Whitewashed: America's Invisible Middle Eastern Minority

By John Tehranian

Book Overview

Middle Easterners: Sometimes White, Sometimes Not - an article by John Tehranian
The Middle Eastern question lies at the heart of the most pressing issues of our time: the war in Iraq and on terrorism, the growing tension between preservation of our national security and protection of our civil rights, and the debate over immigration, assimilation, and our national identity. Yet paradoxically, little attention is focused on our domestic Middle Eastern population and its place in American society. Unlike many other racial minorities in our country, Middle Eastern Americans have faced rising, rather than diminishing, degrees of discrimination over time; a fact highlighted by recent targeted immigration policies, racial profiling, a war on terrorism with a decided racialist bent, and growing rates of job discrimination and hate crime. Oddly enough, however, Middle Eastern Americans are not even considered a minority in official government data. Instead, they are deemed white by law.
In Whitewashed, John Tehranian combines his own personal experiences as an Iranian American with an expert's analysis of current events, legal trends, and critical theory to analyze this bizarre Catch-22 of Middle Eastern racial classification. He explains how American constructions of Middle Eastern racial identity have changed over the last two centuries, paying particular attention to the shift in perceptions of the Middle Easterner from friendly foreigner to enemy alien, a trend accelerated by the tragic events of 9/11. Focusing on the contemporary immigration debate, the war on terrorism, media portrayals of Middle Easterners, and the processes of creating racial stereotypes, Tehranian argues that, despite its many successes, the modern civil rights movement has not done enough to protect the liberties of Middle Eastern Americans.
By following how concepts of whiteness have transformed over time, Whitewashed forces readers to rethink and question some of their most deeply held assumptions about race in American society.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814782736
• ISBN13: 9780814782736
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Much needed exposure of a cruel bias

John Tehranian has written a book that everybody in the USA should read. Unfortunately, his language tends to be stilted and will not serve his purpose well ... too bad, as this book is important. We have become too complacent about our liberties and rights as citizens. He points out how our society has selectively denied human rights (even to citizens) on whimsical/racial/current-topic bases. It's sad that the wonderful country that we enjoy is far from truly honoring the individual human spirit and giving credit to folks from other cultures who have come here and contributed to our society. The USA is an on-going experiment for human dignity and freedom. The vast majority of the folks coming into our country bring us the diversity and the work ethic and the skills that we need. God bless America, as it is still the best hope for the advancement of true freedom. A work in progress! A message to the author: Don't write in a style appropriate for the Yale Law Review, if you want to talk to most of us.

Most relevant book of the year

This book addresses one of the most relevant and timely issues for Middle Easterners today, bringing attention to the conflict they face between their racial classification as "white," and the increased discrimination they now experience in a post 9/11 world. It also makes one rethink the entire notion of "race." John Tehranian traces the history and development of race and the idea of "whiteness," arriving at the conclusion that it is ultimately a social construct based on everything but skin color. By citing fascinating US court cases regarding the racial classification of various individuals, John Tehranian illuminates the arbitrary nature of race, especially as it pertains to the Middle Eastern community in the US. Living in a post 9/11 world, this book is highly relevant not only to individuals of Middle Eastern descent, but to the population as a whole as we address the issue of discrimination against Middle Easterners. Mr. Tehranian has taken a very complex issue and presented it in an accessible and engaging manner, making it one of the most enjoyable and informative books I have ever come accross.