Between Arab and White: Race and Ethnicity in the Early Syrian American Diaspora (American Crossroads)

by Sarah M.A. Gualtieri

This multifaceted study of Syrian immigration to the United States places Syrians― and Arabs more generally―at the center of discussions about race and racial formation from which they have long been marginalized. Between Arab and White focuses on the first wave of Arab immigration and settlement in the United States in the years before World War II, but also continues the story up to the present. It presents an original analysis of the ways in which people mainly from current day Lebanon and Syria―the largest group of Arabic-speaking immigrants before World War II―came to view themselves in racial terms and position themselves within racial hierarchies as part of a broader process of ethnic identity formation.

Genres: History, Race, Nonfiction, Grad School, Middle East, Sociology

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[lkh0ja · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who wishes to learn more about the process of racialization in the U.S., as well the dynamics and interactions of the Syrian immigrants to the U.S., this is an excellent place to start. Gualtieri is thorough and details everything from how the immigrants perceived themselves and their status in this society, to how U.S. media classified them, to their interactions with other minority groups in the U.S.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough, well-researched, well-written -- This book is an overview of the "racing" of Arabs and Middle Easterners in the United States, with a focus on the "racial prerequisite cases" of the early 20th century / the many ways in which Arabs litigated official racial classifications in the U.S. court system.

Gualtieri's work is powerful and important and will be appreciated by and useful for anyone thinking about race and whiteness in the U.S. Really great read alongside Ian Haney-López's White by Law!

[آية · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an Arab American, whenever I fill out a form about myself and come to the question of race, I inevitably run into a problem. "Arab" or "Middle Eastern" is not considered a race on its own, but is grouped under the white race option. And I definitely don't consider myself as white, so I have to check off "other." This book answers the long history of why that is the case.

Focusing on the first wave of immigrations to the US from Greater Syria in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, this book examines how the first Arab migrants to the US came to view their identity through the lens of race, as opposed to primarily being through religion and village/town origin as it was previously. It both critiques and shows us the nuance that leads to empathy. It critiques the choice to advocate for their whiteness and simultaneous self-distancing from people of color and therefore their acceptance rather than challenge of the the American racist system. But it also shows us the difficulties they faced and subsequent use of "whiteness" as a means of survival (and privilege).

Trigger warning: chapter 4 discusses the lynching of Nola Romey, a Syrian in the US, with graphic detail.

[Emma George · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting and I connected with it in a lot of ways coming from Lebanese descent. The first half I would recommend to anyone! Especially if your family emigrated from Syria-Lebanon sometime in the first half of the 20th century. But there were chapters that were so thorough it was tough to get through. 5/5 as an academic text. 3/5 for people reading it for fun/curiousity. It just wasn’t written for that purpose.

[John Track · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended. Informative overview addressing race and ethnicity. I learned and it informed my lived experience with academic context.