“When a gentle man I don’t know approaches me in a crowd at a literary conference to say, ‘I am afraid for my daughter to admit she is half-Arab now. What should I do?’ I am momentarily tongue-tied” (404).
In this anecdote, Nye attempts to convey to her audience the judgements that come with various ethnicities, specifically between Arabs and Americans today. Ethnicities are often now viewed as a positive or negative instead of a characteristic that makes everybody unique to one another. The man described in the situation is deeply conflicted because he does not want his daughter to feel threatened as a half-Arab because she is American as well, and therefore has experienced the judgements that are associated with Arabs. Not only is he afraid that his daughter will reject her heritage as an Arab and come to view herself as fully American, but he also is afraid that she will be fearful of judgements that may be displayed upon her as partially Arab. This is a terrifying thought and deep conflict for the man because he wants his daughter to be proud of her heritage, but to also feel safe and not-threatened among other Americans. These two ethnicities have recently developed an opposite connotation to them, as if everybody must be on one side or the other. But what do people with shared ethnicities and views do? Nye feels “tongue-tied” when asked this question not because she cannot relate to the man and daughter’s situation, but rather the opposite. She understands exactly what it is like to be half-Arab as well as half-American just like the man’s daughter is, but the trouble is that there is no answer she can give the man to make him truly feel better. In “This is Who We Are”, Naomi Shihab Nye narrates the struggle of finding a proper place being a half-Arab and half-American woman, and displays how she is able to relate to others who are afraid to embrace their true heritage.
Annie's English Journal 