourth form of social

capital is co-ethnic/immigrant social networks. As it has been mentioned before, they claim

that immigrant social networks increase economic opportunities for immigrant parents and

their children, and also “directly reinforce[s] parental authority” (p. 65). (Zhou 1997) asserts

that they are networks of support and control that immigrant families utilize to promote

economic success through partial or selective acculturation. What is most important within

these networks is the density of ties, rather than the socioeconomic status of the members.

Closely knit co-ethnic communities can be especially beneficial to immigrants from lower

socio-economic status as they provide both the social support and networking that these

immigrants desperately need.

Negative Consequences of Social Capital for Network Members

However, Portes and Rumbaut (2001) also note that social capital may also have some unanticipated negative consequences that may slow down assimilation for its members.

They especially note three consequences. The first is the excessive claims on the group members. That may add extra stress that may impede their ability to help each other. Second, closely knit co-ethnic communities may impose some restrictions on individual freedoms as individuals may have to answer to more than their immediate family members. Finally, the time and energy involved in helping others may result in employing some downward leveling norms as the members of the group lift and pull each other upward.

Cultural-Ecological Theory

Cultural-ecological theory is a framework that Ogbu and Simons (1998) developed to study and understand the various factors that influence minority students' school performance. Ogbu and Simons (1998) developed the cultural-ecological model (CEM). This model focuses on the cultural and environmental factors that influence the academic performance of minority students (Ogbu & Simons, 1998). Ogbu (1998) refers to the environmental factors, or the “ecology” as the "setting," "environment," or "world" of different minority groups, and refers to the cultural factors as the way minorities “see their world and behave in it” (p. 158). Previously, Ogbu (1978) wanted to analyze the American system of racial stratification and its effect on minority students particularly Black

Americans, and emphasize that “birth-ascribed status,” rather than performance is a detrimental factor in social stratification irrespective of racial identity of different groups (p.

3). However, later, he focused also on intergroup differences or the differences among the experiences and perceptions of different minority groups within the dominant culture.

According to CEM, two factors affect minority students’ school performance: the system and community forces.

The System

According to Ogbu and Simons (1998), the system consists of societal and school factors that affect minority students’ education including, but not limited to, academic performance. This system consists of three sets of factors:

1. the educational policies of local, state, and national educational agencies such as

segregation, school funding and staffing (Ogbu 1974, 1978a, 1979, 1986);

2. school and classroom policies and attitudes toward minority students including

teacher expectations, curriculum rigor, assessment tools and practices, and tracking

(Leacock, 1985; Low, 1982; Lucas, 1999; Ogbu, 2003; Persell, 1977; Reed, 1988;

Rist, 1970), and

3. societal rewards (or lack thereof) of minority students for their educational

achievements such as employment and wages.

Ogbu and Simons (1998) argue that these societal and school factors affect minority students’ perceptions and attitudes toward school based on a historical discriminatory treatment of minorities in the larger society.

According to the cultural-ecological model (CEM), minority students face three types of barriers or obstacles that affect their social and economic mobility. Ogbu and Simons

(1998) call these barriers collective problems that minority students face in their educational institutions as well as in the larger society. These problems include different types of discrimination that directly and indirectly impact minority students.

The first barrier is instrumental discrimination which refers to the unequal opportunities that are available to minorities based on their birth-status rather than on their educational outcomes. Such discrimination includes employment opportunities and wages.

Limited employment opportunities create a job ceiling for minority groups that some

(especially Blacks) feel that they cannot overcome no matter how skilled or academically prepared they may be.

The second barrier is relational discrimination. This type of discrimination refers to the physical segregation of minority groups in poor neighborhoods, which in turn affects the types and amounts of resources available to them and makes their struggle for upward

47 mobility even harder by creating unequal opportunities compared with those from the dominant culture. For example, students who live in poor neighborhoods attend low- performing schools with limited resources, and experience life in high-crime neighborhoods that can be a direct barrier to academic achievement and upward mobility (Khalifa, 2018).

This direct feel of oppression creates a sense of solidarity among different minority groups as it creates unequal opportunities for upward social and economic mobility.

The third barrier is symbolic discrimination which involves the denigration of the minority group’s culture and language. This form of discrimination is quite evident in society’s stereotyping of Muslim women as backward and oppressed, and of Arab men as barbaric and womanizers (Naber, 2012). It is also clear in the dominance of the English language in most countries around the world and the implicit assumption that the Arabic language is inferior. For example, most of the businesses including stores and restaurants in many major cities in Egypt advertise their names in English or in English transliteration as an indication of upper social status. In addition, many lower middle-class families send their children to English private schools despite the tremendous financial hardship this may cause them, and many of them take pride in their children’s ability to speak English more fluently than Arabic. This is to a great extent due to the social subordination that is manifested through cultural and language norms.

However, Ogbu and Simons (1998) argue that discrimination alone cannot be the sole reason that accounts for Black students’ low school performance especially because there are other minorities who perform at high levels, and some even higher than Whites. That is why they introduce part II of the model that discusses the community forces that affect minority students’ school performance.

Community Forces

Community forces are “the dominant patterns of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the domain of education that are found in minority communities” (Ogbu, 2003, p.13). They are the “collective solutions” to the collective problems that minorities experience in the dominant culture (Ogbu & Simons, 1998). Community forces are the perceptions of minority students about schooling based on their experiences. There are four major factors that Ogbu

(1998) describes as a means of explaining minority students’ response to the community forces; the first is minority students’ “frame of reference.” According to Ogbu and Simons

(1998), a frame of reference is the lens through which minority students evaluate their situation in the dominant culture and in school. In this respect, Ogbu differentiates between voluntary and involuntary minorities. Voluntary minorities compare their discriminatory situation to that in their home countries and see that despite the different forms of discrimination that they experience in the United States, they still believe that they have more opportunities and that education will eventually set them free. Involuntary minorities, on the other hand, feel that there is no basis for discriminating against them, and that no matter what they do, they have no chance of upward mobility or ever getting fair or equal opportunities based on their academic performance. Therefore, they do not see the benefit of trying to excel academically. Thus, the frame of reference shapes minority students’ perception of, and response to, societal and environmental factors that they experience (Ogbu & Simons, 1998).

For example, many Muslim Egyptian American students thrive academically despite the different forms of discrimination that they regularly experience because of their belief that education will help them overcome the barriers that they currently face and will act as a tool toward social and economic upward mobility. In addition, their dual frame of reference

49 allows them to constantly see themselves as doing much better than other Egyptian students who pay thousands of dollars in Egypt in return for a much less quality education than what they receive in American public schools for free. However, second generation Egyptian

American students who live in impoverished societies may employ the same negative and pessimistic frame of reference that the inhabitants of those communities adopt first because they develop solidarity with other minorities they associate with, and, second, because they may not have the same frame of reference as their immigrant parents especially if their parents do not have the financial means to take them to their home countries.

The second factor is minority students’ instrumental belief about schooling. That is their perception about the value of school credentials in advancing upward mobility. Ogbu and Simons (1998) refer to this factor as minority students’ “folk theory” about school. They argue that students who believe that education will lead to employment opportunities are more likely to invest time and effort into their education and do well in school. For example, voluntary minorities who emigrate willingly to the United States, and who come from less affluent countries, believe that education in American schools can open doors for them toward social and economic upward mobility. Many first-generation Egyptian Americans adopt that ideology.

The third factor is minority students’ relational interpretation of schooling. This interpretation includes the trust in American educational institutions. Ogbu and Simons

(1998) argue that there are multiple degrees of trust (or lack thereof). The first is trusting whether or not minority students receive equal educational opportunities. Second is the degree of trust in teachers, administrators, and school staff. Third is minority students’ belief about the role of schooling in furthering or alleviating their subordination and oppression. For

50 example, minority students who live in affluent neighborhoods have more faith in education than those who do not because they get the resources that they need to improve their skills and further their education. On the other hand, school personnel’s attitudes and beliefs about certain minority students may affect those students in negative ways by either lowering their self-confidence or even denying them the resources that they need to further their education, like not offering them or directing them toward taking advanced classes that prepare them for higher education.

Fourth, expressive factors such as collective identity and cultural and language frames of reference directly impact the students’ response to institutional barriers. Ogbu and

Simons (1998) argue that voluntary minority students who are able to preserve their culture and language while learning English in schools and assimilating into the American society see themselves as gaining new skills that will enable them to succeed and advance in society.

On the other hand, involuntary minority students who suffer from a long history of systemic institutional racism are much more likely to hold on to their culture and language and resist using standard English. For them, using standard English is a form of betrayal to their collective identity that they feel obligated to preserve.

Figure 7. Two Parts of the Problem of Minority Schooling: A Model (Source: John Ogbu, 1998).

Figure 8. White Treatment or “Collective Treatment” faced by Minorities: A Model (Source: John Ogbu, 1998).

Convergence of Frameworks

This study used both segmented acculturation theory and cultural ecological theory to describe the various trajectories that second-generation Muslim Egyptian Americans take toward upward mobility and the cultural and structural barriers that face them in school, at home, and in the community. The study also explored how those barriers affect how they navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. Figure 9 illustrates a model that describes the convergence of both theories in relation to this population as they ground the framework for this study.

Segmented assimilation theory posits that there are four factors that affect the pace, direction, and intensity of assimilation into the mainstream middle class. These factors are the modes of incorporation, pace of acculturation, barriers, and social capital. The model explains how the interaction among these factors can have both positive and negative consequences that affect the pace and direction of assimilation. Family experiences can provide strong social capital, but, sometimes, can hinder or obstruct assimilation through rigidity, over-protection, or lack of resources. They may also lead to racial erasure and cultural bifurcation when the parents hand the control to their children and do not teach them the family’s language or culture under the assumption that it is for their own benefit to ease and expedite assimilation and cultural and economic upward mobility.

School experiences are crucial to G2MEAS especially in the absence of community support that would be otherwise available in the home culture. Students spend most of their time in school, and in addition to learning academics and technological skills, students also acquire the norms of the dominant culture and learn that any other norms are inferior or subordinate to that culture.

Religious articulation provides both an anchor and a strain on this population as it is being demonized by the dominant culture. The ability of this population to balance that paradox affects its assimilation and its opportunities in the dominant culture.

In addition to having to navigate racial erasure by the dominant culture, G2MEAS also have to improvise ways to fit in within the larger Arab ethnic group and other minorities who share similar barriers and perceptions. The model includes the intra-communal experiences as a factor in shaping the identity and perception of this population.

Cultural ecological theory talks more about the system, which includes federal, state, and local policies that affect different minorities and their trajectories toward upward mobility. It also talks about the different types of discrimination that different minorities face and that constitute barriers toward their upward mobility namely; instrumental discrimination, relational discrimination, and symbolic discrimination. The model represents these overarching factors that both directly and indirectly affect the opportunities available to minorities and their placement on the socio-economic ladder.

Cultural ecological theory examines the community forces or the protective forces that allow some minority students to achieve upward economic mobility despite the odds.

Those include the minority group’s frame of reference, its instrumental beliefs about schooling and its relational interpretation of schooling. All these are represented in the model through the interrelated arrows that show the constant interaction between all these factors and their effect on the perceptions and trajectories of this population.

Finally, the model describes how those interrelated factors interact with each other and affect the sample population by including the corresponding research questions with each factor. These research questions are part of the interview questions (Appendix B, p. 82).

Figure 9. Convergence of Cultural Ecological Theory and Segmented Assimilation Theory, A Model (Source: Elsawaf, 2020).

Conclusion

This chapter starts by providing an overview of the Arab populations and the location and significance of Egypt in the heart of the Arab world. Then, it explains the different waves of Arab and Egyptian immigration to the United States. Finally, it explicitly details the theoretical framework that the author uses to understand the experiences of second- generation Muslim Egyptian Americans in the United States. In the next chapter, the researcher will describe the research design, data collection processes, the research questions, the setting, population, and sample, and the protection of participants.

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

Egyptian-American students constitute a relatively new sub-ethnic group that is often included with the larger Arab-American ethnic group. Even though, Egyptian-American students originally come from an Arabic-speaking country, they have unique culture, heritage, and characteristics that differentiate them from other sub-ethnic groups that share the same language or religion. Yet, data on the academic performance of Egyptian Americans is lacking because in the 1940s, the United States Census Bureau determined that Arab

Americans (in general) were to be treated like European immigrants and categorized them as

“white” according to the U.S. government (Majaj, 2000; Samhan, 1999).

The focus of this study is on Muslim Egyptian American students in particular

Muslim Egyptian Americans are facing a compounded challenge of their inability to fully fit in within any specific racial or cultural category and also because in light of the escalating aggressive politicized attacks on Muslims in America, Muslims became extremely apprehensive of practicing their faith freely in public and some, especially the youth, even questioned their faith after believing the predominant negative publicity about Islam and

Muslims in the media and the dominant culture (Orfalea, 2006). According to Nadine Naber

(2012), many Arabs started to be conscious of the fact that they might be perceived as the

“enemy within”. This led to a compounded internal conflict between their love and affiliation with America, while, at the same time feeling the pressure of unfair treatment. Research suggests that negative self-perception has negative implications on identity formation.

This study utilized a phenomenological qualitative approach to capture the voices, perceptions, and experiences of G2 Muslim Egyptian American college students’ schooling

57 experiences and the supports and barriers to their cultural transition process through family and community interactions. The following sections of this chapter provide a thorough description of the research design, the role of the researcher in the data collection, the research questions, the setting, population, and sample, the data collection and analysis processes, and the protection of the participants.

Research Design

This study utilized a phenomenological qualitative research design. According to

Creswell (2007), research design is the entire process of research that includes conceptualizing a problem, writing research questions, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, and report writing (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). According to Denzin and Lincoln

(2008), qualitative researchers “study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (p. 3).

Meanwhile, according to Creswell (2007) the qualitative research has many stages. It begins with assumptions, or a worldview that leads to studying the research problem through the meaning that individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. Then, the researcher collects data in a natural setting that reflects the true nature of the people and places under study. Next, the data analysis must be inductive and must be categorized into patterns and themes. Finally, the final written report must include the voices of the participants, the critical lens of the researcher, and an in-depth description and interpretation of the problem that enriches the literature and changes the status quo by calling for action.

Creswell emphasizes that “qualitative research today involves closer attention to the interpretive nature of inquiry and situating the study within the political, social, and cultural context of the researchers, the participants, and the readers of a study” (p. 37). In addition,

58 according to Creswell (2007), a phenomenological study describes the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon. Phenomenologists focus on describing what all participants have in common as they experience a phenomenon. The basic purpose of phenomenology is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence (a “grasp of the very nature of the thing,” Van Manen,

1990, p. 177). This qualitative phenomenological research study attempted to understand the perceptions of G2 Muslim Egyptian-American college students regarding their schooling experiences and their acculturation pressures and challenges through segmented assimilation and cultural ecological theories. In doing so, these two theories helped to explain how

Muslim second- generation Egyptian Americans develop their own Arab/Egyptian Crit theory in the future which is beyond the scope of this dissertation.

Role of the Researcher

According to Creswell (2007), the researcher plays a key role in a qualitative research study. In this case study, the researcher was the sole investigator in this qualitative study. The researcher utilized community capital wealth to recruit participants through a snowball technique using work/school connections, local mosques, private Islamic schools in the area, and the Egyptian-American group on face book. The researcher also reached out to her own university as well as neighboring universities to recruit participants through sharing an informational flyer to student clubs and in the multi-cultural centers. Snowball sampling (also known as chain-referral sampling) is usually used when characteristics to be possessed by samples are rare and difficult to find, which is the case with G2 Muslim Egyptian Americans.

Due to their limited numbers and to the fact that they are widely disbursed in the community, it was very difficult to locate G2MEAS or to theorize about their experiences

59 without using some of them as primary sources of information. Snowball sampling has many advantages. First, it allows the recruiter the ability to recruit hidden populations. Second, it allows the recruiter to collect primary data in a cost-effective manner. Third, studies with snowball sampling can be completed in a short period of time. Finally, very little planning is required to start the data collection process. These factors benefited this study because it limited researcher’s bias as the researcher did not choose the participants herself, but rather accepted any referred participant who met the requirements of the study. In addition, it provided the researcher with primary information that was crucial to the validity of the study.

Finally, due to the limited scope of this study, snowball sampling allowed the researcher to conduct the study in a timely manner with minimal cost.

However, snowball technique may also lead to some unintended results. First, the researcher could not guarantee a balanced sample of males and females or participants with varied perspectives. This oversampling of a particular group may lead to bias. Second, respondents may be hesitant to refer peers or family members as participants do not personally know the researcher. Finally, it is not possible to determine the actual pattern of distribution of the population (Dudovskiy, 2018).

The researcher conducted one-to-two-hour one-on-one interviews with interested

participants upon submitting their written consent at a location convenient to both the

researcher and participants. When face-to-face interviews were not feasible, the researcher

utilized “Skype” or “Zoom” applications to conduct the interviews especially with students

who attend colleges and universities that were remote from the researcher’s geographical

location and were not able to meet with the researcher in person during the time the

interviews were conducted. The researcher offered a $10 gift card to participants who were

willing to participate in the study. The participants had a choice of Target or Peets gift

cards.

All interviews were audio-recorded using an electronic voice recorder and the researcher’s personal cell phone. The researcher personally transcribed and coded all the interviews according to most rigorous academic expectations using Hyper Transcribe and

Hyper Research softwares. Then, the researcher developed major themes that were later used for analysis and interpretation.

Research Questions

The main research question in this phenomenological research study is “What does it mean to be a second-generation Muslim Egyptian American student in America? Within this research question, three sub-questions emerge:

1. Based on their perceptions, how do second-generation Muslim Egyptian American

students experience schooling in America?

2. How do second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students balance their home

and school environments?

3. How are second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students affected by the

dominant culture?

The researcher provided the participants with a demographic sheet (Appendix A) that they filled out before the interview. During the interview, in addition to asking pre-planned and pre-written interview questions (Appendix B), the researcher allowed for other clarification questions to emerge from the study during the interview as needed. These questions included some follow-up questions and some open-ended questions that allowed the researcher to acquire the necessary data for in-depth analysis.

Setting, Population, and Sample

Because the target subgroup was sporadically dispersed in the community, the interviews were conducted at different locations in the Northern California region. The researcher met different participants at different times and locations based on their availability and convenience. Those locations included, but were not limited to libraries, mosques, the researcher’s or the participant’s home, or any place that was quiet and free of distractions (Creswell, 2007). The choice of time and place to conduct the interviews depended on both parties’ schedules, convenience, and location’s availability. The researcher carefully reviewed the meeting places due to their importance in providing the psychological safety needed for participants to share openly and honestly about their experiences. In the event that some students were not able to meet with the researcher in person due to the fact that their colleges or universities were either in Southern California or out-of-state, and they were unable to come anywhere near the researcher’s location in Northern California during the time the interviews were conducted, the researcher used “Skype” or “Zoom” to conduct and record the interviews with those students as needed.

The sample population was purposefully selected based on certain predetermined criteria. The study targeted twelve participants (Dukes, 1984) who identified as second- generation Muslim Egyptian American college students or alumni. Accordingly, those participants had to be at least eighteen years old, currently or previously enrolled in a higher education institution whether a community college or a four-year university, Muslim by birth, and both their parents were Muslim Egyptians who were born in Egypt and migrated to the

United States after the age of five. The researcher made every attempt to have a balanced gender sampling to include the different perceptions and challenges of both males and

62 females. The researcher also sought to include participants from various socio-economic and ideological backgrounds to get a comprehensive understanding of multiple perspectives. The reason for the selection of these specific criteria was to ensure that all participants had experienced the phenomenon being studied (Creswell, 2007). The researcher interviewed 12 participants in this study (7 females and 5 males); one participant was studying at a two-year community college, seven participants were studying at a four-year university, three participants were alumni, and one participant was in graduate school. Even though the researcher attempted to find participants who did not enroll in either college or university or dropped out, she was not able to find any. Figure 10 explains the matrix used to recruit participants.

•community •Alumni college

1 3 Males/Females Males/Females

7 1 Males/Females Males/Females

•Four-Year •Graduate University School

Figure 10. Sampling Matrix of Participants in the Study.

This sample was intentionally small because the researcher was focused on giving the participants a voice and allowing them to express all the issues that affected their daily lives at home, in school, and in the community. This approach allowed the researcher the opportunity to discover the underlying issues that affected the identity development of those participants as they interacted with those issues in their daily lives. Despite the limitations of the snowball technique, the researcher tried as much as possible to balance the many sample selection parameters with snowball variability through oversampling until a balanced and varied sample was achieved.

Data Collection and Instrumentation

The researcher followed the academic protocol of completing her school’s IRB process and acquiring permission from the Human Subjects Review Board prior to conducting the research. Next, the researcher utilized a snowball technique to recruit participants. Additionally, the researcher relied on her community connections and word of mouth to recruit the participants that meet the research’s criteria. After providing the participants with an introductory letter explaining the nature of the study and obtaining participants’ signatures on the study’s interview consent forms (Appendix C), the researcher verbally briefed the participants about the study and answered any questions they had prior to conducting the one-on-one interviews. For those participants who were interviewed via

“Skype” or “Zoom” applications, the researcher faxed or emailed the consent form to them and obtained their signatures through fax or email as well prior to conducting the interviews.

An important step in this regard that Creswell (2007) emphasized was establishing rapport with participants so that they provide “good data.” This required the researcher to have a few meetings with the selected participants before conducting the interviews to break

64 the ice and make the participants feel less pressured so they could provide the data necessary for conducting the research. This step, however, was not feasible with all participants and was only utilized as needed.

During the interview, the researcher took all measures necessary to ensure uniformity among participants. The researcher asked all the participants the same set of interview questions. A copy of the interview questions is attached in Appendix (B). The interview was semi-structured and open-ended. The questions in the interview were all developed by the researcher. The semi-structured setting allowed the participants to feel at ease and open-up to the researcher. The open-ended questions allowed the participants to bring about issues that the researcher may not have anticipated, thus enriching the findings of the research. In addition, open-ended questions helped control any unintentional guidance or influence of the researcher. The researcher audio-recorded the interviews using an electronic voice recorder and transcribed the recordings at her earliest convenience. If the data was not adequate, or if a participant or the researcher had to leave in case of an emergency, a follow-up interview was conducted to gather the remaining necessary data. Finally, the researcher stored the voice recordings of the interviews in a locked cabinet in her house until they were transcribed and stored a copy of the recordings in a password protected personal phone and laptop to ensure that they were protected from damage or loss (Creswell, 2007). Once the recordings were saved on the researcher’s laptop, the researcher deleted all audio-recordings from her electronic voice recorder and cell phone.

Data Analysis

The researcher followed Creswell’s (2007) five step process of data analysis. First, the researcher transcribed all interviews and created individual files for each participant.

Second, the researcher read the transcribed data multiple times and made notes on the margins as needed to develop the initial codes. According to Creswell (2007), this process is called memoing. During that step, the researcher added rich, thick descriptions of repeated, overlapping topics in the transcribed texts. Third, the researcher open-coded the transcriptions and rearranged the descriptive counts into categories. Fourth, the researcher used these categories to develop thematic concepts. Finally, the researcher added her own comments and interpretations to these thematic concepts as well as noted the differences among the data.

Throughout this process, the researcher continuously added thick descriptions, interpretations, and comments to increase the validity of the research. In addition, the researcher shared a copy of each transcribed interview with the corresponding participant to make sure that the transcription was accurate and that it accurately reflected the participant’s voice (Creswell, 2007). Creswell calls this step member checking and encouraged researchers to adopt it to increase the validity of the research.

Protection of Participants

The researcher took all steps necessary to protect the participants and their data. First, the researcher completed and passed the human subjects training that was needed to proceed with this study. Next, the researcher obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board

(IRB) at California State University, Sacramento. Then, the researcher provided a detailed letter about the nature of the study, the risks involved, and resources to seek in case any risks occurred, as well as the researcher’s chair’s contact information in case there were any concerns or complaints. The researcher further emphasized that participation was voluntary,

66 and participants had the option to withdraw at any time without consequences. A copy of the informed consent form is attached in Appendix C at the end of this study.

To protect the identity of the participants, the researcher conducted the interviews in one-on-one sessions. The data collected were electronically transcribed and coded. The participants were assigned numbers that were later changed to pseudonyms that only the researcher recognized. The audiotaped recordings were saved in a password protected personal smart phone as well as the researcher’s laptop. Upon transcription of all interviews, the recordings were deleted from the researcher’s phone but remained in her password protected laptop for three years after the completion of the research. After that, electronic transcriptions were permanently deleted, and paper transcriptions were shredded.

In order to protect participants and ensure that their opinions and beliefs were acknowledged and validated, the researcher used the following script at the beginning of the interviews.

“My name is Fatma Elsawaf. I am a doctoral candidate at Sacramento State

University, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department. I am conducting a research study about second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students in the United

States. My goal is to gather information that I can use for my study with the hope of informing research and increasing awareness about this sub-ethnic group. I am not here to judge you, your beliefs, ideas, or opinions in any way. I will neither agree nor disagree with what you say. I am here to listen and record your statements so I may use them to develop recurring themes among different participants. Your opinions, views, beliefs, and statements will be respected and validated no matter what, and I will make every effort possible to

67 ensure that you are comfortable and at ease. Your participation in this study is much appreciated!”

Conclusion

This chapter focused on the methodology used in this study. In this chapter of this phenomenological qualitative study, the researcher provided a thorough description of the research design, the role of the researcher in the data collection, an overview of the research questions, a description of the setting, population, and sample, an explanation of the data collection and analysis processes, and the protection of the participants. Finally, the researcher provided a standard script that ensured that the beliefs and opinions of participants were protected and validated.

In the next chapter, the researcher will provide a detailed description of the data analysis by providing a description of the participants, giving multiple examples of participants’ experiences and opinion, and developing themes and sub-themes that will be later used for interpretation.

Chapter 4

ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter presents the results of the qualitative data gathered through individual interviews from 12 second generation Muslim Egyptian American students. The interviews were both conducted in person at various locations in Northern California, and remotely via skype or zoom meetings for the participants who were not able to meet in person due to their remote locations and busy schedules. Prior to the start of the interview, the researcher informed the participants of the purpose of the research study, the transcription process, and the strict process employed to ensure anonymity of participants. The interviews were recorded using a digital audio recorder, the voice recorder application on the researcher’s computer and zoom and skype recording application functions. Interviews ranged from 40 to

140 minutes in length. Upon completion of each transcription, participants received a copy of their transcribed interviews and were asked to verify that the information in the transcription was accurate and to make corrections as needed. In addition, participants were given the informed consent form that they read and signed prior to the start of the interviews.

Participants also filled out a demographic information survey that included their age, gender, educational level, field of study, parents’ occupation and highest level of education, their preferred form of identification, language fluency, and frequency of social, cultural and religious activities. The researcher used this survey to develop an initial understanding of the factors that influence participants’ perception of their cultural and racial identity. The following section gives brief information on the participants. The participants range in age from 19 to 38 years old. Nine out of the 12 participants ranged in age from 19 to 23 years old, one participant was 27 years old and two participants were in their mid to late thirties. Five of

69 the participants were males and 7 were females. One student was still studying in a community college with the goal of transferring to a four-year university when he graduates.

Seven participants were studying in a four-year university. One participant was in graduate school. One participant had already obtained her MBA. Two participants were alumni. Four participants went to community colleges before they transferred to a four-year university, while 8 students went to a four-year university right after high school. Eight of the 12 participants’ fathers worked as engineers. One participant’s father worked as an accountant, and 3 participants’ fathers worked as business owners. Eight of the participants’ mothers worked as teachers. One participant’s mother worked as an accountant. Two participants’ mothers were business owners, and one participant’s mother did not work. The participants came from very highly educated families. Six of the 12 participants’ fathers had bachelor’s degrees. Five of the participants’ fathers had master’s degrees, and one participant’s father had a doctorate degree in engineering. On the other hand, 9 out of the 12 participants’ mothers had bachelor’s degrees, while 3 had master’s degrees.

Ten participants reported that they understand Arabic fluently, while only 2 reported that they understand Arabic well. Seven participants reported that they speak Arabic fluently and 5 participants reported that they speak Arabic well. One participant reported that he reads

Arabic fluently. Seven reported that they read Arabic well. Four participants reported that they read Arabic a little. Five participants reported that they write well in Arabic, while 7 participants reported that they write a little in Arabic.

Table 2

The Language Fluency of Participants

Language Fluency: Participant Understand Arabic Speak Arabic Read Arabic Write in Arabic 1 well well A little A little 2 Fluently Fluently Well Well 3 Fluently Fluently Well Well 4 Fluently Well A little A little 5 Fluently Well A little A little 6 Fluently Fluently Well A little 7 Fluently Well Well Well 8 Fluently Fluently Fluently Well 9 Fluently Fluently Well A little 10 Fluently Fluently A little A little 11 Fluently Fluently Well A little 12 Well Well Well Well

Regarding participation in ethnic ceremonies such as Eid gatherings and Egyptian festivals, 4 participants reported that they regularly participate in such activities. Six participants said that they sometimes participate in these activities. One participant said that she rarely participates, and 1 participant said that he never participates. Seven participants reported that they regularly participate in religious ceremonies such as Friday prayer and Eid prayer. Three participants said that they sometimes do. One participant said that she rarely does, and 1 participant said that he never does. Only 1 participant reported that he regularly reads Egyptian publications even in English. Three participants said that they sometimes read them. Four participants reported that they rarely do, and 4 participants reported that they never do. Two participants reported that they regularly watch Egyptian movies. Four participants reported that they sometimes do. Five participants said that they rarely do, and only 1 participant reported that she never does. Six participants reported that they listen to

Egyptian songs and music. Two participants reported that they sometimes do, while 4 participants reported that they rarely do.

Table 3

Activity Frequency of Participants

Activity Frequency: Participant Participate in Participate in Read Watch Listen to ethnic religious Egyptian Egyptian Egyptian organizations ceremonies Publications Movies music/ songs (i.e. attend (Friday (even in Egyptian prayer, Eid English) festivals, Eid prayer) gatherings …etc) 1 Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Rarely 2 Regularly Regularly Regularly Rarely Regularly 3 Sometimes Regularly Rarely Sometimes Regularly 4 Sometimes Sometimes Never Rarely Rarely 5 Never Never Never Rarely Rarely 6 Regularly Regularly Sometimes Regularly Regularly 7 Sometimes Regularly Rarely Sometimes Regularly 8 Regularly Regularly Rarely Rarely Regularly 9 Sometimes Regularly Rarely Sometimes sometimes 10 sometimes sometimes never never sometimes 11 regularly Regularly Never regularly Regularly 12 Rarely Rarely Sometimes Rarely rarely

In terms of self-identification, 8 participants identified themselves as Egyptian

American. One participant identified himself as Egyptian. Two participants identified themselves as American Egyptians. One participant refused to choose any of the above options and identified herself as Arab American.

Table 4

Participants’ Self-Identification

I identify as: Egyptian Egyptian American American Arab American American Egyptian 2 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 3, 8 10 11, 12

Self-Identification

9 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

2 1 1 Number of Participantsof Number 1 0 0 Egyptian Egyptian American American Arab American American Egyptian Identification of Participants

Figure 11. Participants’ Self-Identification Chart.

Five of the participants reported that they feel more comfortable around Arab peers.

Five participants reported that they feel more comfortable around non-Arab peers. Two participants reported that they are equally comfortable around both Arab and non-Arab peers.

Table 5

Comfort Level among Arab vs. Non-Arab Peers

I feel more comfortable around: Arab peers Non-Arab peers Both 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 1, 4, 8, 10, 12 6, 9

Comfort Level among Peers 6 5 5 5

3 2 2

Number of Students of Number 1

0 Arab peers Non-Arab peers Both Comfort Level

Figure 12. Comfort Level among Arab vs. Non-Arab Peers.

Participants were asked 13 questions. The first question and the last question were more general questions that allowed participants to describe their experiences that maybe unique to them, and also to reflect on those experiences, and explain their perceptions of their cultural and religious identity, and where they think they fall on the Egyptian-American spectrum. The first set of questions (questions 2-6) allowed participants to talk about their schooling experiences. The second set of questions (questions 7-9) focused on family relations and parents’ influence on the identity development of the participants. The third set of questions (questions 10-12) gave participants an opportunity to reflect on the role of

74 community forces in their lives including the role technology and its influence on their lives and on their relationships with others. These interview questions align with the research sub- questions which aim to address the overarching research question in this study.

The overarching research question and its 3 sub-questions are:

1. What does it mean to be a second-generation Muslim Egyptian American student in

America?

a. Based on their perceptions, how do second-generation Muslim Egyptian

American students experience schooling in America?

b. How do second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students balance their

home and school environments?

c. How are second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students affected by

the dominant culture?

The researcher transcribed all interviews using Hyper-Transcribe software. The researcher then utilized Hyper-Research software to develop open coding to identify and organize repeated topics into categories, which she then used to develop recurring themes.

The following sections of this chapter provide a brief description of participants, the qualitative data used to answer the research sub-questions, and a reflection on the extent to which the emergent themes answer the overarching research question.

Description of Participants

This qualitative study aimed at understanding how second generation Muslim

Egyptian American students navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. Therefore, the researcher used purposeful sampling to recruit participants who have witnessed the phenomenon. Participants had to meet the following criteria: (a) They had to be at least 18

75 years old, (b) They had to be currently or previously enrolled in a higher education institution whether a community college or a four-year university, (c) They had to be Muslim by birth, and (d) Both their parents had to be Muslim Egyptians who were born in Egypt and migrated to the United States after the age of five. All participants met these criteria. The researcher assigned pseudonyms to participants to protect their anonymity. Table 6 provides a description of the demographic information of the participants.

Table 6

Description of the Demographic Information of Participants

The following section provides a brief description of participants:

1. Mohammad – Mohammad was born in Egypt, and he spent the first five years of his

life there. He attended preschool and Kindergarten in Egypt. He moved to San

Francisco with his mother and his younger brother when he was six years old. His

dad had come a few years earlier and got settled in before he brought them to live

77 with him in America. Mohammad has lived in San Francisco since then until he transferred from community college to a four-year university in Southern California.

Even though Mohammad had good grades in high school, he chose to go to a community college first before he transfers to a four-year university to cut on cost and reduce the financial burden on his parents. He and his family also do not adopt the American value of independence that supports children’s leaving the house at the age of eighteen because Egyptian values are based on interdependence among family members. Currently, Mohammad lives in Southern California, and he visits his family during school breaks. Mohammad is 21 years old. He studies business like his dad did, while he works as a manager at CVS. Both Mohammad’s parents have bachelor’s degrees from Egypt. But they came to America with limited English proficiency. His dad was able to improve his English skills through daily interaction with Americans at work and in the community, and also when he furthered his education by obtaining a master’s degree in business administration in America. His mother, however, was a stay-home mom for a long time, and her social interactions were limited to very few Arab and Egyptian friends in the community. It was not until much later that she opened a small family day care center and started interacting with Americans on a very small scale. Another interesting thing about Mohammad’s mother is that she does not drive. She has had an accident earlier in her life that discouraged her from driving after that. This fact contributed to her limited ability to integrate into the American society on a large scale. Mohammad was raised in a very traditional Egyptian family. His parents made it a priority to teach Mohammad and his younger brother Arabic and instill in them Islamic values. Mohammad and his

brother went to public school throughout their schooling years, which played a role in

Mohammad’s perception of his identity. Mohammad identifies as Egyptian

American. However, he reports that he feels more comfortable around non-Arab

peers. Mohammad has black eyes, thick black curly hair, a black beard, and a light

complexion.

2. Taha – Taha was also born in Egypt. He came to America when he was 5 years old,

and he has lived in America ever since. Taha also comes from a very traditional

Egyptian family. Taha also has black eyes, black curly hair, black beard, and a light

complexion. However, he is a little taller than Mohammad. Taha lives in Sacramento,

California. Taha is 19 years old. He currently attends a community college close to

his residence, and he says that he plans to transfer to a four-year university and

furthers his education to a minimum of a master’s degree. Taha studies computer

science. Taha is the oldest of four siblings. He reports that he gets along with his

siblings much better than he does with his parents because he and his siblings have

had similar experiences and share the same mindset than his parents who were born

and raised in Egypt and hold the values of their home culture only. However, Taha

has great pride in his heritage, and he is the only participant who identifies as

Egyptian, and despite his criticism of some of his Arab peers, he reports that he feels

more comfortable around Arab peers than around non-Arab peers.

Taha’s parents were both born and raised in Egypt. They both obtained their

bachelor’s degrees from Egypt. However, Taha’s father furthered his education in the

United States by obtaining a master’s degree in architectural engineering, while his

mother employed the more traditional role of working as an Arabic teacher in a

private Islamic school in the community. In addition, she continues to go to college to

learn English and to obtain a degree in child development. Taha attended public

school from 1st through 6th grade. Then, his mother decided that Taha needs to spend

some time in Egypt to learn the language and the culture and stay close to family

back home, an experience that even though Taha reports that he did not have a choice

in, he greatly appreciates. Taha went back to public school for 8th grade, but his

parents enrolled him in a private Islamic school for high school, which is another

experience that he very constructively criticizes.

3. Huda – Huda is 19 years old. She wears hijab. She is white with brown eyes. She is a

student athlete who studies history in a four-year university in the Midwest. She

identifies herself as American Egyptian, even though she feels more comfortable

around Arab peers than around non-Arab peers. Huda’s father is an engineer who

holds a master’s degree, and her mother is an Islamic Studies teacher in a private

Islamic school. Huda’s mother has a bachelor’s degree from Egypt. Both her parents

come from upper middle-class families in Egypt. Yet, they still hold traditional

Egyptian values that greatly emphasize religion and are very much family oriented.

Huda attended a private Islamic school from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Then,

she went to a public school from 6th through 12th grade. Huda identifies herself as

more liberal than her parents and more conservative than people in Egypt.

4. Nevine – Nevine is 22 years old. She wears the hijab as well. She has a very light

complexion and light brown eyes. Nevine was born in the Bay Area, California. She

spent the first two years of school in Egypt because her grandparents were sick, and

they needed her mother to attend to them. So, her mother took her and her older sister

to Egypt where they spent the whole two school years there, and they came back to

stay with their father during the summer. Nevine attended Kindergarten and first

grade in a private Islamic school in Egypt. Nevine’s parents were adamant at

enrolling their children in an Islamic school, but since they came back to the United

States at an awkward time in the school year, they were not able to enroll their

children in the Islamic school for that year. So, they enrolled them for one year in

public school when Nevine was in 2nd grade. Then, they put them back in an Islamic

school the following year. Nevine attended the private Islamic school from 3rd

through 6th grade. Eventually, Nevine’s parents had to disenroll her and put her in

another less expensive Islamic charter school when the recession hit and her two

younger brothers were born, which added financial stress on the family. Finally,

Nevine attended a regular charter school for the last two years of high school. Nevine

also enrolled in a community college first before she transferred to a four-year

university to reduce the financial burdens on her parents. Currently, Nevine studies

journalism and marketing at a state university in Northern California. Nevine

identifies herself as Egyptian American, and she feels more comfortable around non-

Arab peers.

5. Waleed – Waleed is 19 years old. He is tall and skinny. He has dark brown

complexion, black curly hair, and black eyes. Waleed was born and raised in

Fairfield, California. He attended public school from Kindergarten through 12th

grade. Then, he went straight to a four-year university in Southern California, where

he double majors in psychological and brain science and economics. Waleed

identifies himself as Egyptian American, and he feels more comfortable around Arab

peers than around non-Arab peers. Both Waleed’s parents hold bachelor’s degrees

from Egypt. Even though Waleed’s parents represent a traditional Egyptian family,

their main concern was for their children to assimilate into the American society for

fear of discrimination, and also to be allowed opportunities that they may not

otherwise have. This resulted in Waleed and his sister’s identifying as more liberal

than their Egyptian counterparts.

6. Smile – Smile is 38 years old. Her perspective was very enlightening as she

represents the struggle of a generation that witnessed a substantial increase in the

degree of discrimination that was consistent with that time. Smile was born in

Sacramento, California, and she lived there all her life. Her parents had come to

America before she and her younger brother were born. Her dad got recruited and

hired as an engineer because there was a shortage in engineers in America at the time,

and her mother worked as an accountant for the state government. Both of Smile’s

parents come from a traditional middle-class Egyptian family. Smile thinks very

highly of her father who she describes as a very open-minded man although he puts

great emphasis on religious values. Smile wears the hijab. She started wearing the

hijab at the age of eleven. She wanted to make a statement that she was proud of her

faith and that she would stand against anyone who discriminated against her in any

way. Smile has a fair complexion and black eyes. She identifies as an Egyptian

American, and she feels equally comfortable around both Arab and non-Arab peers.

Smile obtained a bachelor’s degree in international and intercultural communications

from a four-year state university, and she wanted to further her education, but life and

children temporarily prevented her from doing so.

7. Miracle – Miracle is 24 years old. She is Nevine’s older sister. Miracle also wears the

hijab, and she also has very fair complexion and brown eyes. Miracle is a graduate

student at a state university in Northern California. She is studying speech language

pathology, and she is expected to graduate this May. Miracle is the oldest of four

siblings, all of which have been born in America and raised, first in the Bay Area, and

then, in Sacramento, California. Miracle was also raised in a traditional Egyptian

household that puts more emphasis on religion, and much less so on culture. Miracle

identifies as Egyptian American, and she feels more comfortable around Arab peers.

Miracle started wearing the hijab when she was 9 years old. She was the only person

wearing the hijab in her public school when she was in 4rth grade. Luckily, she was

too young to recall any details from that experience, especially because it was just a

few years after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Miracle experienced

different school settings in Egypt and in the United States. She attended public

school, private Islamic school, private Islamic charter school, and a public charter

school. All these settings gave her exposure to different communities and enriched

her life experiences.

8. Kamal – Kamal is 22 years old. He is Huda’s cousin. He was born and raised in the

Bay Area. His father is a civil engineer, and his mother is a credentialed teacher. His

father has a master’s degree, and his mother has a bachelor’s degree and a teaching

credential. His parents come from upper-middle class Egyptian families. They put

great emphasis on education and traditional Egyptian values that are embedded

within religion. Kamal attended an academically rigorous private school from

Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Then, he moved to a private Islamic school from 3rd

through 8th grade when his mother started working there as a teacher. Finally, his

parents sent him to an all-boys private Catholic high school because they ‘did not

want him to be in a high school with girls’ and because it was academically rigorous.

Kamal is very cheerful and outgoing, yet he adheres to his Islamic values, and he is a

practicing Muslim. Currently, Kamal studies neuroscience at a reputable university in

Southern California. He identifies as American Egyptian, and he feels more

comfortable around non-Arab peers than around Arab peers.

9. Murad – Murad is 35 years old. He is married and has four children. He went to a

private Islamic school that his parents had founded. His mother first worked as a

teacher there. Then, she became the principal and remained in that position for many

years. Murad attended that school from Kindergarten through 10th grade. Then, he

went to a public school for the remaining two years of high school because the

private Islamic school had not yet started classes for those grades by then, and also

because the public school was both academically rigorous and had multiple programs

that students could utilize. Murad finally obtained his bachelor’s degree in computer

science from a reputable university in Northern California. Murad’s father is an

engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree. Murad’s mother has a master’s degree in

education. Murad is white with light brown eyes and blonde hair. He looks like

Caucasian Americans. Like most participants, Murad puts more emphasis on his

religious beliefs than on his cultural background although he greatly appreciates his

Egyptian heritage, and he is proud of his ethnicity. Murad identifies himself as

Egyptian American, and he feels equally comfortable among Arab as well as non-

Arab peers.

10. Magda – Magda is 27 years old. She has brown complexion, black eyes, and thick,

black, curly hair. Magda was born and raised in Michigan. She went to a private

Islamic school from Kindergarten until 6th grade. Then, she went to an International

school in Egypt from 7th until 12th grade. She says that her experience in Egypt was

atypical because she is an only child, and her cousins in Egypt were significantly

younger than her. In addition, her school in Egypt did not allow her to have a typical

Egyptian experience because it housed the most affluent children from the highest

level in society. For example, she mentioned that president Mubarak’s grandson was

with her in the same school as well as the sons and daughters of top officials in the

government. She said that only 15% of the students in that school were Egyptians,

and the remaining students were x-pats. So, she did not have the opportunity to

assimilate into the Egyptian mainstream during those years. Magda obtained her

bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from a university in Texas, and she obtained her

master’s degree in Business Administration from a state university in Michigan.

Magda works in business communications in a company in Oregon where she

currently resides. Magda’s father has a doctorate degree in engineering. Her mother

has a bachelor’s degree, and she works as a teacher. Magda lives in the United States

by herself. She has no relatives at all in America. Her father works in a country in the

Arab Gulf, and her mother went back to Egypt. Magda is very independent and

strong-willed. She incorporates the best of both values from her Egyptian heritage

and upbringing, and her American culture. Magda identifies herself as an Arab

American because she did not experience being around Egyptian family and friends

when she was growing up other than her parents. Magda feels more comfortable

around non-Arab peers than with Arab peers.

11. Rowayda - Rowayda is 20 years old. She wears the hijab. She started wearing the

hijab in 7th grade in public school. She attended public school all her life. She is white

with black eyes and thick, black, curly hair that she shares that it was a constant

reminder of how different she was in a predominantly White public school. Rowayda

was born and raised in New York, New York. Both her parents have bachelor’s

degrees from Egypt. Her father is a small business owner, and her mother stays at

home with her and her siblings. Rowayda intentionally chose a more diverse

university to pursue her higher education because of the constant feeling of loneliness

and isolation that she had experienced during her earlier school years even though she

had received a very good package at a predominantly White university. Currently,

Rowayda is a senior in her university studying psychology. She jokes that it feels like

Cairo university in her school because whenever she walks with her friends around

campus, they all speak in Arabic because there is a large Arabic speaking community

in her school. Rowayda identifies herself as Egyptian American, and she feels more

comfortable around Arab peers than around non-Arab peers.

12. Samar – Samar is Waleed’s older sister. She is 21 years old. She attended public

school throughout her life. Currently, she is majoring in political science, and

minoring in Arabic and Islamic Studies. Samar is tall and skinny. She has dark brown

complexion, black eyes, and thick, black, curly hair. Samar reports that her physical

features and skin tone used to cause her great discomfort because of the dominant

Eurocentric idea of beauty that is dominant both in Egypt and in America. It was not

until much later in her life that she learned to embrace her beauty, and realize that

beauty comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Samar was also a student athlete, and

she has always been very active in community service. She is proud of her heritage

that she increasingly appreciates as she gets older. Nevertheless, she still identifies

herself as much more liberal than her female Egyptian counterparts. She identifies as

Egyptian American, and she feels more comfortable around her non-Arab peers than

around her Arab peers. Table 7 shows the participants who are blood related.

Table 7

Participants from the Same Family

Participants Relationships 4 (Nevine) and 7 (Miracle) sisters 5 (Waleed) and 12 (Samar) brother and sister 3 (Huda) and 8 (Kamal) cousins

To answer the three research sub-questions, the researcher coded all qualitative data from the individual interviews and categorized them to identify emerging themes.

Research Sub-question 1: Schooling Experience

The first research sub-question aims to understand second generation Muslim

Egyptian American students’ schooling experiences and their perception of the influences of these experiences on their identities. The analysis process of the individual interviews revealed six emerging themes: (a) academic challenges, (b) cultural challenges, (c) religious challenges, (d) positive relationships with teachers, (e) negative experiences with teachers, (f) resiliency and perseverance.

Theme 1: Academic Challenges

The only academic challenge that many participants reported facing in school was learning to code switch, that is the challenge of having to constantly switch between Arabic and English, especially in their early school years as they all spoke only Arabic at home before they started school, and they had to speak only English at school. In addition, some students spent the first years of school in Egypt, which caused them to initially struggle academically when they started school in America. For example, Taha states:

When I went into school, everyone was so much more academically advanced than I

was because I had learned everything in a different language.

Taha attended Kindergarten in Egypt and started school in America in 1st grade. He recalls:

The only word that I remember that I knew was “please”. I did not know what it

meant, but I knew how to say the word “please”.

Nevine had a similar experience because even though she was born in America and lived there until she was five years old, she attended Kindergarten and 1st grade in Egypt.

When she came back, she recalls her experience.

I remember I was very nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was trying to keep

the Arabic away so I can focus on the English.

Another academic challenge that some participants had to face was the poor academic quality of the newly emerging private Islamic schools. The increase in number of Muslim immigrants from various countries prompted different communities to open private Islamic schools with individual efforts to respond to the demands of many Muslims to maintain their faith and culture. However, those schools lacked many of the resources that were available in

88 public and other private schools. Murad reflects on the reasons for his transfer to a public high school after spending all his schooling years in a private Islamic school:

Our class was 6 students. We didn’t have any facilities for labs or different types of classes. So, we were taking a lot of classes at [ABC] college. So, we were doing a lot of commuting back and forth.

Taha, on the other hand, recalls the challenges he faced when he went to college and attributes them to the poor quality of his Islamic school:

Islamic school was academically not as advanced as other schools, which when I

stepped into college, I realized that I was behind, and I had to work harder than

everybody else to catch up.

Theme 2: Cultural Differences

Second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans had to deal with cultural differences daily whether they were in public schools or in private Islamic schools. One of the most common challenge the participants faced was the sense of loneliness and isolation. In most instances and for all participants, they were the only Egyptian in their schools or at least in their classrooms. Magda recalls her experience in a private Islamic school:

I was the only Egyptian in the whole school actually, but in my class, I was the only

Arab.

Taha laments the fact that he never had the opportunities that other children had such as doing any extra-curricular activities, joining sports or music, or even interacting with peers outside of school. Taha’s mother was very worried that he might be negatively influenced by friends of other cultures, or that he might be in danger of being bullied because of his culture and religion, which, actually, happened frequently. So, she would never allow him to go to a

89 friend’s house, or to hang out with his friends outside of school. She even sent him to a private Islamic school where boys and girls were segregated, and class sizes were very small.

He explains:

Me not interacting with my peers outside of school. Me not being able to hang out

with my friends outside of school, it made me sort of anti-social, and made it hard for

me to interact with people as soon as I got to college, as soon as I got into the real

world.

Another challenge that some participants faced was to constantly educate others about their culture and their religion, and at times this became an emotionally exhausting task. Huda was a student athlete. She explains that when she used to travel for tournaments with her teammates, and a girl would walk out of the bathroom in their hotel room and see her praying, the girl would be puzzled. But after Huda explains what she was doing, her teammate would understand and respect that. However, Huda finds herself in a position where she constantly needs to explain her faith and culture to others. She reflects:

It was just that I have to be like a constant teacher because it was something that was

very new to them. None of my teammates has ever had a relationship with a Muslim

person before, and so that was new to them to learn about Islam and learn about

Egyptian culture.

This constant challenge is what prompted Huda and many other participants to choose friends who have had similar experiences. Huda explains:

I feel like a lot of my closest friends have been either people of color or Muslims or

other people from marginalized communities because they have always understood

what it means to be marginalized and what it means for people to not necessarily

understand your culture so they have always taken initiative in learning about my

culture versus me always having to explain it.

Another cultural challenge that many participants faced is trying to explain to their parents the cultural differences between home and school. Many participants report that their mothers used to pack them traditional Egyptian food, and they recall being embarrassed and asking their mothers to pack them American food for convenience, and so they do not face discrimination from their peers. Taha recalls:

My mom would give me the Egyptian foods or Arab foods like zeit and zaatar (olive

oil and oregano bread). My peers would look at it as a very weird meal. So, I would

ask my mom to make me a more American food like hot dogs, hamburgers which she

would make.

On the other hand, Waleed recalls a different experience about the same theme:

My mom never packed us the meals we eat at home. We would never eat them at

school. We’d eat sandwiches and such. We’d never eat a traditional Egyptian dish out

of both convenience because it is harder to eat that type of thing at school, but also no

one wants to be seen eating a traditional Egyptian dish, especially when you are

younger, when you know that kids are going to be like “Oh, what’s that?” you know.

I think that my parents wanted me and my sister to fit in in school. They never

wanted us to pop out that much. So that was a big thing.

In addition, many participants felt that they have a broader perspective and a more comprehensive world view than their peers because they have traveled to Egypt and have had the privilege of being bicultural and bilingual. Many participants feel that this experience has

91 enriched their identities and made them more aware of different forms of stereotyping than their parents, their peers, and the dominant culture. Huda states:

The biggest point of struggle that I felt very different from my classmates is that I felt

that I was thinking very big picture about things. I felt very much like the world can

be a lot narrower when you don’t have that experience of being a minority, or not

necessarily fitting in. You don’t have that same mentality of viewing things that

happen in a way like this is going to have a big long-term effect.

Rowayda recalls that her classmates used to call her “refreshing” because she would not talk back to her teachers the way her peers might. She shares:

I remember a specific anecdote where I had an issue with one of my teachers, and

when asked what I did about it, I said I did nothing because I’m not going to argue or

I’m not going to talk back to a grown woman who was probably over the age of 50.

I’m not going to talk back to her and argue, and it was said that it is very refreshing to

hear because usually someone of my age wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t hold back their

tongue.

Miracle also identifies a blatant form of stereotyping when she recalls her experience in undergraduate school where she had to take a required multicultural class in a cohort of predominantly White peers, with a White professor, who dedicated each week of the course to introduce students to a new culture, so when they go out in the field, they would know how to deal with members of each culture. Miracle recalls:

We are going to talk about Middle Easterners, and it would be like a power point

presentation of things that you can expect from the Middle Eastern community,

which when you are from that community, you realize how limiting that is…a lot of

the things that were said were a huge overgeneralizations.

Miracle was so worried about her classmates going out into the field believing these ideas about different cultural groups. She explains:

I was thinking this is so detrimental to the people who are going to be taking this

class and going out there and thinking that this is okay, that being able to just look at

a book or a list of a culture makes you competent in that culture…I just felt that their

values were very much centered around what they knew and around them because

their world was very narrow because they only had the experience of being born and

raised here not just them as individuals but like generations. This is all they know

about. This is the country that they know.

Another interesting cultural challenge that some of the participants had to navigate was realizing their own parents’ biases and stereotypes. Murad reflects on his transition to a public high school after spending 11 years in a private Islamic school. He says:

Switching to a public high school in eleventh grade was definitely a bit of a shock in

terms of I think stereotypes we may have held or maybe even that our parents held

because they didn’t know any better from interacting with peers. For example, it was

very uncommon in our community to see kids wearing ripped up pants and have

piercings and pink hair for example. So, in our community in the masjid (mosque) or

whatever, you would have a certain perception that maybe they are loser, or they

don’t have friends, or you just would have these thoughts of like people weren’t

really interacting with them. But that is just the thought. And then, as you transfer to

public school, and you start interacting with people like that, you initially think, “Oh,

they are going to be like so and so.” But then, once you actually interact with them,

“Oh, they are just regular people. They just look different or whatever.”

A general perception that all participants shared is that they are more conservative than their white counterparts, yet they are more aware of prejudice and marginalization and more vocal about them than people of the dominant culture. Huda explains:

I feel like, in some ways, I was raised to be much more socially conservative than the

average American, especially, Caucasian American. But, I think, in terms of being a

minority, I feel like I am much more vocal about prejudice and any type of

marginalization or oppression because I have experienced it and I have watched my

peers and my community experience it. And so, I find that it has helped me create

bonds with other people in my life that are part of marginalized groups and be able to

empathize with them. But then, I have also realized that it is also the reason why my

values and the things that I am not willing to put up with can be very different than

other people who are not part of a marginalized community especially my white

peers.

Islamic values are intrinsically woven into Egyptian culture even among Egyptian

Copts. It is almost impossible to separate the two. However, second generation Muslim

Egyptian Americans had to untangle the culture from the religion because in Egypt, people rely on cultural norms to establish societal expectations. But in America, because there were very few Egyptians compared to other Arabs and other Middle Easterners, Egyptian

Americans had to rely solely on religion to establish their new cultural norms. This task was rather daunting.

Theme 3: Religious Challenges

One of the most obvious identifiers of religious and ethnic background is a person’s name. Many participants, both males and females, recall negative experiences regarding their names. Mohammad says:

People just based off my name; people know that I am from the Middle East.

Rowayda says:

I always get, “Oh, your name is so ethnic.” “Your name is so this.” “Your name is so

different.” Because it is not even like an easy name like Salma or Sarah, or something

of that nature. It’s a very long name. It’s different. So, I always get questions or

comments about that.

Taha says:

My name was definitely a big big problem for me just because Americans found it

difficult to pronounce [one letter] in Arabic. But yeah, it definitely definitely caused

me a lot of trouble. Peers, younger peers would always make fun of me, fun of my

name because it was very weird to them. It was very different to them… It’s an

identifier that I’m Muslim, and I’m not American. I’m Muslim Arab and I’m not

American.

Other participants had constant problems during roll calls especially at the beginning of the school year or whenever there was a substitute teacher. Waleed recalls:

Whenever there was a substitute teacher it was always like this awkward experience

having like that one name that nobody could ever pronounce, and it’s always felt like

my name was always different.

Murad experiences a very unique situation where teachers called him a name that is totally different than his own. He explains:

Strangely enough, every single non-Muslim teacher I have ever had, at some point,

called me Mohammad, and I don’t know why. But every single teacher in high school

at one point has accidentally said it. For me, it is just like maybe it is like oh, it is

some Arab name…to the point where like when people call me Mohammad, I’m like

I know they are talking to me, and I try to correct them sometimes, but I’m like,

whatever, I know it is a mistake.

Some participants dealt with this cultural ambiguity and stereotyping by changing their names to ones that are more culturally acceptable. Rowayda calls herself at work “Ms.

Ro,” while Smile’s relative who is called “Islam” tells people that his name is “Sam.”

Another religious challenge that practicing Muslims face is praying. Muslims are required to pray five times a day. They have to stand in the direction of the Kaaba, the holy site in Mecca, that Muslims believe is directly under God’s throne in heaven. They also believe that maintaining these prayers regularly helps Muslims cleanse their sins and renew their direct relationship with God. Each prayer takes no longer than five minutes, but it has to be done at a specific time. Many participants were apprehensive of revealing their need to pray in school for fear of bullying or ridicule. So, they combined prayers at home. Samar states:

Obviously, I pray and stuff, and I didn’t really do that in school. So, that was a thing

that I did at home.

Females who wear hijab were obvious identifiers of their religion and this caused them to have many negative experiences both at school and in the community. This section

96 focuses on schooling experiences. Rowayda started wearing hijab when she was 15 years old.

She recalls that experience a being:

A little difficult because, like I said, I grew up in a predominantly white community.

So, people were always asking, “why, where, why suddenly, why not before?” I was

always being asked these questions even my teachers were really confused. One of

them put out the rumor that I was forced to wear it.

Smile had a much harder experience. She started wearing hijab when she was 11 years old during the Gulf War. She recalls that people, at that time, were “anti-Muslim and anti-Arab.” Her dad sent her to a private Catholic high school because it was academically rigorous, and to protect her from the bullying and harassment she received in public school, but that did not help much either. She recalls that experience:

It was very difficult, the very first semester, because nobody knew me. People would

literally stop talking when I would walk into a room, or walk by a group of people,

and they would just all stare at me. These were seriously people who had never seen a

Muslim in their life, not even maybe on television. It was to that extent, to the point

where I would never forget the first day of school. I'd literally walk into the campus,

and there were groups of girls like fifteen and twenty and five and three whatever,

groups everywhere, and every group I would walk by, and I swear by God, and they

would stop talking, and they would just all turn around and they would stare at me. I

felt like I was on display. Everybody was like, “Who is this person?” like “What is

she doing here?” I would get questions like, “Where are you from?” and “What are

you doing?” and “Are you practicing to become a nun?” They didn't even know that I

was dressed in a hijab because I was Muslim. Some of them thought that I was a

practice nun, like I wanted to become a nun, and this was my path, and that is why I

dressed that way. So, it was very difficult, the first semester.

Participants faced three types of challenges related to their faith; their names, their need to pray on time, and their hijab. Participants’ whose names identified them as Muslim, reported that they were bullied and made fun of at school, and sometimes even by teachers.

Some participants were apprehensive to reveal their need to pray for fear of being discriminated against based on their religious identity. Female participants who wore the hijab and male participants whose mothers wore the hijab were subject to bullying, ridicule, and negative treatment by their peers at school.

Theme 4: Positive Relationships with Teachers

Despite these challenges, all participants reported having positive school experiences and positive relationships with their teachers. Mohammad says about his teachers that:

They’ve never really treated me any differently. Uh...They’ve always been good with

me. They’ve really based me like they treated me just based off my academic skill

and pretty much how I treated others. So, I didn’t see any difference from them at all.

He also recalls that his middle school teacher, when they were learning about world religions, would ask him to verify certain things that were written in the textbook, and ask him “Hey, is this true?”. Samar mentions that her middle school history teacher invited her mother to give a presentation about Egypt to her class which she says was “definitely interesting.”

Huda has had very positive experiences with her teachers. She has had teachers who incorporated learning about Eid and Ramadan in their curricula, and in their celebrations

98 because Eid was around the same time as Christmas and Hanukkah at that time. However, she attributes that partly to the fact that:

Teachers are afraid that students would complain about them. So, they are very aware

of how they treat minorities.

And that:

Teachers are very accommodating, and they want to learn about our culture because

they know it is a very easy way to build a connection with a student and get a student

to open up.

She even recalls that some of her teachers:

Come up and ask me like after Donald Trump got elected like “Are you okay?”

knowing that I am a minority that was constantly targeted by him and his campaign.

So, I think some teachers recognize a student’s association with a group that is

marginalized and so they make sure they give that student like extra support which a

lot of my high school teachers did.

Nevine recalls that during the Arab Spring, her teachers were:

Like “I don’t want you to feel different because of anything like that.” So, they kind

of presented me with the same opportunities as everybody else, thankfully.

Overall, all participants reported having positive experiences with their teachers.

Generally, participants did not recognize any difference in treatment between them and their peers based on ethnicity or religion. Participants appreciated that their teachers acknowledged them by incorporating their religious holidays into their curricula, while others were grateful that their teachers checked on them during the high peaks of the times that they were regarded as a visible problem minority.

Theme 5: Negative Experiences with Teachers

Although all participants reported having largely positive relationships with their teachers, 8 out of 12 participants reported having negative experiences with one or more of their teachers. Magda reports that she had a professor who refused to help her during his office hours, and she did not understand why. Although she states that it only happened once, and that she says that it may only be a theory, she shares that she has heard that complaint from other students. Magda says that it may not be because of the fact that she is Muslim or

Arab, but she thinks it is because of her “not being traditionally white.” She has also had some teachers occasionally talk to her in Spanish mistaking her for being Hispanic based on the way she looks, which is not necessarily a negative experience, but for her it emphasizes the feeling of racial ambiguity that she faces quite often.

Rowayda talks about an incident where a teacher refused to allow her access to her classroom to use for an afterschool program once she knew she was Egyptian. She shares:

I have had an instance of for example in school where the teacher. So, we borrow

other teachers' classrooms because we just use them in the afterschool program, and

once she realized that I was of Egyptian descent, I wasn't allowed in her room

anymore. I don't know. I was not given a reason. The reason I was given was simply

unfair or BS honestly, and I tried not to tie the two together, but I'm pretty sure it has

to do with that because the other day, I had told her I was Egyptian, I am Egyptian,

and the following day, I was not allowed in her room any more, none of us were

actually, but I was the only one that used that room. So, she said we are not allowed

to use her room anymore, and she said because we keep it dirty. But I always made

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the effort even if my students had used up her things, I would buy new supplies if she

needed it.

R: Do you know her ethnic background?

P11: She was Jewish. She is Jewish

Salma did not report a specific incident, but she says:

I have had teachers who were very white, or very I would say, just close-minded to

other perspectives, and very much like had a western tunnel vision like imperialist

perspective of everything and of other cultures.

Huda recalls a professor who called her out in class last year on September 11 and asked her how she felt about it. She said that he did that to:

Put me in an awkward position knowing that it is very obvious that I am a Muslim

woman, and to kind of test where my loyalty is, or if I would say something that

would put the U.S. in a bad light, or basically ask me if I condone 9/11 or not, which

is a question that a lot of Muslims have to constantly deal with, and feel like we are

constantly apologizing for something that had nothing to do with us. So, I felt like

that was what he was asking me to do, was to basically apologize and not condone

9/11. I knew that he did it on purpose because the next week, we were talking about

issues specific to the African American community, and there was only one Black

student in the class, and he called him out. So, it was a pattern that he repeated with

several students.

This incident supports Shain’s (1996) research that states that many Arab Americans were reluctant to express their views, particularly on foreign policies issues, for fear of becoming labeled as unpatriotic or un-American.

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Smile recalls that she had a generally positive experience in her private Catholic school. But she remembers ‘that one nun’ who was adamant at converting her, but she was not successful. Even though Smile does not say that was necessarily a negative experience, she definitely feels that it was unique to her since none of her peers had to deal with that.

Miracle, who is studying to become a speech pathologist, reports two experiences that constitute a common misconception and stereotyping. She explains:

I will never forget my first semester. We went to. It was a graduate school talk for the

senior class, and we were still juniors. We were still in our first semester. We went to

that class, and we went to that talk, and we were sitting in the back, and you know,

obviously overwhelmed by everything she [the graduate coordinator] was saying

because she was talking about how to apply. So, obviously it was jarring, and we

went and introduced ourselves to her. She was the graduate coordinator. So, she was

a big deal in the department because she is the person who decided. She ran the

whole graduate program and graduate applications, and she was in charge of all of

that. So, we went and introduced ourselves to her, and I could see two of my friends

in front of me. They went and they were talking to her, and she was telling them

things about like “Yes, make sure you are volunteering things in different

populations, things in different areas, like do a school, do a nonprofit, do a hospital,

like get as much experience, a variable experience. I could see, and I could hear her

having those conversations with them. And then, I came to her, and I introduced

myself. I didn't even, I didn't say anything. All I said was my name, and immediately,

she just jumps into it. “You should volunteer with. We have this group that caters to

the Muslim community. There is huge community of Afghans, and you should come,

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and you can speak to them, and this would be really good on your resume, and you

should like, this would be so great.” And it is not that it wasn't a good experience

because I did, and it was fine. And it is not that she was wrong necessarily, like I am

Middle Eastern, but it was just that feeling of like I didn't even get to say that I was,

you know what I mean, and it was kind of just immediately assumed, and it was

immediately assumed that is all that I would do. That is all I could be interested in,

just working with my community. That is all I was good for. You know what I mean.

So, it was feelings like that constantly whenever I talk to professors or anything, that

constant like, I didn't get a say in my culture. It was just immediately that has been

used in my friends to me. Like, you don't really have an understanding of my culture.

Like, I do not speak the Afghan language. I do not speak Pashtu or Farsi. I am

Egyptian. I speak Arabic. You don't understand that if I do go and work with these

people, it's not going to be immediate familiarity. We are still different people, but

you know in your head, we are the same because we just like look Middle Eastern or

whatever.

The other experience Miracle recalls gives another example of common incidents of stereotyping that many Arabs and Middle Easterners occasionally face.

I was born and raised here. So, I know that this isn't a norm in this culture, but for

whatever reason, I was late that day. I had my alarm set up. I just slept through my

alarms, and I ended up showing up late to the event, and I got stuck in a really really

bad traffic, which made me even more late. And so, there was nothing I could do.

Like, I was literally stuck in traffic. I was on my way. There was nothing further I can

do. These things just happen, and so, I go there, and I luckily get scheduled for a

103 different group, and we do the activity, and it was fine, and I apologized to my professors. And then, afterwards, I sent an email to both of them saying that I am so sorry. I know how hard it is to try to schedule things, and how much these types of labs rely on everybody being able to arrive on time. So, I really do apologize because

I did. I felt terrible. And then, I got pulled by one of my professors the next day. She was one of the ones running it, and she had a conversation with me about how does she understand that in my culture, time is very lenient, and the concept of time and arriving on time is not something as strict in the mainstream culture. This is a really really big deal and you are going to run into a lot of trouble in your career if you adopt that mentality, and know that saying sorry and stuff like that isn't enough, and it isn't going to cut it, and you are going to end up in really big trouble if you don't change that mentality. And I didn't say a single word. I couldn't. I felt like I cannot stand here and tell you it wasn't because I am Middle Eastern, and I don't have the concept of time. It was literally just because I overslept, which is a very human thing that happen, and it could have happened to anyone. It had nothing to do with my background and where I was from. That is what I mean by like that was very much the way I was looked at by my professors. Like everything that I do is the product of my culture, and the fact that I am Muslim, and I am Arab, which isn't wrong. Those two parts are a huge part of me. But it just felt that they were limiting everything that

I was to those two boxes, you know what I mean. Instead of like, we had that one girl in the same cohort who was late to class, like every single day she was late, and the only talk that she got was like, she got pulled into the office and got a similar talk of like, “You just have to you know like you can't be late to class. This isn't

104

professional. This isn't a professional behavior,” which is a very different talk than

what I got, you know what I mean, like my talk was very much like, “You need to

change your culture or mentality.” whereas hers was “I understand that you were late

to things, but this isn't professional behavior.” You know what I mean. So, that was

maybe like that is what caused the most--for me where it just felt like everything I

was my professors kind of always used my culture against me without actually

understanding what my culture is, rather than treating me as an individual human

person who is capable of doing human mistakes that is where the struggle came from.

These incidents are examples of systematic stereotyping that many researchers

(Orfalea, 2006; Shaheen, 1997; Zogby, 1984) mentioned that Arabs and Muslims regularly face in the dominant culture. They also reflect participants’ increasing awareness of these microaggressions and their ability to critically detect and analyze them.

Theme 6: Resiliency and Perseverance

All participants reported that education was very highly emphasized in their households, and academic persistence was a value that was embedded into their upbringing.

Mohammad, for example, reflects on his experience:

My English was slightly behind my other peers and stuff, I took more challenging

classes, and I read a lot. I invested a lot. I really like didn’t want to... I like

competition. So, when I saw I was behind, I kind of pushed myself to where I didn’t

want to be in a position that I could be misunderstood or like behind my other peers.

So, I’ve always taken more challenging classes, AP classes. If I didn’t understand

something, I’d push myself to understand it even if it was not required.

105

It is clear that Mohammad viewed his education as an investment. He was also conscious of perceived misconceptions and he did not want to be stigmatized for his academic struggles. Miracle had another source of struggle that she needed to overcome. She states:

The last two years when I was trying to figure out like “Do I need to start applying to

universities?” So, I had to learn by myself to get community service hours, and you

know be able to take the SATs and study for the ACTs those things.

Despite the fact that some students had to figure out school on their own because their parents lacked human capital to help them navigate the school system, they all persevered, and they did very well in school on their own (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). This sense of responsibility and willingness to take initiative in their own learning and in furthering their education was apparent in all participants. All participants were very much aware of their parents’ sacrifices, and they took it upon themselves to honor that, and to carry on the legacy. They all mentioned that they were privileged compared to their extended relatives in Egypt, and that they had to acknowledge that privilege by working hard and succeeding both academically and in their respective careers. Huda states:

Growing up, education was very important to my parents. This is something that they had to work extremely hard for after immigrating to the United States to get. So, earning a college degree was never, it was always something that was expected of my brother and I.

So, I worked really hard not only academically, but athletically in high school in order to be able to earn a collegiate scholarship at a university.

Samar also explains:

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Not really explicit parental expectations. Like, they would never be like, “You have

to do this.” But, it is kind of like just an implicit okay, like this is something that I

want to do because I have been given this opportunity, and I just feel like a societal

expectation as well because being a first generation American, you like, are supposed

to work hard and show that you know like people from your culture are hard workers

and stuff.

It is apparent that education is of utmost importance to all participants. Nine out of the 12 participants were enrolled in a four-year university at the time the interviews were conducted. One was in graduate school, one was a graduate-school alumnus, and one was enrolled in a community college with the goal to transfer to a four-year university as soon as he graduates. In addition, 6 of the participants’ fathers had bachelor’s degrees, 5 had master’s degrees, and 1 had a doctorate degree. Nine of the participants’ mothers had bachelor’s degrees, and 5 had master’s degrees. Nevine shares:

Both of my parents, at least my dad, he had a bachelor’s degree. So, he instilled in us

that education is important. So, college was already like a no brainer. So, it wasn’t

like “Should I go to college? What if I don’t go to college?” College was already like

everybody must go to college. You have to go to college. So, that’s very very lucky

on my part.

Magda states:

I am an only child and I am a woman. And so, they [her parents] believe that

education is the most important thing…they really really emphasized my career and

my education above anything and everything.

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Rowayda says:

Whether to go to college or not to go to college was not an option.

She goes on to explain:

Culturally speaking, education is valued a lot in our community. There is no “You are

not going to college.” There was never the option of whether or not you go to college.

The question is “How fast can you get out of college?” rather. Culturally speaking,

that’s how our parents were raised. That’s how we are raised, and that’s how we will

continue to raise our children probably.

So, the feeling of being honored and privileged to be given the opportunity to receive good education and pursue a professional career was shared by all participants, which supports Ogbu and Simon’s (1998) cultural ecological theory that states that minority students’ ‘frame of reference’, or the lens by which they evaluate their situation in the dominant culture, affects their perception of their schooling experiences and their chances for upward mobility.

Research Sub-question 2: Home School Adjustments

Seven themes emerged from the qualitative data relating to participants’ home school adjustments. The seven themes are: (a) Language, (b) cultural and religious norms, (c) conflicts with parents, (d) discrimination at school, (e) activism, (f) beliefs about home culture, (g) friends.

Theme 1: Language

Seven participants reported that they spoke Arabic fluently, while the other 5 participants reported that they spoke Arabic well. Speaking Arabic at home was a norm for all participants. They all reported that it was intentional, and that their parents enforced it as a

108 rule to maintain their language and their culture. It was especially important for their parents to maintain the Arabic language because it is the language of the Quran. So, knowledge of the Arabic language increases understanding of the Quran, which in turn, according to the participants’ parents, leads to a stronger faith. For many Egyptians, Islamic values are embedded into Egyptian culture. So, many parents hope that teaching their children Arabic, and shielding them with Islamic values, will protect them from going astray. However, some participants reported that code switching between English and Arabic was quite challenging.

Kamal explains:

I grew up speaking both English and Arabic, and I, maybe because I was a second

child. I remember my oldest sister. I hear stories about my older sister having a hard

time in school learning English. She would argue with her teacher about how to say

words, and she would speak in Arabic, and whatever she [the teacher] says in

English, she [Kamal’s sister] would repeat in Arabic. But, I think, I grew up with

both because I had an older sister.

Some participants also reported that as they got older, they started using both Arabic and English. Murad says:

Aside from how you interact, maybe at home, speaking Arabic, and then, outside,

speaking English. But even that changes as you get older. The English kind of seeps

into the house because you are speaking English all the time.

The participants’ parents’ attempts to teach the participants Arabic, while, at the same time, ensuring that the participants learn English and excel at school is a clear example of selective acculturation, (Portes & Rumbaut, 2001) in which immigrant groups understand the

109 requirements for upward mobility, while, at the same time, they understand the need to maintain their language and their culture.

Theme 2: Cultural and Religious Norms

Many participants reported cultural and religious norms that were specific to the

Egyptian, Arabic, or Islamic culture, and that were very different from the American mainstream that limited their relationship with their American peers. For example, Taha reported that, when he was in elementary school, he was not allowed to go trick or treating in

Halloween, and he was not allowed to eat the candy that his classmates used to pass around because his mother had told him that they don’t celebrate it. It was not part of their culture.

Another experience Nevine recalls is her witnessing her family having to live below their means because they had to send money to support family members in Egypt. She reflects:

I remember finding out my dad’s income and I was like that’s really high for our

lifestyle because I was like I know people that make that much, and they live

completely different like they have nice cars, they live in huge houses, and I was like,

“How come we don’t have that?” And I realized that it was because my parents were

more concerned with taking care of others than having that luxury.

Other Egyptian cultural norms include dressing modestly, having an early curfew, no make-up for school age girls, and greetings. Both boys and girls are encouraged to dress modestly, but more emphasis is put on girls. The hijab is generally not enforced, but it is greatly welcomed and celebrated. All the participants who were wearing hijab reported that it was their own decision to wear it, and they were never forced to wear it at any time. They

110 only wore it when they felt ready to take that step. When Rowayda mentioned that one of her teachers put out the rumor that Rowayda was forced to wear hijab, she responded:

I said absolutely not. In contrary, it was completely my decision, just a decision that I

took later in life and that’s it.

Both Taha and Smile mentioned that they were not allowed to stay out late. Taha says: It is normal for a young guy in America to be out past 12 a.m. My mom does not condone that at all. My mom does not like that at all if I’m out past 10. She’d always tell me,

“Oh, your uncles they would never be out past 10. They would pray Ishaa [night prayer that men usually perform at the mosque] and then, they would come back home.”

He also reflects on his younger sister’s struggle with their mother. He says:

My mom hates the idea of make up with my little sister, but here in America, it’s

completely normal, and I always tell her [his mother], “Let my sister wear make-up.

culturally]عيب It’s normal here. Let my sister wear make-up,” and she’s like no, eib

unacceptable] and what not, and I feel like that’s something that’s just definitely

something that’s a very big cultural difference.

When it comes to greetings, Taha shares an interesting perspective. He says:

In Egypt, it is not normal for a strange man to hug a strange woman, but here in

America, it’s a form of greeting. A man to give a woman a hug here in America is the

equivalent in Egypt for a man to give a woman a handshake, which it was really also

from, even until today, I still struggle with that concept, but it was when like my

female peers would try to hug me, I would, I remember, I would shrug up, and I’d get

all awkward, and I wouldn’t know what to do until I realized it was just a form of

greeting.

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Finally, since Egypt is a predominantly Islamic country, drinking alcoholic beverages and having sexual relationships out of wedlock are both socially and religiously unacceptable. So, all participants reported not participating in drinking, going to night clubs, or engaging in any activities that are deemed religiously prohibited especially because of their cultural and religious upbringing. For example, Murad intentionally chose to live with

Muslim roommates in college, so he can feel comfortable praying, and ‘not having alcohol at home.’ He also did not want to be around roommates who would bring their girlfriends to his residence. Magda reflects:

I think, naturally, I come from a more conservative background. Like, growing up,

alcohol is not something that like, it is not really an option. It is not like, I never

really was tempted by it, and that is because with not drinking, my family doesn’t

drink, a lot of the people that I met, the Muslims, don’t drink. So, naturally, I just

don’t do that, or I’m not very big on night life in general.

None of the participants reported any concerns about that, or any conflicts with their parents regarding the cultural norms that have religious basis. However, many conflicts arose with their parents for other reasons.

Theme 3: Conflicts with Parents

Despite the fact that many participants reported being extremely grateful and appreciative of their parents’ support and sacrifices for them, all participants acknowledged that they had conflicts with their parents, not because of generational gap, but because of cultural differences. Huda explains:

It can be extremely difficult to be bicultural, and it can cause a lot of friction between

you and your parents who are the immigrant generation, who are coming to the

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United States with their own culture versus us who are growing up in a culture that is,

in some ways, very different, and in some ways, is a lot better, and, in some ways, is

a lot worse.

She goes on to say:

I feel like in the conversations that I have with my parents, like we argue the most

about things related to identity, and how they don’t, they are not able to recognize

prejudice as much or they don’t realize that they are experiencing it because they

didn’t grow up necessarily in a culture where their identity is rejected or not seen in a

good way, I guess. So, I feel like that can be another struggle for Egyptian kids who

are growing up in the U.S. where their identity is not celebrated, and their parents

can’t relate to them or provide emotional support for them in that way because they

didn’t grow up in a culture where their identity was seen negatively.

Because many Egyptians value interdependence, and because most of them invest heavily in their children’s upbringing, many feel that they have a say in their children’s life- changing decisions long after their children become adults. Some of these decisions include career choices. Two very commonly desired and socially valued careers in the Egyptian society are becoming either a doctor or an engineer. Six participants reported that their parents wanted them to become either a doctor or an engineer. This created great conflict between them and their parents. Magda reflects:

They wanted me to do engineering. I did apply, and I got accepted. I was going in for

nuclear engineering. During my student orientation, I went and met with my advisor

one-on-one. I came back out without my parents. My parents were standing outside,

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and I finally told them, “Hey, just to let you know, I switched out of engineering.”

And my dad didn’t talk to me for six months. My mom was so mad.

Nevine explains how she sees a bigger picture than her parents:

To my parents, who like haven’t been raised here, it is like that. It is very black and

white. You just go to school. You become a doctor. You make a lot of money, and

your life is perfect. But me, having been raised here, and knowing kind of like the

behind the scenes of the system, like it is not that easy. Medical school is incredibly

expensive. It is incredibly time-consuming. A lot of students who go to medical

school have a legacy of medical like experience in their family. Like, their dad was a

doctor. Their grandfather was a doctor. So, they know the system. They know how to

apply. They know where to go. They know how to pay for it. They know they are not

going to make money until they are 35. So, you have to have a fund to sustain you

until then. So, there is always these unwritten rules that you discover as a first, as like

a child, as like the first child to be in America since birth.

Taha says:

My mom wanted me to be either an engineer or a doctor, but my mom doesn’t

understand that there’s so many careers open, like being a business major. You can

do a lot with that. Being a lawyer. Lawyers are very well paid here. She’s thinking of

lawyers over in Egypt aren’t paid very well. So, it’s definitely very very hard to

balance both cultures.

Rowayda recalls her desire to become a physician assistant and having to change her career after a family friend told her and her parents that if she goes to Egypt and tells them

114 that, they will just say that she is a nurse because that job does not exist in Egypt. So

Rowayda says:

Exactly, and we both know that being a nurse in Egypt is not a prestigious job. It’s

more of a lower-class job.

Rowayda finally chose to study psychology. But that, too, posed a challenge for her. She shares:

In terms of my career, or the choice of my major, it was also a little difficult because

psychology is not in our culture. You are either a lawyer, an engineer, or a doctor.

Psychology is neither of these. So, it was a little difficult to overcome that obstacle of

.[?What would people say] الناس حتقول ايه؟"“ quote and quote

Another very common struggle that many participants had to face was their parents’ insisting that they either do not move out for college, or that at least, they do not go too far.

Smile said that she stayed home with her parents during college because her father gave her one school choice, the state university in their home city, and he paid all her tuition fees. Nevine and Miracle did the same thing as well. They stayed home during their college years both for convenience, and to reduce the financial burden on their parents. Kamal’s mother wanted him to go to a university that was closer to home. His parents gave him three choices outside of California. He recalls:

I got into Boston College in the honors program, and I really wanted to go, but they

said “No”. It was too far.

Kamal ended up going to a University in Southern California as a compromise between his desire to leave home, and his parents’ desire for him to go to another university in Northern California that was much closer to their home.

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Huda recalls her experience with her mother. She says:

I remember when I called my head coach to commit to her ,and tell her that I wanted

to attend school far way, my mom sat on the couch and cried because I am the oldest

and it is not, it is very much against the grain of being Egyptian that you stay at home

until you get married.

That is why Nevine, for example, says that she feels that a big obstacle she had to overcome was “breaking out of her shell” and learning to adapt to a new environment. Taha also believes that his sheltered upbringing caused him to be anti-social, and it was not until he went to college and got a job as a sales representative that he started interacting more with people and learning to overcome his fears.

Despite these challenges, many participants either held their ground, or according to

Rowayda, found a ‘happy medium’ in which they found a compromise between their parents’ desires and their own. Thus, participants were determined to choose their own paths despite their parents’ suggestions or recommendations.

Theme 4: Discrimination at school

Although all participants reported having a generally positive experience at school, some participants were discriminated against for reasons they did not understand. Taha says:

We had a writing assignment, and I got an 88% on the writing assignment, and I

asked her [his teacher] what could I have done better to have received the the A+, and

she very clearly said that “You’re just not capable of it.”

In another incident, he reports that one of his professors in his community college refused to add him to a class although he was the first student on the wait list. He says that the class didn’t have enough students, and that his professor never gave him a reason why she

116 dropped him. He even reports that after he was dropped, the students after him in the waiting list were added.

Taha also shares about another professor who made a comment, in his presence, knowing that he is Muslim. He recalls:

I very clearly remember her [his professor] making the comment that saying that

Muslims are very ignorant for being against the LGBT community.

Taha felt deeply offended, but he attributed that to his professor’s ignorance of the religious reasons for discouraging homosexual relations, which he says, are based on scientific and health facts. Smile also reflects on her experience in public school. She says:

Public school was hard. Public school was very hard. I was teased a lot and bullied on

end. I had kids who pulled my hijab. I had kids that would make fun of me.

These testimonies correspond with Samman’s (2005) note that academia, especially in the United States, tends to see Arabs and Muslims from an orientalist perspective, and to use methodologies that reinforce histories of imperial domination against them. Many participants responded to that by ignoring it, while others chose another outlet to vent.

Theme 5: Activism

Contrary to their parents’ reaction and advice, most participants coped with all types of aggression and discrimination through social and political activism. Smile recalls that she started wearing hijab around the time of the Gulf War when anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim sentiments were escalating. She remembers that rather than making her scared, it sparked her activism. She states:

We are good people. Why do they say these things about us? So, I was very

passionate about the religion. So, I started wearing the hijab really young. It wasn’t

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because of the modesty aspect. It was to make a statement. Like, I want to stand out

that I am proud to be Muslim.

She says that when she was in high school, there was a history teacher who taught world religions. She recalls that every time he did a lecture about Islam, he would call her to do a presentation on Islam. She states that this was what sparked her interest in activism. She, like many participants, was very aware of discrimination, and she was very vocal about it.

She pledged to confront it to the best of her ability. She reports that when she started going to the Muslim Student Association at her university, she found out that it only included men.

Women were not allowed. She gathered her friends and complained to the student advisor, and she got elected on the board. She even remained on the board for the whole four years.

She was the first female president to run the Muslim Student Association at her school.

In addition, as the hate crimes post September 11, 2001 escalated, Smile was regularly called to give speeches on campus and in high schools about what constitutes a hate crime. She even helped start a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter to support the Muslim community in her city. She recalls:

We needed a strong lobby presence to be in the area. So, that is why we started it

because at that time too, the hate crime statistically just skyrocketed. So, we had to

find a place where we could go do like teachings at the schools which is what I was

doing like talking to high schools, talking to teachers and professors.

Magda recalls that she was the first Muslim and the first Arab that people met in her community and that prompted her to intentionally, publicly announce her ethnicity and faith, and to educate people about her religious and cultural heritage. She, too, started the Arab

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Student Association at her school, and she was the vice president of that association during her undergraduate school years.

Theme 6: Beliefs about Home Culture

Not all participants had the same exposure to the home culture. Rowayda visited

Egypt once when she was about 10 or 11 years old. So, she reported that she ‘wouldn’t be able to accumulate the knowledge to know the difference in values.’ However, she was able to see some cultural norms that were specific to Egyptians based on her interactions with

Egyptian relatives who had recently come from Egypt. She reflects:

حضرتك I was not really raised with the notion of saying, for example, the word

hadretek, (honorary title that Egyptians use with elders and strangers) and I had met a

girl who had just come from Egypt, and she kept saying it to like all the adults, and I

didn’t realize that it it was the proper thing to say until she had said it all the time to

my mom, to my dad, and that’s when I realized like okay that’s a cultural difference.

Eight out of the 12 participants reported that they had gone to Egypt regularly during their childhood and teenage years either every summer or every other summer. However, they say that it has become increasingly difficult for them to go as often now because of family or school obligations. All of them reported that when they visited Egypt lately as they got older, they started noticing cultural differences that they had not noticed before because they we younger, and they were less aware of cultural differences. Although many participants were critical of different cultural norms, they were very appreciative of the opportunity to have been exposed to the culture, and they all acknowledged that they were coming from a privileged position compared to their Egyptian counterparts.

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A recurring theme among participants is that many of them reported being more financially independent and self-reliant in making their own decisions than their Egyptian relatives. Magda says:

I think the number one value that is very different is independence, whether it is

financial or just regular life decisions. Like, I normally come to my own conclusion. I

take advice from others, and I make my own conclusions versus, I think, in Egypt, it

is a little bit different, where everyone has to give their opinion even if I didn’t ask, or

a woman, a lot of times, will stay in her father’s home until she is married, and she is

financially dependent on them until that moment until she is officially married.

Another related theme is that many participants believe that they are much more open- minded than may Egyptians in Egypt. Samar explains:

They [Egyptians] are definitely not as open-minded to foreign people because it is

just a homogeneous culture, but for here, it’s like I feel pretty open-minded because I

grew up around such a diverse group of people.

She adds:

I think there’s a lot of misogynistic, very fundamental really, just engrained into the

society at that point, that I don’t have as much of, or at least, I am more conscious of

it, and obviously, like, I am in America. So, that’s coming from a very privileged

place.

Miracle also notices that the biggest difference between the American and Egyptian culture is in:

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Being able to critically criticize everything, just think deeper about things I think was

just very different, but I think that was also because I came from a much more

privileged culture in America.

Taha has similar views. He shares:

One thing, I am for sure, is that I’m a lot more open-minded than Egyptians back

home. Egyptians back home tend to be close-minded, aren’t willing to accept new

concepts, new ideas. I’m different than that just because I was raised in America.

Huda says that she feels that she is much more socially and politically liberal than her cousins who live in Egypt. She says that Americans have much higher expectations of the

American government than Egyptians do of their government. She says that for her cousins who live in Egypt:

It is just a matter of surviving and making sure that they have a good education and a

good job to support themselves. But they don’t depend on the government anymore.

She also reports that she is much more socially liberal than her female relatives in Egypt because:

I feel like, in Egypt, there’s still very much like, gender roles are much more

solidified versus in the U.S., they are not as, they are a lot more fluid, I would say,

and so things like that. I feel like the expectation can be very different. Like most of

my cousins in Egypt didn’t play sports at a very high level, like the girls, because it

wasn’t an expectation for them, but in the U.S., that is a reality for us, and it is an

expectation to have that opportunity.

Nevine also mentions that the concept of individuality and independence is not apparent in the Egyptian society. She explains:

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In the Egyptian culture, there’s a lot of like, you have to do what everybody else is

doing just because it’s been done that way for so long. I feel like in the American

culture, everybody is allowed to be who they want to be. They are allowed to explore

themselves. They are allowed to be like themselves. I don’t know. They are allowed

to experience things the way they want to experience them. I feel like in Egyptian

culture, it is less so.

On the other hand, both Waleed and Kamal appreciate the sense of community and chauvinism that they witnessed in Egypt. Waleed explains:

There is a whole sense of community in Egypt where everyone knows each other like

this example is always said that if someone falls in the middle of the street, an

Egyptian will always like help you get up, and a lot of people would say that it

doesn’t exist in America. But I think that it depends on where you are.

And Kamal reflects:

Egypt is much more community-oriented, whereas people here, are very like look out

for yourself. So, they are always looking out for themselves.

Another very interesting finding was that many participants reported that they felt that they were more religious than the people they interacted with in Egypt. Smile recalls her experience when she first started wearing hijab and went to Egypt. She says:

When I started wearing hijab and I was young. I went to Egypt and she [her cousin]

thought I was wearing it out of respect for the country, as if we were going to Saudi

or something, and she was like, I don’t have to wear it here. I feel like they are very

very westernized in Egypt. The way they dress, the way they act, their interests which

is not a bad thing. I just feel like here, I’m more entuned with Islam than what I see

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my family is there. And I would even say that with the ones that are very religious

too because I feel like the ones that are very religious, it is a little bit too much. So, I

just feel like I have a balance here.

Miracle has a similar view. She recalls her experience when she first went to Egypt with the hijab. She says:

It was viewed more as like this is something you do when you get older and you

marry, and you are still young. Don’t put yourself in this like. Have fun. Live your

life. Do what you want to do, and then, once you get older and you get married and

stuff, then you can settle down into wearing the hijab which is very normal. That is

the mindset of the culture. But it was very interesting because that was so opposite

from us because we are minorities here as Muslims. Like we grew up with so much

knowledge and the concept of hijab and what it means, and stuff was given to us in a

very different way. This was seen as like this is a symbol of your religion. It is a

responsibility. You have to like making sure you are wearing it correctly, and that

you are not doing anything to that when you are wearing it, you know, that you are

representing your religion, and that you are being very careful with your behavior,

and that you are not doing things that might make you look like a bad Muslim

because everyone in the country is looking at you, and all they are seeing is a Muslim

versus in Egypt, where you have that autonomy because everyone kind of looks the

same, and everyone shares the same identity almost. So, you have an autonomy of no

one is going to look at you if you do something wrong. No one is going to say, “Oh, a

Muslim did something wrong.” It is just going to be another person doing a mistake,

you know, versus here, you have the pressure of like, you know, I am wearing hijab.

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People do not know what this is. People are very like, everyone in this room, right

now, has their own opinion on what I am, and who I am, and so, I have to be very

careful how I present myself because of that.

Miracle goes on to explain her perspective. She says:

I found that in America, we grew up a lot more with religion. Religion was very

much separate from culture because we came as minorities, not just minorities

because we were Arab, but also minorities because we were Muslims. And so, the

only connection we had as a community was the masjid [mosque] like that was the

thing that brought everyone together regardless of which culture they came from.

There wasn’t a specific masjid only for Egyptians, or only for Pakistanis. It was

really just one masjid everyone goes to. And so, the only thing you have in common

with all these people is the fact that you are Muslim. And so, I feel like having that

really changes the mindset of like religion isn’t just a part of the culture, it is a

separate sort of thing.

Kamal also reflects on his experience. He says:

It is very interesting because growing up here, I feel like I had a much stronger

Islamic foundation than all my cousins back in Egypt, probably because, when you

are here in America, you have to hold on to your identity, and you kind of struggle to

keep it, whereas there, it is like the norm. So, they don’t try. They don’t really value

it as much as we do.

Finally, Murad shares his own analysis of the situation. He explains:

I think the big thing I see between here or even with people here versus the people in

Egypt, I think, might be opportunity. So, the situation that they are in is a lot less

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hopeful in Egypt in terms of the sheer amount of people and the number of jobs and a

whole bunch of other things, whereas here, we have a lot more opportunity, I would

say. So, it is just the privilege of being here versus being there. But I don’t think that

values necessarily differ.

The above testimonies reflect the perception of participants as a minority, and support

Ogbu’s (1998) cultural ecological theory that they feel that they are privileged as they have more opportunities in America than their counterparts in their homelands. They also support

Naber’s (2012) claim that young Muslim Arab Americans claim their identity as “Muslim first, Arab second” as a coping mechanism against psychological attacks on their identities, and as a unifying theme.

Theme 7: Friends

All participants reported that friends play a pivotal role in their lives. Since all participants do not have the privilege of having extended family in America, their friends fill in this role, and they act as a very strong support system to them academically, socially, and emotionally. Magda shares:

To me, my friends are family. I am an only child. I now live here on my own. So, my

parents left the country about 2 years ago. So, like, I am the only one that lives here,

and I have friends all over the country, and I, literally, spend all of my holidays

visiting all of my friends. I set one week for my family, and then, the rest of my paid

time off, I visit all of my friends around the country.

Most participants have different friend groups for different settings. Usually, participants get to know their white American friends through study groups that they have in

125 their cohorts in college. Many participants reported that they strategically chose friends who were respectful and open-minded.

Samar, who was in public school all her life, was more able to interact with friends from different cultures. She says:

My friends are all like very open-minded people, and I don’t have any republican

friends. My friends are pretty much all democrats, and pretty like-minded people, but

obviously like very different too, and we are all studying different fields and stuff,

but pretty much have similar values.

Huda, on the other hand, who was raised in a private Islamic school, and went to a predominantly white Catholic university, has a different view. She says:

I feel like a lot of my closest friends have been either people of color, or Muslims, or

other people from marginalized communities because they have always understood

what it means to be marginalized, and what it means for people to not necessarily

understand your culture. So, they have always taken initiative in learning about my

culture, versus me always having to explain it.

Nevine has a different problem altogether. Even though she was raised in an Islamic environment, she went to an Islamic private school, and she prefers to be around Muslim friends, she was not able to maintain her relationship with her friends because of the sizeable gap between their socio-economic status. She recalls that her classmates came from very rich families, and even though her father had good income, she and her family were not as affluent as her classmates, which eventually affected her relationship with them. She explains:

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I started going towards other kids because I felt they are kind of like me, kind of have

the same lifestyle, kind of have the same values, kind of like the same things. So, we

didn’t really kind of stay friends after our time at the Islamic school because we were

from two socio-economic places. So, it was hard to like, understand, I don’t know. It

was just weird. So, things like that kind of influenced how I make friends.

All participants reported that while they were growing up, there either were very few or no Egyptians around to befriend. This forced some of them to resort to the closest cultural group that they associated with, other Arabs. However, the findings were quite interesting.

Taha reported that many of his Arab friends were ‘Americanized’. They drank, smoked, partied, and had girlfriends. These were activities and values that he did not condone. He did not like to be around them when they engaged in these activities. He says:

My American friends, like they understand my culture, my cultural values. So, they

don’t they don’t. I don’t have any conflict with my American friends, but I have a lot

of conflict with my Arab friends, the ones that [pause] that had American values, that

had a lot of American values that I don’t have, that I don’t condone. My friends are

like really doing their own thing that I do not condone, like a lot of partying, a lot of

smoking, a lot of drinking, stuff that I don’t condone. I don’t want to be around. So, I

like, I don’t spend a lot of [pause] a lot of time around my friends at all.

Miracle reports another struggle with her Palestinian friends in her Islamic school. She recalls:

We didn’t have a larger Egyptian community, and I feel like the difference between

Palestine and Egypt is pretty different. Palestinians, or at least the ones that were in

my friend group, were very cultural, very traditional, not in a bad way. But they had

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their old old traditions that their family was used to, and that was the norm for them.

Whereas in Egypt, especially because my parents, they are not from Cairo, but most

of their family is from Cairo, I feel Cairo is just a big city. We are Egyptians, and

everyone is living their life. Everyone is doing their own thing. It is a lot more

westernized than say Palestine. So, I felt that difference. I felt that Egypt wasn’t

cultural enough to meet the Palestinian culture. I didn’t have the embroidery to wear

on a traditional dress and just the regular traditions I was missing, and that made me

feel even more isolated within my Arab friends, and my language was so different

like the vocabulary that we have for things was so different. So, I felt that isolation

even within my Arab friends because I was the only Egyptian for a long time.

The 7 participants who went to Islamic private schools when they were younger reported that they maintained their relationship with the friends they grew up with even though they were from different cultures and backgrounds. So, friends played a strong role in supporting or further alienating the participants. Many participants were striving to find middle ground between them and their friends from other cultures. Sometimes, they succeeded, but many times the differences were too much to overcome. This is what prompted many participants to hold on to their friends from other marginalized communities or to those with similar values.

Research Sub-question 3: Navigating the Dominant Culture

Nine themes emerged in the findings of the qualitative research data from the interviews with individual participants. These themes are: (a) Beliefs about the dominant culture, (b) positive work experiences, (c) negative work experiences, (d) positive community

128 experiences, (e) negative community experiences, (f) positive effects of technology, (g) negative effects of technology, (h) support systems, (i) Racial Ambiguity

Theme 1: Beliefs about the Dominant Culture

All participants reported noticing differences in values in themselves and their families from the dominant culture. Mohammad says:

I feel like my values aren’t the same say as the typical American.

Magda compares her values to those of the dominant culture. She says:

I think I naturally come from a more conservative background. Like, growing up,

alcohol is not something that like, it is not really an option. It is not like I never really

was tempted by it, and that is because, with not drinking, my family doesn’t drink. A

lot of people that I met, the Muslims, don’t drink. So, naturally, I just didn’t do that,

or I’m not very big on night life in general.

Rowayda, on the other hand, has another perspective. She states:

The non-Muslim friends have different values. They have more freedom, I guess.

Taha says:

A lot of Americans don’t value education. A lot of Americans don’t value religion. I

feel like I value religion a lot more than a lot of Americans, just like Egyptians.

He also reflects on the American value of independence. He states:

A lot of Americans like to move out. I have a lot of friends that moved out as soon as

they turned 18, they wanted to move out. They don’t want to be around the family,

which is weird to me. That’s that’s all of [pause] That’s something America

emphasizes on younger children is that as soon as you turn 18, you move out. I don’t

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like that. I don’t like that idea…I’d rather spend time with my family, grow up with

them. They take care of me, so when I get older, I can take care of them.

This perspective aligns with the Egyptian value of interdependence that Taha adopts.

That also explains why he identifies himself as Egyptian. It is partly because he adopts more

Egyptian values, and also as a coping mechanism against the domination of American values over minorities that adopt different cultural values.

Waleed sees the dominant culture from another lens. He initially says that he feels that it comes easier to white people than to other minorities. Then, he proceeds:

Not that it comes easier to them. They just have more resources and the things that

perfectly come with that. Like, white people usually have higher incomes than ethnic

minorities. They are given more resources. They live in more affluent neighborhoods.

I just think that systemically, systematically, they do better. Obviously, they have an

advantage.

Waleed is cognizant of his disadvantage as a member of a minority group in comparison to the dominant white culture. Even though he knows that he officially identifies as white, he is aware of the disadvantages that are associated with his ethnic-identity, and the privileges that members of the dominant culture enjoy in comparison to others (Phinney,

1989; Portes & Rumbaut, 1998).

Theme 2: Positive Work Experiences

All participants reported that their employers have been very supportive of them and have been accommodating of their religious needs. However, most of them mentioned that was an uncommon situation. Mohammad says:

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No, actually it’s interesting, I had the opposite experience. This might be unique to

me, but I’ve had a pretty easy time, even in my current work, I got promoted

relatively easy.

He explains:

I’ve had, let’s say, unique workplaces. For example, at my current job, we’re all

younger. Even the store manager is relatively young. She’s like barely turned 30. So,

maybe if I had an older manager, they may have thought I was too young, or maybe

judge me more. But they’ve always based me off more like my work ethic, and that’s

it.

Magda has another explanation for her positive work experiences. She says:

I’ve never had anything happen to me in the workforce, at least. And, if anything, it is

all positive because I choose to share information, and then, people are curious. They

don’t know anything about Ramadan. A lot of times, they don’t know about Eid or

any of that stuff. So, I’ve never had anything bad, like I said, healthy discussions.

Taha was very appreciative of the fact that his current employer and co-workers support him with meeting his religious obligations. He says:

They’re actually very supportive of me, supportive of my prayers. As soon as I tell

them I need to pray, they tell me, they just, they tell me, “Go ahead. Go to the back,

and we will watch the front while you pray. Take your time.” They’re very

supportive. If I do get scheduled on Friday, I usually get scheduled after 3. But if I

get scheduled before 3, I always get an hour break to pray my Friday prayer. So, I

don’t have a problem at all with the people that I’m working with right now.

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Theme 3: Negative Work Experiences

Luckily, none of the participants reported having any negative work experiences.

However, most of their negative work experiences were related to job interviews that they have had, and that made them feel that they were being discriminated against. Taha talks about an experience where he had a job interview that he says that it went very well, until

Taha mentioned that the only time he could not work was during his Friday prayer. Even though the interviewer agreed, Taha says that he never got a call back. That was strange to

Taha because he says:

Before I had mentioned the Friday prayer, he [the interviewer] he was talking about

scheduling me, and he was asking me to choose locations to work at. So, I had, like I

had the job in my hand until I mentioned that I was Muslim, and that I needed to

pray. And then, that, I guess, scared him away.

Smile recalls an incident where she was denied the chance for an interview at a state prison because the prison officials told her that prisoners could pull her scarf and use it as a weapon even though she does not use a pin to hold her scarf. She just wraps it around her head.

All participants reported that they chose employers who were respectful, accommodating, and open-minded about their cultural and religious obligations, and they avoided workplaces that were likely to discriminate against them. Smile explains:

To be honest too, I never pushed myself to work in a line of work, for example,

working in a fast food, working in a grocery store, or like a department store. I was

never encouraged, or even I would say, brave enough because when I was growing

up, it was so rare to see a lady with hijab working in a department store, or any like

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you know, Macy’s or some retail department or anything, never, never see a hijaby.

So, I was not encouraged to go. I was more pushed to finding a desk job, something

that I was not going to be visible in.

This testimony corresponds with Naber’s (2012) note of the time when Muslim Arab

Americans started to become a visible problem minority. Nevine also relates to that. She says:

I feel like I have been a planner, and that’s been the impact of my life since I, I mean

in an instance where I would have to experience discrimination, there are like areas I

don’t go to. There are jobs that I wouldn’t apply for. I know like this area is

predominantly white. So, they might treat me bad. So, like, I make choices so I can

avoid being discriminated against.

Nevine also thinks that the fact that she leads a different lifestyle than her co-workers created barriers between them. She reflects on that by saying:

The obstacle is that barrier between myself and non-Muslims just because of the fact

that we lead different lifestyles. That’s been the biggest impact. Like, I have like at

work, I have a team member who’s also Muslim, and she’s very openly about it and

everything, but she’s less outwardly about it, like, she doesn’t wear the scarf, and she

drinks, and she is closer to their lifestyle than I am. So, it is easier for her to get along

with them, and to relate to them. They kind of see her more like, “Oh, you are just

like me.” But me, “I respect you, and I’m not against your differences, but they are

differences, and they’re always like barriers between us.”

Murad talks about political discussions that arise at work that sometimes cause some tensions. He says:

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You definitely notice certain tensions maybe depending on who you are with. For

example, I had a coworker who was Ukrainian or something like that, and he was

speaking very passionately about Israel, and how Israel is a great democracy and all

this stuff. And you know for me, as for any self-respecting Arab, is you kind of feel

this like bubbling up inside of you, and so we’d get into discussions every now and

then. And obviously, being from that general area of the world, you have a different

perspective than people who have never been there. Ironically, he had never been to

Israel anyway, but he is a very big defender of it. But being from that general area of

the world, you understand things that people here do not understand with certain

situations like that.

These testimonies reflect religious and political biases, but none in relation to race or ethnicity. So, other than misconceptions and stereotyping, most participants faced discrimination because of their faith rather than their race or ethnicity. However, it is very hard to separate the two because many people associate Arabs with Islam, which is a very common misconception.

Theme 4: Positive Community Experiences

All participants reported that many people are impressed and intrigued by the fact that the participants are from Egypt. They usually ask the participants about the pyramids, the sphinx, and the mummies. Some participants also mentioned that some people ask them if the participants speak Arabic. Other people ask the participants to teach them some Arabic words. Miracle says:

I don’t think the distinction of me being Egyptian was being noticed by people from

the mainstream culture.

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Nevine says that some people find it amusing when she puts her phone between her ears and her scarf when she is making a hands-free call. Most participants attribute not experiencing negative backlashes from the community to the fact that they live in a rather liberal and diverse community, especially in California. They say that because the number of immigrants from all cultures and backgrounds is increasing, and because the participants usually interact with a relatively younger population, they feel that people in California, in particular, have been more culturally aware and sensitive to dealing with minorities from various backgrounds.

Theme 5: Negative Community Experiences

However, most of the negative experiences that some participants had, usually came from older people, and from more rural or conservative communities. Huda, who attends university in the Midwest says:

Sometimes people say racial slurs or things like that, and sometimes even if people

don’t say anything, you can tell that they are shocked that Muslim women, that not

only they exist, but they play golf, or that they compete for a university team and

things like that. And I think our presence and how far we have become engrained in

American culture is shocking to some people.

Nevine warns:

So, old Elk Grove is one thing and the new Elk Grove is another thing, and it’s like a

rule. It’s like an unspoken rule between me and the people I know. So, it’s like a

bridge that I cross. It’s like if you are going from the old Elk Grove to the new Elk

Grove, try not to cross the bridge if you can just because a lot of the people in Elk

Grove are very like you know, a certain way. Every time I go there, I have like a bad

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experience. I’ve been yelled at like from like my car and stuff like that. So, it’s not a

place I like to go, but it’s never been like terrible. I’ve never been like harassed or

anything, well, not badly.

Mohammad reports that there is a retirement home that has predominantly white older population across from his university. He says that whenever he mentions his name to any of the people there, ‘they’d frown or like, they don’t like say anything, but you can tell they might be judging.’

Smile says:

I feel that it has gotten worse of course after Trump, but you know, have I felt the

difference? I feel it you know, but I have gotten to the point where I am just used to

it.

Samar says that even though most people are interested in the fact that she is Egyptian, she still feels the heavy burden of stereotyping. She explains:

I feel like people were really obsessed with the fact that I was from Egypt. When we

were learning about Egypt, people were really generally just very interested because

they hadn’t met people from Egypt. So, they were like, “Oh, wow, do you guys still

ride camels?” And you know all of these other stereotypes like, “Do you know

hieroglyphics?” I have probably been asked that question at least 10 times, which is

crazy.

The examples that the above participants reported correspond with Portes &

Rumbaut’s (2001) segmented assimilation theory that states that racial discrimination can throw a barrier towards societal acceptance of non-whites, whether or not they are of immigrant origin. In most of these cases, however, participants are being discriminated

136 against, not necessarily because of their race, but rather because of their religious affiliation or because of the cultural misconceptions that result from ignorance and misinformation that is propagated in the dominant culture.

Theme 6: Positive Effects of Technology

All participants reported that technology allowed them to communicate with friends and extended family members in Egypt. This communication created bonding and unity that they would not have otherwise been able to develop. Nevine says that technology allowed her to “bridge the gap” between the American and Egyptian cultures, and “experience the

[Egyptian] culture through social media.”

Magda adds that she was very impressed when one day, she brought some donuts to work to bring awareness about Ramadan and Eid, and a co-worker sent her a greeting card that had a little crescent and a note wishing her a happy Eid. She found out that her co- worker had done online research, learned about the holiday, and made her the card that includes Islamic art on her own. She reflects:

Obviously, technology was what taught her [Magda’s co-worker] this. I didn’t really

tell her too much about Ramadan. So, that was positive. I think that technology did

help because I would just give them a little bit of information, and they would kind of

do their research on their own.

Nevine talks about another type of research. She reflects on her experience as a first generation American-born, and the fact that she feels that she has a disadvantage because she does not have a legacy of parents who have been through the American educational system before her. She says that she had to find out how to navigate the system on her own. She states:

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It was like I have to do SATs, so let me just look on google what is SATs, and then

just go and do it.

Rowayda shares having a social media account on Facebook that has a nationwide group of just Egyptian girls, in which they share experiences, problems, advice, shopping and many other topics. She calls that “a great networking experience.”

Smile appreciates technology for allowing her to get instant answers to her religious questions. She says:

If I have a [religious] question, I am on snapchat with Sheikh [religious scholar]

ABC, I send him a text message, and he answers me immediately.

In addition, she utilizes technology to listen to many short lectures, speeches, and supplications that religious scholars post online, which keep her more connected to, and informed about her religion. She describes it as “very empowering, and powerful, and educational.”

Theme 7: Negative Effects of Technology

Seven out of 12 participants reported that technology has directly, or indirectly, negatively affected them. Mohammad says that some people tend to be racist and stereotypical over the internet, but are more reserved and subdued in real life, which shows him how insecure these people are. However, he says that these are not the majority.

Magda says that she felt personally attacked when an awareness group, at her university, made events on campus that attacked Islam during an Islam Awareness month.

She attributes that to “what [people] get from the media.” She says that there are a lot of negative things that are written about Arabs and Muslims, in general, that cause many

Americans to have misconceptions and stereotypes about them. Samar recalls when Egypt

138 came to the forefront of the news media during the Egyptian Revolution and the Arab Spring, and how she was being asked about that all the time because “there’s the whole skewed western perspective media and stuff. So, people don’t know.” She even describes her own dilemma. She shares:

I definitely get a lot of conflicting perspectives, sometimes, when I am looking at the

media, like western media versus Egyptian media. So, that kind of makes it difficult,

especially when there is something going on, like there are protests and stuff. I never

understand what is actually going on because there is so many different perspectives,

and so many media outlets covering the same thing differently, but yeah. So, I

definitely get confused.

Taha, on the other hand, blames the media for the way he was treated in school when he was younger. He says:

They [his peers] would just listen to whatever the media fed them, whatever

information the media fed them, and they would come spit it back out on me.

He explains their actions:

They are just doing it because the media makes me out to be the bad guy. So, they

just listen to the media, and be like, “Oh, he’s a bad guy.” And then like, “Let’s pick

on him” and in their heads, they are doing the right thing.

Waleed worries about the effect of the overwhelming negative propaganda about

Muslim extremist groups on him. He reflects:

Being like brown, like North African, that it doesn’t like sit tight on social media,

where you can see all these jokes on like weird parts on the internet, where they

describe these people, like you see Muslims doing things like the Charlie Hebdo

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thing. Whenever someone like shoots up a place, you are like, “Oh, I really hope he

wasn’t Muslim. I hope he doesn’t get claimed to ISIS.” And that’s like a constant

worry because people see these individuals as a representation of your culture, and

you are like, “Oh, what are people going to think of me after this happens?”

This statement corresponds with Naber’s (2012) talk about the sense of “collective fear” that swept the Arab and Muslim community around the nation after the tragic events of

September 11, 2001, and the terrorist attacks that happened after that, which prompted many

Arab Americans to strive to fit in the American mainstream (Pyke & Dang, 2003).

Because Smile is older than all the other participants, she was able to compare media representations across the past few decades. She explains:

The media, when I was growing up, is very different from the media today. We

actually do get positive media nowadays. You be very surprised at how media was

when we were growing up, how everyone, that whole sentence: “Muslim Jihadist

Terrorist, Muslim Islamic Fanatic Jihadist, Muslim Islamic Jihadist Terrorist”. It was

a common thing to see in the newspaper in big headlines, that one sentence. I don’t

see that as much nowadays. We have a president nowadays, who says stuff, and he

makes comments every now and then, but people still know that you don’t always

link the two. Some people still link the two, of course, but this is not the common

rhetoric.

But Smile had another concern about technology. She says that social media can be very stressful as it negatively influences many young girls into taking their hijabs off and focusing on their looks and the western lifestyle.

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Finally, Miracle was most concerned about the rapid spread of misinformation especially when people have access to so much of it, and they are unable to separate facts from biases and prejudices particularly when:

What is not true is based on fear, and like spreading fear and hitting you close when it

hurts, you know what I mean. So, it is a lot easier to believe that immigrants are

stealing your jobs because I am jobless…than to believe that it is not just that. It is

the economy. It is all these other things that are going into play.

Theme 8: Support Systems

All participants reported that they would not have been able to succeed academically or have been able to maintain a social and emotional balance and stability in their lives without the support systems that they have had, or that they have developed for themselves.

Participants divided their support systems into three different categories: family, school, and friends.

Family support was of utmost importance. All participants thought very highly of their families, and they were very grateful and appreciative of the sacrifices their families have made for them. The most support many participants received from their families was in education, whether through tutoring, or through paying for private education, or both.

Mohammad says:

My mom used to help me with all my math homework, [pause] My dad would like

review some essays and what not for me. So, yeah, elementary and most of middle, I

did have help from home.

Taha thinks very highly of his mother despite the cultural conflicts he has had with her. He says:

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My mom, without my mom, she really really taught me how to read and write

English, and which is why I am very fluent in English today. My mom would spend

hours a day teaching me to read. She would, when I went out and watch my cartoons,

she’d make me watch with subtitles so I can read the subtitles and get more fluent.

Eight participants went to private schools at some point in their lives, and they said that their parents paid their tuition fees to ensure that they got academically rigorous education. Four participants received full tuition support from their parents throughout their higher education and 1 participant received full tuition assistance in graduate school. But, sometimes, just the fact that their parents have done some schooling in America before them was enough support for some participants to get some guidance and reassurance that they will get help along the way.

Nevine shares:

I am very lucky because my mom went to school before any of us did. So, she was

able to navigate like how to apply for college, how to get FAFSA, how to do all that

before we had to. And there are so many students who are first generation college

students and their parents didn’t know any of it, and they had to figure out FAFSA

and tuition and books and classes and signing up and doing all these things on their

own for the very first time, and it was overwhelming, and sometimes it took some

like a very long time to like get over like so that’s why it takes many of them so long

to get through community college, or like they end up like having to spend more time

figuring things out than just doing what they need to do. Thankfully, like I came to

community college, and I already knew like what classes I need to take, how to

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transfer, how to apply for FAFSA, how to do this, how to do that because my mom

had done it before me, my sister had done it before me.

For those participants who did not attend a private Islamic school, their parents enrolled them in Sunday school to supplement their religious education, and to expose them to an Islamic environment where they can make friends and feel a sense of community. Some parents went as far as starting either a private Islamic school or a Sunday school on their own when they felt the need in the community. Murad reports that his parents are the ones who started a highly reputable Islamic school that exists today in the Bay Area because they wanted him and his sisters to have a well-rounded education. Smile said that her dad started a

Sunday school in the mosque to supplement her academically rigorous education in the

Catholic school, and to keep her grounded in her faith. In addition, she mentioned that her parents would take her and her brother to Islamic conferences, Islamic summer camps, and make them attend lectures and speeches on Islam to give them the emotional and spiritual support that they needed to believe in themselves and in their faith.

Sometimes the best support parents gave the participants was teaching by example.

The fact that all participants grew up in households that value family life, and in which none of the participants’ parents smoke or drink, and they greatly value education, shaped participants’ characters and perspectives. Murad says:

When they taught us about religion, it was not just words, but they actually lived it.

That we actually saw them in front of us, how they practiced, and what they did. It

wasn’t like my parents were saying you know “Don’t use these bad words.” And

then, they turn around and use them. Then say, “We are adults, so we can do

whatever we want.” It was like, I can say with confidence, my entire life, I’ve never

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,profanity) from any of my parents. That was their standard) شتيمة heard sheteema

and that is what they lived by.

All participants reported that they grew up in families where both parents were always present, and each parent played a vital role in supporting the participants socially, emotionally, and financially. These forms of social capital correspond with Portes &

Rumbaut’s (2001a) protective factors that facilitate and expedite assimilation of the immigrant group into the mainstream society. These forms include parental status, family structure, gender, and co-ethnic/ immigrant social networks, all of which provided the participants with much needed support to achieve their aspired socio-economic goals.

Seventeen out of 22 of the participants’ parents work in professional careers, and all of them have bachelor’s degrees or higher. This allows them to have higher socio-economic status, which gives them access to more resources that they need to support their children. All participants were raised in households that have two parents. This allows the participants’ parents to divide their roles, provide their children with more support in various areas, and maintain good relationships with them (Coleman 1988). This also allows the parents to have more outside connections, which provides the children with more information and resources.

Most participants report that their mothers played a crucial role in their upbringing, which supports the role of females as keepers of language, culture, and heritage, and their ability to transfer them to their children. Many participants also report that the masjid (mosque) was the center of their social life. For many of them, the mosque was the center of their co-ethnic social networks. Murad reports:

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My parents were very, not only involved in the Islamic school, but also very active at

the masjid [mosque]. So, all of our activities growing up, we were all you know. The

way my parents like to put it is that their whole social life was the masjid at the time.

However, parents also adopted the American values of equal gender roles and taught their children those newly acquired values. Waleed shares:

I’ve never seen it, and my parents have never shown it to me, as like the traditional

like the father is the head of the household, or like the mother is the person who does

the work with the children. They’ve always made it seem like, even now when I talk

to my parents about income and such, they’ve always made it seem like they are both

equal. They both do equal amount of work and almost like battling like typical gender

stereotypes. My parents have never made it seem like the man is more dominant in

the family or the woman is subdued. My parents really taught me equality in its

highest form.

The second support system that many participants appreciate is the support they received from their teachers, coaches, and school counselors. Both Mohammad and Taha recall that they had one-on-one tutoring at school and afterschool that helped them catch up with their English skills when they first came to the United States at an early age. They also remember getting extra homework that, they say, was very helpful as well. Huda recalls some of her teachers supporting her after Donald Trump was elected president because they felt her vulnerability among her peers. Smile is grateful for her high school teacher who used to bring her to every single one of his classes and ask her to give presentations about Islam, and to run a question and answer session. She says that was what sparked her interest in doing presentations on Islam and becoming an activist. She also reports that she is still in contact

145 with a professor she had at her school, who used to send her text messages to constantly check on her, and to remind her that her professors were available to provide support and assistance to her and to other Muslim students after the events of September 11, 2001.

Rowayda relied on her guidance counselors at her school who planned events such as

‘Alumni day’ in which older students come in and talk about their experiences to compensate for her parents’ inability to support her in choosing and applying for schools. She shares:

Being that they [Rowayda’ s parents] are not from here, from the area, it was a one

man’s battle in the beginning to find the schools, and to navigate which is a better

school, which is not a good school. But that’s what the guidance counselors in school

are here for. That definitely helped a lot because they have the knowledge, and also

my older friends would help as well…In my school, because we are mostly

minorities, we have ‘Alumni Day’ which the older students would come back and

they would tell us about their experiences, and what schools they go to, and the pros

and cons of their whole journey. So, that also helped a lot. They are kind of like older

siblings to us.

Rowayda’ s experience supports previous research concerning the need of some second- generation immigrant students to navigate school on their own due to their parents’ limited knowledge and resources (Lee, 1995; Wing, 2007).

The third pillar of support that all participants reported relying heavily upon, especially in their later years through high school onward, was their friends. Some participants made different friend groups that provided them with various types of support.

Many participants reported having childhood friends that stayed with them throughout life.

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Those participants were the ones who attended private Islamic schools and made friends with other Muslims from other cultures.

Nevine explains:

A lot of my friends I’m close to them because I’ve known them for so long. I really

like it that way. I am glad they were able to kind of like grow with me…maybe the

most important thing about my friends is that they have to share the same values, like

we may have different interests, but our values are the same, like the things that are

important to us, and the way we behave, and the way we interact with each other are

the things that are important to me.

Smile depends on her friends to support her in providing a wholesome experience for her own children. She says:

My friends have literally been my rock, the reason why I feel very safe and

comfortable. They are my support. They are the ones that we dealt with a lot of these

things together. We now have kids the same age. So, we take all of our kids out

together because we know the importance of having a good Muslim community for

our children. So, they grow up with the same things that we grew up with…I feel like

we have been able to live, as much as we can, the American style, and at the same

time, we can be very comfortable as a Muslim in this country.

Other participants who have not had that experience of growing up around many

Muslims in their communities resorted to friends who have had similar experiences as minorities or as children of immigrants. So, they chose friends they could relate to and who can understand their perspective. Waleed explains:

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I have noticed that my friends are typically people who have parents who are

immigrants, who have experienced the same type of childhood. Like my friends are

people I can relate to, and, at the end of the day, I can always just talk to them, and it

doesn’t feel like I am talking to someone who like hadn’t led the same life as me. I

try to find friends who are similar to me, and who want the best for me.

When asked about what advice would she give a second generation Muslim Egyptian

American who is following her same path, Rowayda responds:

Find people like you. It is a lot easier to navigate through all this when you have

people who have similar values. I think that’s what helped me through all of my

struggles is having my best friends who are also Egyptians with Egyptian parents,

second generation Egyptians, and we are going through the same struggle, and we

can laugh about it, cry about it, complain about it. But we are still going to go

through it.

Other participants made friends through the study groups they joined in high school and in college. Miracle reports:

I have my close close friends from my study group who have become like my best

friends. We have known each other for four years now, and it has been like a really

really close friendship because we spent so much time together and we have all been

on the same journey towards the same goal.

For those participants who had Caucasian friends, they all reported that their friends were very respectful, understanding, and accommodating to their cultural and religious values. They also reported that they chose friends who were open-minded and accepting of diversity. But they also reported that there was always an invisible barrier between them due

148 to their cultural and religious differences. In all cases, friends played a crucial role in providing the emotional, social, and spiritual support to the participants that sometimes their parents were not able to provide.

Theme 9: Racial Ambiguity

Given the fact that Egyptians are the melting pot of the East, they come in all colors and shapes because they were colonized by European countries, Egypt is the gateway to

Africa, and Egyptians have interacted with other Arabs from Asia through trade, work, and marital relationships. So, it is very hard to identify specific physical characteristics that distinguish Egyptians from other nationalities. This is what confuses many people about the race and ethnicity of many Egyptians. In addition, Egyptians are as diverse in their perspectives as they are in their physical features. They cover the whole spectrum from being very liberal and westernized to being extremely conservative and traditional. So, the participants whose physical features were more westernized, such as Murad, were more likely to integrate into the society and less likely to face discrimination unless they had other identifiers like their name. But the participants whose features were different from the mainstream, or had other identifiers, like the hijab, had a different experience. Samar reflects:

I don’t know if there is necessarily a specific look from a western perspective. So,

people will look at me, and will kind of be like racially ambiguous. So, they are not

sure where exactly I came from. So, it was kind of interesting to navigate that.

Nevine also has another interesting experience. She states:

I’m relatively. I think it’s weird. I look very American, like my facial features and my

skin tone and everything. Even like a lot of Arabs think I am a convert, especially if I

don’t speak Arabic. They’re like, “Oh, when did you convert?” because they think

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I’m like a white American and I’m like “Oh, no, I’m Egyptian.” So, that’s been a

weird experience. It is not too big of a deal, but I feel that sometimes Arabs treat me

in a way where they think I’m a convert. They think I’m American, or like Americans

will treat me like an American, especially when I was younger because I have blonde

hair. So, I looked very very American. So, that was a weird experience.

Magda says:

I think a lot of time just judging me the way that I look, most people think I am

Hispanic. And so, I did have some teachers occasionally that would talk to me in

Spanish.

Racial ambiguity and racial confusion occurred among those participants regardless of their skin tone or their degree of integration into the American culture, which was a challenge that many of the participants had to navigate.

Overarching Research Question: What Does it Mean to be a Second Generation Muslim

Egyptian American Student in America?

The 22 themes that emerged from the three research sub-questions provide an understanding of the overarching research question that attempts to investigate how second generation Muslim Egyptian American students navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. Second generation Muslim Egyptian American students understand the struggles that their parents had to endure, and they appreciate the sacrifices that their parents made to provide them with better opportunities and upward mobility. They also acknowledge their parents’ efforts to teach them the Arabic language, and to allow them to maintain their connection with their culture and heritage by taking them to Egypt whenever that was possible.

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Additionally, they appreciate the Islamic values that they learned from an early age, and they believe that those values have helped them overcome many of the obstacles and the challenges that they faced as they were growing up. Second generation Muslim Egyptian

Americans are also aware that they are officially classified as white, but they know very well that they are being treated as a problem minority. However, they attribute that to their religious affiliation rather than to their race or ethnicity. They are well-educated, bilingual and bi-cultural. Thus, they are autonomous, and they have a wider and deeper perspective than the average American who is generally monolingual and monocultural.

Despite the cultural conflicts that second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans have with their parents and with their extended family members in Egypt, they greatly appreciate the very tight and strong relationship among family members, and the sense of community that is characteristic of the Egyptian culture. On the other hand, they are very socially and politically vocal about any forms of stereotyping or discrimination against any marginalized groups, which leads them to be activists and advocates for equity and human rights. Because of the limited number of Egyptian immigrants, and the fact that they are widely dispersed in the community, many second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students grew up among students from diverse cultures and races. So, their knowledge and information about the Egyptian culture and traditions comes mainly from their parents and from their brief visits to Egypt. Thus, they do not associate with being Egyptian as much as they do with being Muslim although they increasingly appreciate their heritage as they get older.

Overall, second generation Muslim Egyptian American students are a byproduct of two cultures that mold them into a hybrid of both. Thus, they get the best of both worlds.

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They are rooted in their faith, and they know that the sky is the limit when it comes to their dreams and their aspirations.

The following 3 tables explain participants’ responses to each of the themes that emerged from the 3 research sub-questions. The (+) sign indicates that the participant reported experiencing the phenomenon. The (-) sign indicates that the participant reported not experiencing the phenomenon. The (/) sign indicates that the participant did not mention the phenomenon. The (NA) sign indicates that the phenomenon does not apply to the participant.

The first table explains the participants’ reports of their schooling experiences and their individual experiences of each of the 6 relating themes regarding that research sub-question: academic challenges, cultural challenges, religious challenges, positive relationships with teachers, negative experiences with teachers, resiliency and perseverance.

Table 8

Summary of Interview Themes: School Experiences

Participants Academic Cultural Religious Positive Negative Resiliency challenges challenges challenges relationships experiences and with teachers with perseverance teachers 1.Muhammad + + + + - + 2.Taha + + + + + + 3.Huda - + + + + + 4.Nevine + + + + - + 5.Waleed - + - + + + 6.Smile - + + + + + 7.Miracle - + + + + + 8.Kamal - + - + - + 9.Murad + + + + + + 10.Magda - + + + + + 11.Rowayda + + + + + + 12.Samar - + - + + +

Legend:

(+): experienced the phenomenon (-): did not experience the phenomenon

(/): unreported (NA): does not apply to the participant

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As noted, few participants (5) had initial academic challenges that they were generally able to overcome. However, all participants had to navigate cultural challenges that they were not familiar with. The participants who did not face religious challenges were those who were more liberal and assimilated more into the American mainstream, or the ones who were raised in an Islamic sheltered environment and were not generally exposed to the dominant culture. All participants reported having positive relationships with their teachers although 9 out of 12 participants reported having one or more negative experiences with their teachers at one point in their academic lives. All participants reported learning from their parents and their own experiences how to build resiliency and perseverance.

The second table explains participants’ responses to the second research sub-question in relation to the 7 themes that emerged from the data analysis regarding their experiences of each phenomenon: language, cultural and religious norms, conflicts with parents, discrimination at school, activism, beliefs about the home culture, and friends.

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Table 9

Summary of Interview Themes: Home/School Adjustments

Legend:

(+): experienced the phenomenon (-): did not experience the phenomenon (/): unreported (NA): does not apply to the participant

All participants reported having difficulties with code-switching between English and

Arabic based on the environments they were in. Eleven participants reported incidents of having to navigate cultural norms between home and school, but one participant did not mention anything specifically about that issue. Eight participants reported having conflicts with their parents related to identity and cultural expectations. Four participants said that they

154 did not have any conflicts with their parents regarding that. Nine participants reported experiencing incidents of discrimination at school. Three participants reported that they did not experience any form of discrimination at school. Six participants reported engaging in one or more forms of activism at school or at work. Six participants did not mention anything about activism in the interviews. All participants had beliefs about their home culture and all participants reported that they had different groups of friends for different types of support.

The third table explains the experiences that participants had in navigating the dominant culture. It describes the participants’ reports of their experiences regarding each of the 9 emerging themes: beliefs about the dominant culture, positive work experiences, negative work experiences, positive community experiences, negative community experiences, positive effects of technology, negative effects of technology, support systems, and racial ambiguity.

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Table 10

Summary of Interview Themes: Navigating the Dominant Culture

Participants Beliefs Positive Negative Positive Negative Positive Negative Support Racial about the work work community community effects of effects of systems ambiguity dominant experiences experiences experiences experiences technology technology culture 1Muhammad + + - / + + + + / 2 Taha + + + / / + + + / 3 Huda + NA NA + + + - + / 4 Nevine + + + / + + - + + 5 Waleed + NA NA / - + + + + 6 Smile + + + + + + + + + 7 Miracle + + - + - + + + - 8 Kamal + + - + - + - + - 9 Murad + + + / - + - + + 10 Magda + + + / - + + + + 11 Rowayda + / - / - + - + + 12 Samar + NA NA / + + + + +

Legend:

(+): experienced the phenomenon (-): did not experience the phenomenon (/): unreported (NA): does not apply to the participant

All participants believed that they were minorities in the dominant culture, and that their values did not fully align with those of the dominant culture. They all reported their beliefs about the dominant culture. Eight participants reported having positive work experiences. Three participants were not working at the time, and 1 participant did not mention anything specific about her work. Four participants reported having negative work experiences. Three participants were not working at the time or did not work before. Four participants reported never having a negative experience at work. Four participants reported that their experiences in the outside community were rather positive. Eight participants did not report anything specific about their community experiences. Five participants reported negative community experiences. Six participants reported that they never had any negative experience in the community. One participant did not mention it in the interview. All

156 participants reported positive effects of technology. However, seven participants reported that multiple negative effects of technology on them or on their sub-ethnic group. Five participants reported that they did not see any negative effects of technology. All students had multiple support systems. Finally, seven participants reported incidents where people were not able to identify where they were from. Two students reported that people can generally tell where their racial background. Three participants did not report anything about that.

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Chapter 5

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to understand how second generation

Muslim Egyptian American students navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. To do so, the study examined 12 second generation Muslim Egyptian American students and alumni’s schooling experiences, home to school adjustments, and how they navigate the dominant culture.

The study adds to the existing literature as it is the first study that focuses on second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans, and not just on Arabs or Muslims in America in general. The study gives second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans a voice and uses their experiences as a lens to understand how they navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation.

To understand the phenomenon, the study had an overarching question and 3 research sub-questions. The research questions that the study focused on are:

1. What does it mean to be a second-generation Muslim Egyptian American student in

America?

(a) Based on their perceptions, how do second-generation Muslim Egyptian

American students experience schooling in America?

(b) How do second-generation Muslim Egyptian American students balance their

home and school environments?

dominant culture?

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To answer the research questions, the researcher interviewed 12 participants who experienced the phenomenon under study. The participants were all over 18 years old. They were all Muslim by birth. They all had parents who were born and raised in Egypt and immigrated to the United States after the age of five. They were all students in higher education institutions or alumni. All participants participated in one-on-one interviews. The interviews took place in quiet closed environments to guarantee privacy and confidentiality.

Some interviews were conducted remotely via skype or zoom because the participants were either in Southern California or in other states at the time the interviews were conducted, and it was not feasible for them to meet with the researcher in person at that time. The interviews ranged from 40 to 140 minutes in length. The interviews were audiotaped using an electronic recorder and the recording functions in skype and zoom on the researcher’s computer. The qualitative phenomenological approach allowed the participants to share, in depth, their perceptions and experiences regarding their schooling experiences, the challenges that face them when they transition from their home to school environments and vice versa, and their experiences in their interactions with the dominant culture. The following sections of this chapter include a summary of the findings, theoretical application of the findings to the theories used to explain the phenomenon, implications of the findings, recommendations for policy and practice, limitations of the study, recommendations for future research, and researcher’s notes.

Summary and Interpretations of Findings

Twenty-two themes emerged from the qualitative data in relation to the three sub- questions. These themes are: academic challenges, cultural challenges, religious challenges, positive relationships with teachers, negative experiences with teachers, resiliency and

159 perseverance, language, cultural and religious norms, conflicts with parents, discrimination at school, activism, beliefs about the home culture, friends, beliefs about the dominant culture, positive work experiences, negative work experiences, positive community experiences, negative community experiences, positive effects of technology, negative effects of technology, support systems, and racial ambiguity.

Table 11 provides a description of the overarching research question, the 3 research sub-questions, and their corresponding themes.

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Table 11

Research Questions and Themes

Overarching Research Question:

What Does It Mean to Be a Second Generation Muslim Egyptian American Student in America?

Research Sub-question 1: Research Sub-question 2: Research Sub-question 3:

Schooling Experience Home School Adjustments Navigating the Dominant

Culture

1. Academic Challenges 1. Language 1. Beliefs about the Dominant

2. Cultural Challenges 2. Cultural and Religious Culture

3. Religious Challenges Norms 2. Positive Work Experiences 3. Negative Work Experiences 4. Positive Relationships 3. Conflicts with Parents 4. Positive Community with Teachers 4. Discrimination at School Experiences 5. Negative Experiences 5. Activism 5. Negative Community with Teachers 6. Beliefs about Home Experiences 6. Resiliency and Culture 6. Positive Effects of Perseverance. 7. Friends. Technology

7. Negative effects of

Technology

8. Support Systems

9. Racial Ambiguity

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The above table displays the sorted and categorized themes that address the three research sub-questions. The following section will address the interpretations of each research sub-question separately.

Interpretations of Research Sub-question 1: Schooling Experience

Six themes emerged from the qualitative data relating to the first research sub- question regarding second generation Muslim Egyptian American students’ perception of their schooling experience. These themes are academic challenges, cultural challenges, religious challenges, positive relationships with teachers, negative experiences with teachers, and resiliency and perseverance.

Most participants reported doing very well at school. The only challenge they all had was learning to speak solely in one language at home (Arabic) and in another language

(English) at school. This initially was somewhat mentally and emotionally stressful, but as they got older, it became much easier. In fact, they were all grateful for the opportunity to have learned two languages. The participants who spent the first few years of their academic lives in Egypt reported some initial academic challenges due to their limited English proficiency at the time, but they also reported that, with their parents and their teachers’ support, they were able to overcome that obstacle and improve their English skills especially because they came to the United States at a fairly young age. The participants who attended private Islamic schools reported that their schools, at the time, were not as academically rigorous as other public or private schools in their areas, which made them initially struggle academically in their higher education institutions. However, because they understood and appreciated the value of education, they utilized the resources available to them at their universities and were able to catch up with their peers fairly quickly.

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Many participants had to navigate multiple cultural differences among their parents, their Arab peers, their white American peers, and their school versus home norms. Most participants felt a sense of loneliness and isolation in their schools because oftentimes, they were the only Egyptians in their classes, and in many instances, in their entire schools. Many were driven by the need to fit in, which was a very difficult thing to do, whether among their

Arab or white American peers. This made some of them lack some social skills that other peers naturally acquired. It also prompted some of them to educate their parents about culturally acceptable values at school, so they do not stand out as different from their peers.

On the other hand, some participants felt overburdened by the task of having to educate their peers about their culture and their religion. These leadership roles allowed the participants to be more perceptive of cultural differences, stereotyping, and discrimination, and more likely to fight against them. Finally, all participants were aware that they were more socially conservative than their white peers or those who adopted American and western values, and they were more politically liberal than their parents who were raised under authoritarian regimes.

Next, the sample of participants, to a great degree, represented the diversity in the

Egyptian culture. Although all participants reported that they were generally more conservative than people from the dominant culture, they ranged from being a little more liberal than the average Egyptian to being rather conservative. However, all participants were practicing Muslims although with varying degrees. This fact also shaped their perception of the religious challenges that they faced. Generally speaking, participants reported facing 3 forms of religious challenges at school. The first one was their name. Both males and females reported that their names caused them a problem whether because it was hard for English

163 speaking people to pronounce them, or because their names identified them as Arabs and

Muslims, which were reasons for some of their peers to bully them or discriminate against them. Other participants faced the same type of discrimination and stereotyping because either the female participants wore hijab, or the male participants were seen with their mothers who wore hijab when they dropped them off or picked them up from school. Finally, many second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans were apprehensive of revealing their need to pray in school for fear of discrimination or ridicule. So, they had to deal with the guilt of having to delay their prayers until they went home, which is a sin, or hide in their cars or in private areas so they do not get labeled as fanatics, which compounded their sense of fear

(Bayoumi, 2008; Naber, 2012).

Second generation Muslim Egyptian American students generally come from very highly educated families (Cainkar, 2013), and they understand and appreciate the value of education. They also come from a culture that puts very strong emphasis on respecting elders.

This is what usually prompts them to respect their teachers even though they may disagree with them. They would never disrespect their teachers or argue with them even if their teachers were wrong. That is why they generally have good relationships with their teachers.

They are hardly defiant or disrespectful. This supports Ogbu and Simon’s (1998) theory of the voluntary minorities’ trust of the educational system and appreciation for the opportunity to learn in America as they compare themselves to their Egyptian counterparts and realize the privileges that they have by receiving quality American education.

However, occasionally, G2MEAS face incidents of discrimination and stereotyping based on ethnicity and religious affiliation. It is important to note that it is rare that they face discrimination because of their Egyptian origin, but they are usually discriminated against

164 because they are both Arabs and Muslims. This is usually due to the lack of awareness about the varied cultural differences among the Arab and Muslim countries, and the common misconceptions that all Arabs are Muslims and that all Muslims speak Arabic.

Finally, G2MEAS live in households where their parents are first generation immigrants. So, they experience, firsthand, the resiliency and perseverance of their parents, which is a value that they acquire from their parents as they get to see and appreciate the sacrifices that their parents make for them to have quality education and professional careers.

Additionally, their respect for their elders combined with their fear of being further stigmatized for their academic struggles, prompt them to challenge themselves, take initiatives, and live up to their religious and cultural expectations.

Interpretations of Research Sub-question 2: Home School Adjustments

The second research sub-question revealed 7 themes that relate to how G2MEAS balance their home and school environments. These themes are language, cultural and religious norms, conflicts with parents, discrimination at school, activism, beliefs about home culture, and friends. G2MEAS maintain their language and their cultural and religious traditions while they adopt the language and cultural norms of the target population that do not conflict with their values. This is an example of selective acculturation (Portes &

Rumbaut, 2001). Other research (Cummins, 1977) also suggests that fluency in the primary language supports English language acquisition, which is why many participants reported that it was not hard for them to learn English at all. Some participants even reported that they have advanced English language skills. However, G2MEAS adopted the American values of individuality and independence over their cultural values of community emphasis and interdependence (Yang, 2004), which shows that even though G2MEAS understand and

165 respect their parents, they value their autonomy and adopt it as an American value. Secondly, some G2MEAS have parents who lack human capital to help them navigate school. This forces them to take on leadership responsibilities in navigating the school system on their own (Ngo et al., 2007). They also navigate how to deal with unlimited parental control that goes well into adulthood, and that is characteristic of the Egyptian culture regarding career choices and leaving their parents’ house after the age of 18, or at least not going too far.

Although G2MEAS and their parents see the value of education (Orfalea, 2006), they always have conflicting cultural perceptions about what constitutes a good career choice. In addition, because G2MEAS grew up in isolation from their extended families, they were not able to learn the deeply rooted value of interdependence and community-based support that is also characteristic of the Egyptian society. Those who were privileged to have witnessed it in their summer visits to Egypt have conflicting opinions about it. Some appreciate it, while others resent it. But in all cases, they do not adopt it because it is not part of their lived experience.

Next, G2MEAS continue to face incidents of stereotyping and discrimination at school (Samman, 2005) although such incidents are gradually declining as cultural and religious awareness are increasing, and as more immigrants continue to populate many areas in America, educate Americans about different cultural and religious norms, and entice all

Americans to value and respect diversity. G2MEAS choose to do so through being socially and politically active, and through bringing awareness about their ethnicity and religion. This role seems to be in its second wave of rising since it got greatly suppressed in the seventies and during the turn of the century.

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Another emerging theme is G2MEAS beliefs about their home culture. G2MEAS are self-reliant, autonomous, and financially independent. These are all American values that are different from the cultural norms in Egypt. They also believe that they are more open-minded than their Egyptian counterparts because they live in a diverse heterogeneous society unlike the homogenous society that is characteristic of Egypt. Furthermore, they adopt and appreciate the freedom of speech that they grew to value and practice, and they sympathize with people in Egypt who may not have the opportunity to practice that right to the same degree. In addition, G2MEAS appreciate the fluidity of gender roles in America versus the much more solidified conceptions about gender roles in Egypt. This flexibility allows them the opportunity for self-expression and self-exploration in ways that may not be as culturally possible in Egypt.

Nevertheless, G2MEAS are usually impressed with the sense of community, chauvinism, and spirituality that they see in Egypt although they do not usually get to practice them here because these values are not part of the dominant culture, or at least not as greatly valued as they are in Egypt. On the other hand, G2MEAS are critical of the fact that people in Egypt are too westernized. They see that most people in Egypt are adopting

American and western cultural values that are foreign to the Egyptian culture and are not conducive of its progress such as adopting the latest fashion, movies, and music, or speaking in English even among themselves to indicate a social class distinction rather than adopting the values of hard work, individuality, and independence that are characteristic of the

American culture.

One very interesting finding is that G2MEAS believe that they are more entuned with their religion in America, even though they are a religious minority, than Egyptians in Egypt

167 who are predominantly Muslim. They attribute that to the fact that Muslims in America feel a need to hold on to their religious identity especially because their cultural identity is negligible and because they constantly feel that their identity is being threatened and attacked versus people in Egypt who do not feel that threat. So, Egyptians are much more bound by cultural than by religious norms. However, G2MEAS realize the gravity of the responsibility of being ambassadors of their cultural heritage and their religion in a land that knows nothing about either. Although G2MEAS understand that they are an embodiment of their culture and their faith, they separate culture from religion. They adopt the religion in ways that do not conflict with the emerging hybrid culture that they create for themselves in their new realities, and they disregard the Egyptian cultural norms that do not fit their need for assimilation in the dominant culture (Naber, 2012).

Finally, G2MEAS acknowledge that would not be able to navigate many unchartered waters without the support of their friends. They divide their friends into groups. Each group provides a different type of support. Muslim friends support them when they face any form of religious stereotyping or discrimination. They also function as a moral compass, and they provide spiritual support as needed. Egyptian and Arab friends remind them of their roots and their cultural affiliations and provide them with a venue to express themselves in their home language.

However, G2MEAS cannot always associate with their Arab friends from other Arab countries for a number of reasons. G2MEAS notice that some of their Arab friends adopt

American values to a point where they become “whitewashed” (Pyke & Dang, 2003). They lose their religious and cultural values and they prefer to associate with the dominant culture.

On the other hand, G2MEAS struggle to associate with other Arabs because those Arabs hold

168 too much to their heritage and tradition and fail to integrate to a level that is comfortable for

G2MEAS to adopt. Another challenge that G2MEAS face is the different vocabulary that

Arabs from other countries use which is quite different from the Egyptian slang. As was previously mentioned, Egypt is Hollywood of the East. During the last century, it was the only country that made movies, songs, music, and other media productions that the rest of the

Arab world enjoyed. That is the reason why all Arabs understand Egyptian Arabic, but

Egyptians do not usually understand other Arabs because they have not been exposed to their dialects. Finally, many Arabs, because of the tribal nature of their cultural heritage, prefer to hang out together to the exclusion of people from other cultures especially other minority groups. Many G2MEAS find this action discriminatory and unjustified. All these factors compounded the sense of loneliness and isolation among G2MEAS even within their Arab peers.

So, G2MEAS resort to their white Caucasian friends who usually provide academic or other specialized support such as in sports teams or at workplaces. In general, G2MEAS choose friends who are either respectful and understanding of their different cultural and religious norms, or who have had similar experiences because they, too, descend from marginalized communities. This shows that, even though G2MEAS know that they are racially being classified as “white”, they are aware that they are being treated as a cultural and religious minority, which is even compounded for them than for other minorities. That is why they associate more with people from similar marginalized backgrounds, but not necessarily with other Arabs, especially those who do not share similar values.

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Interpretations of Research Sub-question 3: Navigating the Dominant Culture

Nine themes emerged from the qualitative data regarding how G2MEAS navigate the dominant culture. These themes are beliefs about the dominant culture, positive work experiences, negative work experiences, positive community experiences, negative community experiences, positive effects of technology, negative effects of technology, support systems, and racial ambiguity. G2MEAS choose to selectively acculturate into the

American mainstream by adopting the American values that do not conflict with their religious values such as freedom of speech, hard work, and independence. However, they know that they are generally more conservative than the average American. So, they adopt the values that allow them social and economic mobility without having to sacrifice their cultural heritage or religion such as overemphasizing the value of education and using religious teachings as their moral compass.

G2MEAS generally have positive work experiences because they choose to work in places that celebrate diversity and respect cultural and religious differences. Most of the negative work experiences that G2MEAS may face are during job interviews with people who are ignorant and biased about G2MEAS’ religious background. Most of the time, discrimination occurs when G2MEAS have a clear identifier of their religion such as their name or their Islamic dress especially for women. Otherwise, G2MEAS do not usually face problems at work except for occasional political discussions that represent the vast polarization between the East and the West. Accordingly, many religiously visible G2MEAS avoid working in places where they may stand out as different from others. Instead, they prefer to work behind the scenes such as in desk jobs or in nonprofit organizations. Other

G2MEAS, with less visible identifiers, try to assimilate into the American mainstream by

170 changing their names, or adopting some of the American cultural values that although may not be consistent with their cultural heritage, but, at least, are not too distant from their religious ideologies.

G2MEAS do not see that the American mainstream is generally able to distinguish them from other Arabs or Muslims except for the fascination of many Americans with ancient Egyptian history. This is partly because Egyptians, in general, are more able to assimilate into the American culture than other Arabs and Muslims from other minority groups because they are more westernized. This is why G2MEAS generally have positive community experiences especially in areas that have more diverse and relatively younger populations such as California. However, they still experience stereotypes that are specific to their nationality such as being asked if they still ride camels, or if they can read hieroglyphics, the ancient Egyptian language. They attribute these stereotypes to the negative effects of technology such as the media that propagates stereotypes and misconceptions about

Arabs and Muslims in general.

G2MEAS find many advantages to the development of technology such as facilitating communication especially between them and their extended family members and friends in their homeland, providing networking experiences, allowing them access to valuable information about the current political events in their homeland, and providing them with answers to religious questions that help ground them in their faith. However, as members of a cultural and religious minority, they experience more blatant forms of racism and discrimination over the internet than in person. They also see a great deal of misinformation that causes misconceptions and stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims.

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G2MEAS fear that the abundance of information causes confusion as many people are unable to separate facts from biases and prejudices.

Because G2MEAS constitute a minority within the Arab and Muslim minority groups, they rely heavily on their support systems to provide them with the support that they need in many aspects of their lives. First, they rely heavily on their families to provide them with moral, cultural, religious, and financial support. Because they generally come from families with higher socio-economic status, many G2MEAS get access to resources that members of other minority groups do not always have access to, such as attending private schools, joining athletic programs, tutoring, and financial support throughout higher education and beyond. Second, they rely on the school system when their parents are not able to provide support in that area by seeking the support of their teachers, coaches, and counselors. Third, they rely on their friends to play the role of the extended family that they never get to experience. G2MEAS usually have different friend groups that provide different support in different areas. Childhood friends share the journey and understand the struggles they go through. Muslim friends provide spiritual support. Friends of color or from marginalized groups share the feeling of being discriminated against and can relate to

G2MEAS’ experiences of stereotyping and discrimination. White American friends understand the academic struggles that they go through and provide the support needed as

G2MEAS navigate the challenges of academia or share the hardships of the workplace.

Finally, G2MEAS are truly the “other whites” as they struggle to navigate the dominant culture’s confusion about their racial ambiguity because of their inconsistent physical features.

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Theoretical Application

This phenomenological qualitative study is grounded in two main theories: segmented assimilation theory and cultural ecological theory. The convergence of these two theories provides a critical explanation of how G2MEAS navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. G2MEAS’ understandings and perceptions of their identities and how they are being perceived within the dominant culture are framed within these two theoretical frameworks.

Segmented Assimilation Theory

Portes and Zhou (1993) defied the classical definition of assimilation as a straightforward cultural, social, and economic path into the American mainstream (Warner &

Srole, 1945). They argued that as the numbers of non-white immigrants to the United States increased, those new non-European immigrants employed multiple trajectories towards assimilation, experienced varied and complex acculturation processes, and had different assimilation outcomes. They described three possible trajectories: classical upward assimilation, downward mobility, and segmented assimilation. In segmented assimilation, the immigrant community preserves its values against the dominant culture’s fierce pressures to fully assimilate. G2MEAS experience segmented assimilation into the American mainstream.

They adopt the English language and some American cultural values, while, at the same time, preserve their primary language and some of their cultural norms. They are fluent in both

Arabic and English, although they are more fluent in English than they are in Arabic because they have not had equal formal schooling in Arabic. They normally adopt higher moral standards than others because they are both culturally and religiously obligated to answer to much higher ethical standards than is normally expected in the American mainstream culture.

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In addition, they bear the responsibility of representing their faith which puts an added pressure on those who choose to abide by it. They value family life and they respect their parents, but they strive to keep their autonomy and independence. They usually find a middle ground where they please their parents to the extent that it does not interfere with them making their own decisions.

G2MEAS are children of legal immigrants to the United States who usually have higher levels of education. Their mode of governmental incorporation into the American society is usually neutral. However, societal reception of G2MEAS is rather prejudiced, especially when they have visible identifiers of their ethnicity or their faith. Nevertheless, many G2MEAS are able to overcome that by joining strong co-ethnic Arab and Muslim communities that provide them with social capital, and by relying on their first-generation immigrant parents who usually have enough financial and human capital to support them as needed. These two protective factors give them a higher chance of achieving social and economic upward mobility than members of other minority groups. G2MEAS assimilate into the American mainstream fairly quickly because their parents speak English or are able to learn it fairly quickly. Their parents also have human, financial, and social capital that sustain

G2MEAS until they achieve their social and economic goals.

However, like many other minority groups, G2MEAS face some barriers or down leveling factors that influence their upward social and economic mobility such as racial discrimination and the hourglass economy. Many G2MEAS experience prejudice and discrimination based on their skin color, physical appearance, and mainly religion, which automatically classifies them as the “other” in the eyes of the American mainstream and counteracts any economic or educational advances they may achieve (Waters, 1990, 1999).

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Although G2MEAS are usually highly educated and their parents are also highly educated, some G2MEAS still hit a job ceiling because their parents do not have a legacy of understanding the system and learning to work around it which decreases their chances of pursuing careers that maybe more readily accessible to others. Many G2MEAS do not face inequality because of their strong protective factors such as selective parent-child acculturation and social capital. Selective parent-child acculturation allows G2MEAS to preserve their language and culture while adopting the American mainstream cultural norms

(Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). By having their academic, spiritual, and social life revolve around the mosque, they create strong co-ethnic communities that protect them against discrimination. In addition, many G2MEAS have all the forms of social capital that increase their chances of having a better reception within the dominant culture. Because the Egyptian culture is based on strong family ties, G2MEAS have the privilege of being raised in traditional households where both parents are present. But because the first immigrant population does not have the privilege of having extended family or a large Egyptian community to provide support, gender roles become more fluid than the those in traditional

Egyptian households. This is usually a value that G2MEAS appreciate. In this study, it was not clear that females were more under the influence of their parents than the males. In fact, it was apparent that both have equal rights and responsibilities. Finally, G2MEAS utilize multiple networks of support to achieve their social and economic mobility while maintaining their selective acculturation.

Cultural-Ecological Theory

Ogbu and Simons (1998) developed the cultural ecological model to study the effect of the “ecology” or the “setting” or “environment” on the academic performance of different

175 minority groups. According to the cultural ecological theory, two factors affect minority students’ school performance: the system and community forces. The system includes three sets of factors: (a) the educational policies, (b) school and classroom policies, and (c) societal rewards. The educational policies that affect G2MEAS environment are those relating to cultural and religious literacy. G2MEAS usually face incidents of stereotyping, bullying and discrimination because of cultural and religious ignorance. Other policies also may include dedicating a place for prayer in schools and providing protection against harassment and discrimination. G2MEAS do not have the opportunity to practice their home language on campus except if they start an Arab club, which is a student-led program. They also do not have the opportunity to celebrate their culture in their schools except when they learn about ancient Egyptian history in middle school. So, G2MEAS feel that their academic experience is disconnected from their cultural and religious identity.

The school and classroom policies also stem from cultural and religious ignorance and lack of fair representation of teachers from similar backgrounds that Arab and Muslim students in general can relate to and associate with. This leads some teachers, whether from the dominant culture or those who have been affected by it, to overtly express their biases and prejudices against Arabs and Muslims in general, and to discriminate against G2MEAS because of common stereotypes or misconceptions. Despite these challenges, G2MEAS consider their parents’ sacrifices and their privileged status in America as a reason to value education especially as they perceive it to be the only means toward upward mobility.

Many G2MEAS overcome instrumental discrimination by attending private Islamic schools. Others attempt to assimilate by hiding their cultural and religious identities or by associating with others from similar marginalized groups. But although they sometimes hit a

176 job ceiling, they always feel that good education will help them break that ceiling and set them free. G2MEAS do not usually face relational discrimination because they are not physically segregated in poor neighborhoods. G2MEAS usually live in middle class, family- oriented neighborhoods with good schools. However, they often face symbolic discrimination especially when they get associated with terrorist groups, or when hijaby women get associated with submission and subordination.

Nevertheless, these barriers do not affect G2MEAS’ academic performance because of their positive frame of reference. G2MEAS see the value of school. They trust the educational system especially when they compare it to the educational system in Egypt. Even though they know that the educational system in Egypt is academically more rigorous than that in the United States, they see the disconnect between education and the job market in

Egypt, which leads them to believe in the opportunities that are available to them through the

American educational system not only in America, but worldwide. This dual frame of reference, combined with their awareness of their parents’ sacrifices, motivates them to work in school and excel both academically and athletically in many cases. This also, along with their strong moral compass and their tight family values, prompt them to have good relationships with their teachers and to go to great lengths to outperform themselves and live up to their parents’ high moral and cultural expectations.

Consequently, they adopt the dominant language and only the parts of the dominant culture that allow them to achieve academic success and employment opportunities in professional careers. This is what Ogbu and Simon (1998) refer to as the “folk theory” of school. G2MEAS see education as an investment and they see American schools as much more equipped and privileged than many others around the world. So, they take advantage of

177 that and invest in their education and enjoy the privileges that they are awarded. Next,

G2MEAS have positive relational interpretation of schooling. Not only do they trust that the educational system offers them quality education, they also believe that they receive equal educational opportunities like others especially those who live in middle-class neighborhoods. Although they do not necessarily trust their teachers, especially those from the dominant culture, but they trust administrators and school staff and they know that if they complain to them, their complaint will be taken seriously. G2MEAS have faith that schooling will eventually lead to increased equity not because of schooling in itself, but because more non-white immigrants are pressing for the need to be heard and included, and they are also pushing for cultural literacy, celebration of diversity, and inclusion.

G2MEAS have pride in their language, culture, and religion. They hold on to their values and try to maintain their language and religion by practicing them as much as possible and by teaching them to their children. These expressive factors such as collective Arab and

Muslim identity support G2MEAS as they struggle to overcome their institutional barriers.

The following figure aligns the research questions, the findings, and the theoretical framework in a model that represents how G2MEAS interact with these factors and develop their hybrid identities using Segmented Assimilation and Cultural Ecological frameworks.

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Legend: RQ: Research Question G2MEAS: Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American Students

Figure 13. Alignments of Research Questions, Findings, and Theoretical Framework.

The above model combines the overarching research question, the 3 research sub- questions, and the 2 theories used in this study to explain how G2MEAS navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation through their interaction with their multiple environments.

They constantly navigate their micro and macro-ecosystems and weave their own hybrid identity based on cultural ecology and their pace of acculturation.

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Implications of Findings

The question that grounds this study is how G2MEAS navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation. The findings from this study revealed that G2MEAS do experience both phenomena, and they are successful, for the most part, in developing strategies to deal with them. However, they do that through individual efforts and very limited means. The study revealed six implications of the findings.

The first implication of this study’s findings is that G2MEAS do not feel that their identities are being celebrated, and at times, they even feel that their identities are being attacked. This phenomenon compounds the sense of inferiority and, consequently, the unnecessary need to over assimilate to the point of getting “whitewashed” (Pyke & Dang,

2003). Schools need to provide more professional opportunities for teachers that focus on culturally responsive pedagogy. In addition, teachers need to treat students as individuals, not as representatives of their own cultures because G2MEAS do not represent the Egyptian,

Arab, or Muslim culture, but rather they represent their own interpretations of these three cultures in addition to adopting many aspects of the American culture as they were born and raised in America, and they adopt Many American values that their parents do not adopt.

The second implication of the study’s findings is that because G2MEAS value their language and cultural heritage, they do not speak English until they go to school, and even when they do go to school, they still speak Arabic at home. So, they do not have the same initial repertoire of vocabulary that native speakers have. In addition, many G2MEAS feel the need to integrate before they are able to learn the language or other subjects. Pulling them out of their classes and separating them from their peers increase their feelings of inferiority and alienation. Therefore, school districts should put less emphasis on standardized testing,

180 especially in the earlier years of schooling, and emphasize integration, cultural awareness, and English language proficiency especially for second language learners.

The third implication of the findings is that G2MEAS feel a constant need to educate their peers, their teachers, and the average American about their culture and their religion.

This phenomenon puts added pressures on them and constantly reminds them of their differences from the American mainstream. School districts should incorporate cultural and religious literacy by teaching about world cultures and world religions in their curricula to bring awareness of different cultural and religious norms and to educate the public about cultural and religious sensitivity without stereotyping.

The fourth implication of the findings of this study is that many G2MEAS become confused and resentful when they learn about American history from an American perspective only. It is important to teach patriotism, but it is equally important to respect other countries and cultures. So, policy makers should employ curricula that attempt to be honest and objective in their representations of historical events and avoid biases and negative representations of people from other cultures especially because many Americans have dual identities and this makes them torn between their need to be American and their affiliations with their cultural heritage.

The fifth implication of the findings of this study is that many G2MEAS are very eager to maintain their language and their cultural heritage. However, they do not have the means to do so. Research suggests that students who are fluent in their primary language are more successful in learning English (Cummins, 1977). Policy makers should facilitate the inception of Arabic dual immersion schools that teach students English while, at the same time, provide them with essential literacy skills in Arabic. This also prepares them to

181 represent the United States both in the Middle East and globally. These schools should also provide other resources that target minority students that are usually not available in private

Islamic schools such as sports facilities, labs, extracurricular activities, community service opportunities, and counselling services.

The sixth implication of this study’s findings is that many G2MEAS students who attend private Islamic schools lack the necessary basic skills to succeed in higher education institutions. Previous research suggests that freshman year is critical in predicting the academic success of students in subsequent years (Easton, Johnson, & Sartain, 2017). Higher education institutions’ leaders need to pay close attention to the academic needs of those students. They need to reach out to them, and provide them with free tutoring, group support, facilitate study groups, and constantly monitor their progress to ensure that they have the support that they need to graduate on time. Additionally, private Islamic schools should be held accountable for delivering the same quality education as that provided in the public- school system especially because their graduates end up in the public higher education institutions and in the workforce. So, adequately preparing those students for the workforce serves the best interest of the country as a whole.

Recommendations for Policy and Practice

The findings and implications of this study inform six recommendations for policy and practice to support G2MEAS in navigating their educational pathways and achieving social and economic upward mobility.

The first recommendation is that culturally responsive pedagogy should be included as a mandatory course in teacher preparation programs. It should also be included as a professional development opportunity for novice and experienced teachers as well. Teachers

182 need to understand that the need for students to integrate surpasses their need to learn. So, it is very important for teachers to know how to respond to students as individuals who are products of their combined American and ethnic cultures, rather than stereotyping them based on misconceptions and biased understanding of their cultural and religious heritage.

The second recommendation is that school districts should provide academic services for G2MEAS without isolating them from their peers. Since most G2MEAS get academic support at home, their need is more for integration and inclusion especially in the early years.

They also need to be emotionally protected from bullying and aggressions by peers. This necessitates the incorporation of cultural awareness and sensitivity education to all students at an early age. It also calls for making learning at the early stages more project-based to provide more opportunities for socialization, acceptance of diversity, and inclusion.

The third recommendation calls for a mandatory cultural and religious literacy curriculum that teaches students about world cultures and religions over a number of years to increase their awareness and understanding of diversity and to enable them to cope with it once they go out into the workforce.

The fourth recommendation requires educational leaders to reconstruct the narrative of teaching American history from one perspective only. Instead of presenting Arabs and

Muslims as camel riders and desert dwellers, history curricula should have a balanced approach that considers the contributions of Arabs and Muslims to the scientific knowledge.

The fifth recommendation calls for including the Arabic language as a second language that can be taught in public schools as an option. Additionally, more supportive policies should be put in place to facilitate the creation of Arabic dual immersion schools in

183 areas that have high concentrations of Arab populations to meet the need of those groups to maintain their cultural heritage.

The sixth recommendation is calling on policy makers to hold private Islamic schools accountable for providing quality education to the growing Muslim community that resorts to attending those schools to preserve their language and cultural heritage. In addition, special attention should be given to graduates of those schools as they enroll in higher education institutions by offering them the different types of support that they need to succeed and graduate on time.

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research

This phenomenological qualitative study focused on 12 second generation Muslim

Egyptian American students and alumni and attempted to understand their perceptions and understandings of what it means to be a second-generation Muslim Egyptian American student in the United States. It also explored how G2MEAS navigate racial erasure and cultural bifurcation while living in the dominant culture. However, this sample population cannot represent all second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans in the United States, and the experiences of the participants of this study are not representative of all lived experiences of second generation Muslim Egyptian American students across the country. Further research is needed to see if the findings in this research study can be generalized to a larger population.

In addition, although this study attempted to recruit a sample population that is representative of the larger population under study, the limitations of the snowball technique resulted in recruiting participants that had somewhat similar experiences. More research

184 needs to be done to identify other sample populations that may or may not have different experiences or perspectives.

Furthermore, the sample population consisted of a group of students who were very highly educated and whose families were highly educated and had the means and the resources to support their children in acquiring upward mobility. Further research is needed to examine the experiences of second generation Muslim Egyptian Americans who did not have these privileges and who chose different paths. A comparative study between the two trajectories will further enhance the academic literature on this relatively emerging sub-ethnic group.

Moreover, the participants in this study related their positive experiences to their liberal and diverse environments. More research needs to be done to explore the effects of different environments on this specific population’s lived experiences. This study can be compared with other studies that focus on other second-generation Muslim Egyptian

American students who live in more rural or conservative areas.

Religion plays a great role in shaping the perceptions and identities of second generation Muslim Egyptian American students in America. Further research needs to be done on G2MEAS who choose not to adopt Islamic values and to fully assimilate into the

American mainstream. It would also be interesting to see the effects of the loss of the Arabic language on subsequent generations because even though G2MEAS speak Arabic at home, they have not had formal Arabic education to the extent that allows them to achieve fluency especially in reading and writing complex texts.

Finally, G2MEAS seem to be heavily influenced by their Arabic, Muslim, and white

American peers. They identify themselves as Muslim and Arab Americans. The fact that they

185 are Egyptian does not play a significant role in their lives in America. More research is needed to understand how these multiple identities influence their perceptions and their assimilation trajectories in the American mainstream in comparison to their Coptic counterparts.

Researcher’s Notes

In a time where the number of non-white immigrants is changing the color of the

United States, it is increasingly compelling to include the perspectives of the many minority groups that shape America’s excellence. Research that focuses on the perspectives of different minority groups brings awareness of a counter narrative that cries to be heard.

Celebrating these diverse populations by including them in the dominant narrative and by providing them with global education allows them to be ambassadors of America around the world. Second generation Muslim Egyptian American students, among many other young immigrant populations, can play that role because of their connections to both the East and the West and because of their ability to understand both worlds. Second generation Muslim

Egyptian American students are equally proud of their American nationality and their cultural and religious heritage.

Research such as this one sheds light on the challenges that face this promising population and brings awareness to their needs and their promising potential. Sound leadership starts with awareness and, hopefully, this dissertation study plays a role in bringing awareness about the issues that influence the daily lives of second generation

Muslim Egyptian American students in America so their children’s lives may be better than theirs.

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APPENDICES

187

APPENDIX A

Demographic Information Survey

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Demographic Information Survey Handout Prior to Interview (__#______) Please complete the following demographic information to provide information on your background for this project. Thank you! Age: ______Gender: ______

Schooling Status: Community College / Four-year University / Other: ______

Field of Study: ______

Father’s occupation: ______

Mother’s occupation: ______

Father’s highest level of education: ______

Mother’s highest level of education: ______

For the following questions, please circle only one choice.

1. I identify as: Egyptian, Egyptian American, American Egyptian, American

2. I feel more comfortable around: Arab peers - Non-Arab peers.

Please put a check mark in only one of the following items:

Language Fluency Fluently Well A little Not at all

3. I understand Arabic 4. I speak Arabic 5. I read Arabic 6. I write in Arabic

Activity/Frequency Regularly Sometimes Rarely Never

7. I participate in my own ethnic organizations (i.e., attend Egyptian festivals, Eid gatherings, …etc) 8. I participate in religious ceremonies

9. I read Egyptian publications (even in English)

10. I watch Egyptian movies

11. I listen to Egyptian music/ songs

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APPENDIX B

Interview Questions

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Interview Questions

General questions:

1. Tell me about yourself and your family. Probes: (a) Tell me about your education, occupation, and places you have lived in.

Questions about schooling experiences: 2. Tell me about your school experiences as a Muslim Egyptian American student. Probes: (a) Describe your experiences with your classmates? (B) In what ways might your values be different from those of your peers? (C) Tell me about your experiences with your teachers and professors. 3. Has it ever happened that a teacher commented (positively or negatively) on your ethnic origin or behaved toward you in a certain way because of your Egyptian origin or the fact that you are Muslim? 4. How did you come to be where you are today? Probes: What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them? 5. What advice would you give a Muslim Egyptian American student who is following your same path? 6. From your perspective, what needs to be done to improve educational experiences for people like yourself?

Questions about Family relations and influences: 7. How did your parents influence who you are today? 8. What adjustments do you feel you have to make to transition from the home to the school environment and vice versa? 9. In what ways might your values be different from those of your home culture?

Questions about community relations: 10. Tell me about your experience as a Muslim Egyptian American outside of school. 11. Tell me about your friends and their role in your life. 12. From your perspective, how does technology affect your experience as a Muslim Egyptian American and your relationships with others?

Concluding Questions: 13. I am very interested in your perspective. I have asked several questions, but is there anything else you would like to add? There may be areas that I did not ask about that are very important to address regarding your experience. Probe: Do you have any other comments you would like to add?

Thank you for your time and for your valuable contribution to this project.

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APPENDIX C

Informed Consent Form

192

Informed Consent Form

My name is Fatma Elsawaf. I am a doctoral student in Educational Policy and Leadership at California State University, Sacramento. I invite you to participate in a research study that involves an individual interview. The purpose of the study is to have a deeper understanding of Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American college students’ schooling experiences and cultural assimilation challenges that face them in the United States today. The data collected will be published to fulfill the requirement for my doctorate in Educational leadership and Policy Studies.

If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sit in for an in-depth one-on-one interview to talk about (1) your schooling experiences, (2) your cultural transition from home to school environments, and (3) your individual, cultural, and political experiences. The interview may take anywhere between one and two hours. It will be audio recorded.

The researcher does not see the risks involved in this study to be any greater than those encountered in daily life. Your participation is completely voluntary. You have the right to skip questions if you feel uncomfortable answering them, or to leave the interview at any time without any loss of benefit that you may be entitled to if you choose to participate. Your participation may enhance the academic understanding of the challenges that face your sub-ethnic group, may bring your voice forward, and may help inform future research that can positively affect your life and many others after you. If you choose to participate in this one-on-one interview, the researcher will coordinate with you a time and place that is convenient for both you and the researcher. As a token of appreciation for your time and insight, you will have a choice of a $10 gift card from Target or Peets Coffee that you will receive at the end of the interview or once you decide that you no longer want to proceed with the interview.

The researcher will rely on the data collected from interviewees to write the results of the study. Such results may be shared in academic settings and in publications. However, the researcher will take all necessary measures to ensure that the data is de-identified and confidential and will not be disclosed without your permission. To ensure confidentiality, the researcher will (1) de-identify your data using pseudonyms, (2) delete all audio-recordings once the interview is transcribed, and (3) keep all transcriptions in a locked and safe place for three years from the completion of the research. After, three years, the researcher will properly discard all transcriptions by deleting them and shredding all paper copies.

If you have any questions or concerns about the researcher or the study, please contact Fatma Elsawaf at [email protected] or Dr. Caroline Turner at [email protected]. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a participant in a research project, please call the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development, California State University, Sacramento at (916) 278-5674, or email [email protected].

Your signature below indicates that you have read and understood the information provided above and that you agree to the terms and conditions of this contract.

193

Date: ______

Your Signature:

______

You will be provided with a copy of this form to keep for your records. Thank you for participating in this study!

194

APPENDIX D

Flyer to Recruit Participants

195

Looking for Participants in a Research Study Participants must be: • At least 18 years old • Muslim by birth • Second-generation Egyptian American The purpose of the study is to have a deeper understanding of Second-generation Muslim Egyptian American college students’ schooling experiences, cultural assimilation challenges, and aspirations considering the challenges that face Arab and Muslim Americans in the United States today. • Participants will be asked to sit in for a one-hour one-on-one interview to talk about: (1) Their schooling experiences, (2) Their cultural transition from home to school environments, and (3) Their individual, cultural, and political aspirations. Participation is completely voluntary. Participation may enhance the academic understanding of the challenges that face this sub-ethnic group, bring your voice forward, and may help inform policies that can positively affect your life and many others after you. As a token of appreciation for your time and insight, you will have a choice of a $10 gift card from Target or Peets Coffee that you will receive at the end of the interview or once you decide that you no longer want to proceed with the interview. If interested, please email:

[email protected] or call (408) 385-5367.

Thank you!

196

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