 For many in the United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible segment of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made significant contributions to American society in fields ranging from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab descent.
History
Arab history in the United States goes back to the late 1800's when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as "Amreeka." Historians generally describe Arab immigration to America in two waves. The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924. The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian, and some Egyptian immigrants. These new immigrants, who were predominantly Christian, came to America in pursuit of better opportunities. Even the doomed Titanic, which set sail for America in 1912, had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard. The majority of Arab Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants; they are third or more generation Americans. The second wave of immigrants followed after WWII, sparked by political unrest in the Middle East. This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims and continues to this day. These new immigrants include Palestinian, Lebanese, Egyptian and other Arabs from several of the 22 Arab countries in the world. Arab-Americans today Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States, according to demographers. And contrary to popular belief, 64 percent of them are American-born. Eighty-two percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens.
The largest numbers of Arab-Americans trace their roots to the countries of Lebanon and Syria, followed by Palestine and Egypt with smaller numbers from Iraq, Jordan and other Arab countries. Most of the Arab-American population is concentrated in states like Michigan, California, and New York, according to cultural and demographic reports compiled by the Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF). A common misconception about Arab-Americans is the assumption that all Arabs are Muslim, when in fact Arab-Americans belong to many religions. Worldwide, only about 12 percent of Muslims are Arab. In the United States, only 23 percent of Arab-Americans are Muslim. The majority of Arab-Americans are Christian. Arab-Americans surpass the national average in both education and income. Education is important among Arab-Americans; 82 percent have high school diplomas, 36 percent have bachelor's degrees or higher, and 15 percent have graduate degrees. The median average income among Arab-Americans is ,580, which is higher than the US average, according to AAIF. (Agencies) | 大多數美國人都認為阿拉伯裔美國人在整個美國人口中所占比重微乎其微。雖說阿拉伯裔美國人作為一個群體，在包括文學、政治和醫學等領域內對美國社會做出過杰出的貢獻，但很多美國人還是對這一群體不甚了解。 歷史淵源 阿拉伯人在美國的歷史可以追溯到19世紀晚期，那時侯阿拉伯移民開始踏上這片被稱為"亞美利加"的土地。 歷史學家通常把阿拉伯人移民美國的過程劃分成兩次高潮。第一次高潮出現在1860年和1924年間，移入美國的主要是黎巴嫩人、敘利亞人和部分埃及人。這些移民幾乎清一色為基督徒，他們來美國是為了尋求更好的機會。就連那艘1912年駛向美國后來失事的泰坦尼克號上，也有近百名阿拉伯乘客。現今生活在美國的阿拉伯裔美國人，大多數是第一次移民高潮中阿拉伯人的后代，他們至少也是這些移民的第三代子孫了。 第二次移民高潮出現在二戰后，中東地區的政治動亂造成了這次移民高潮。加入這次移民行列的大多是阿拉伯的穆斯林，而且這次高潮一直延續至今。新移民包括巴勒斯坦人，黎巴嫩人，埃及人和其他阿拉伯國家的居民。 今天的阿拉伯裔美國人 人口統計學家稱，目前阿拉伯裔美國人共有三百萬。不過出乎人們意料的是，他們當中百分之六十四出生在美國，百分之八十二的阿拉伯裔美國人已成為美國公民。 祖籍為黎巴嫩和敘利亞的阿裔美國人人數最多，其次為巴勒斯坦和埃及，再其次為伊拉克，約旦和其他一些阿拉伯國家。根據阿裔美國人研究基金會提供的文化及人口資料，大多數阿裔美國人聚居在密歇根州、加州和紐約州。 一個常見的誤區是人們往往認為所有阿拉伯人都是穆斯林，事實上阿裔美國人的宗教信仰多種多樣。這家基金會的資料顯示，從全世界的范圍計算，只有百分之十二的穆斯林由阿拉伯人構成。在美國，百分之二十三的阿裔美國人是穆斯林，大多數阿裔美國人信仰基督教。
阿裔美國人在教育和收入水平方面高于美國平均水平。阿裔美國人非常重視教育，百分之八十二的人高中畢業，百分之三十六的人擁有學士或學士以上學歷，且百分之十五的人研究生畢業。根據基金會的資料，阿裔美國人年均收入為三萬九千五百八十美元，高于全美的平均水平。 (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2001-11-07 01:00
