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… depiction of the shy Asian girl commonly found in many other films, shows and novels. To students taking Arabic tojointheCIA,FBIorthe military VICTORIA MINKA MiC Staff Writer Graphic by Hibah Chughtai…

… and increasingly dis- turbing trend throughout my semesters of taking Arabic. In my classes, there has almost always been a student (often a cis white man) who is taking Arabic because they want to…

… declaring their pride in such a career goal to the students, faculty and staff around them. Many of our peers are students who identify as being of Arab or Middle East North African descent. As a student…

… Since arriving at the University of Michi- gan, I have taken Arabic language classes every single semester. As a rising junior, I have grown to deeply love the language and the cultural history that…

… informs it. If the pandemic permits, I am planning to study abroad this upcoming summer to improve my skills and immerse myself in an Arabic- speaking community. However, there has been an omnipresent…

… join the CIA, the FBI or the military in the future. While I understand the draw of learning a language to improve potential hireability, the fact that these institutions have directly harmed Arab…

… communities for decades is an alarming truth. Taking Arabic to make yourself more valuable to a system which intensely surveils Arab communities in the United States and continues to back states who commit…

… crimes against human- ity against Arabic-speaking people — read Israel and Palestine — demonstrates a fright- ening level of apathy. Then to learn Arabic while also continuing to hold prejudices and…

… negative stereotypes about Arabic-speaking people shows they will perpetuate the cur- rent systems of “enhanced interrogation” and turning a blind eye. Even more concerning is their naivety when…

… who doesn’t identify as Arab or MENA, I am made uncomfortable by their presence, and while I don’t speak for those who do, I can’t imagine what it is like for my classmates It has almost become a…

… I came to terms with my identity struggle when I began high school. Having come from a middle school surrounded by other Middle East- ern students, I never stood out in the classroom. Because of…

… style among my female classmates. Even though I lived and grew up in Metro Detroit just like the other students, I had never felt more alienated. I felt like a foreigner in my home coun- try…

… raised you? Why aren’t our ways good enough for you?” Time after time, I exasperatedly retali- ated with “That’s not how it works in this country!” I have never been ashamed of being Arab…

… elderly woman while I was browsing through a department store. She gave me a silent, dis- gusted stare before yelling, “You filthy Arab! How dare you come to my country! You make me sick!” I often…

…. Little by little, I attempted to prove to my parents how adapt- ing to American culture was not a rejection of my ethnic background, but rather a means of creating an identity for myself as an Arab…

… up speaking Arabic and practicing traditional Middle East- ern values, which was something that my high school peers were not familiar with. I grew up listening to Arabic music and watching Ara…

… and different struggles in the United States. Even now as I write in a newspaper section des- ignated for students of color, the U.S. government continues to label me as white. These two statements…

… if my family is associated with terrorist orga- nizations and snuck judgemental looks at my parents while speak- ing our native tongue. I am shov- ing aside my identity struggles as an Arab…

…, yet on legal docu- ments we are forced to check a box that misrepresents us. As a student of color, diversity Design by Hibah Chughtai As if the local Trump hats and Confederate flags weren…

… got my hopes up, the same realization would dawn on me: I won’t be counted. When researching the Univer- sity of Michigan’s undergraduate demographic, I couldn’t even tell how many MENA students…

… there were. All I could see in the pie chart was a large slice of ‘white,” and my identity was lost somewhere with- in it. Despite the Common Applica- tion allowing students to make the distinction…

… between “white (Euro- pean)” and “white (Middle East- ern),” all this did was give MENA students a false glimmer of hope despite a total lack of practical- ity. The fact that MENA students get excited…

… should have the same opportunity. Especially in a post 9/11 world, Muslims and Arabs have become a larger target for dis- crimination, and it is crucial that we have a separate legal identifica- tion…