Open AccessThe Contested Whiteness of Arab Identity in the United States: Implications for Health Disparities Research
Author(s) -
Sarah Abboud,
Perla Chebli,
Em Rabelais
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2019.305285
Subject(s) - health equity , white (mutation) , race and health , privilege (computing) , population health , population , categorization , public health , identity (music) , ethnic group , political science , medicine , criminology , environmental health , sociology , law , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , nursing , physics , epistemology , acoustics , gene
In response to the Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities' (NIMHD) new health disparities research framework, we call on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to acknowledge Arabs in the United States as a health disparity population. Arab classification as White leads to their cultural invisibility and perpetuates a cycle of undocumented health disparities.We provide examples of how this contested identity reinforces challenges associated with identifying this population and contributes to enactments of structural violence and undocumented health disparities. Decades of research with Arabs in the United States provides consistent evidence that their health does not fit the health profile of White Americans and that Arabs do not benefit from Whiteness and White privilege associated with their White racial categorization. On the contrary, Arabs in the United States experience discrimination and health disparities that require urgent attention; this can be achieved only by identifying the population with a racial category other than White.We conclude with recommendations to NIH and NIMHD to revise their definition of health disparity populations to include Arabs in the United States.