Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month

The United States has a long history of celebrating its diverse communities with observances throughout the calendar year. Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, for example, are familiar to most Americans, and are woven into our academic, professional, and social lives.  

But not every story gets equal airtime. Women’s History Month has been nationally recognized since 1987. Black History Month since 1976. Hispanic Heritage Month since 1988. Asian American Pacific Islander History Month since 1990. Arab American Heritage Month wasn’t recognized nationally until 2021 – 15 years after Jewish American Heritage Month, which was itself considered a late addition.  

Part of the reason for the lag comes from something most Americans wouldn’t expect: Arab Americans are officially classified as “white,” according to the U.S. Census. The classification dates to the early 1800s, when early Arab immigrants sought to assimilate themselves as a pathway to citizenship and legal rights. But that label has never reflected their lived reality. For decades, being counted as white meant losing recognition in federal data, which in turn affected access to funding, health research, legal protections, and political representation. It wasn’t until March 2024 that the federal government announced that Arab Americans would finally receive their own category, Middle Eastern or North African, or MENA, on the 2030 Census. 

The term “Arab” has no basis in race or genetics – Arabs are united by a shared history, language, and culture. There are 22 Arab nations spanning the Middle East including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine, among others. While frequently mistaken as interchangeable, the terms Arab and Muslim are very different – while the majority of Arab citizens practice Islam, a significant portion of Arabs practice Christianity or other faiths.  

For decades, Arab American communities across the U.S. have tirelessly organized to have their states and cities issue proclamations recognizing their culture and accomplishments. Finally, they took it to Congress – In 2019, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, both Democrats from the state of Michigan, introduced a resolution in Congress for the month of April to be recognized on a national scale. While the legislation has still not passed, on April 19, 2021, then-President Joe Biden published a White House letter recognizing the month. In this piece, he detailed the importance of appreciating and celebrating the Arab American community and culture.  He was the first U.S. president to publicly do so, and since then, the legislation has support from the U.S. Department of State and 37 state governors.  

For the more than 3.7 million people in the United States who identify as Arab American, the current political climate with Middle Eastern countries brings biases, hate speech and targeted violence. For them, recognition isn’t ceremonial – it’s personal. This month brings an important opportunity to celebrate the community’s rich heritage and contributions to American history, culture and society.  

Arab Americans have always been a part of the American story – they just haven’t always been credited in it. For example, Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese American immigrant, wrote The Prophet, one of the most translated and best-selling books in history. Farouk El-Baz, an Egyptian American geologist, helped NASA select the Apollo landing sites. Helen Thomas broke barriers as the first woman to serve as dean of the White House press corps, covering every president from Kennedy to Obama. These are not footnotes, but central chapters of American history, written by people whose community has waited for so long to be recognized.  

Free-to-access Sage journal article links:  

“‘What Are You?’ Racial Ambiguity, Belonging, and Well-being Among Non-Veiled Arab American Women” by Laila Abdel-Salam and Laura Smith | The Counseling Psychologist, November 2024
“The political affiliations of Arab Canadians: Between multiculturalism and religion,” by Engi Abou-El-Kheir | Ethnicities, March 2026
“Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives in Arab American Communities: Beliefs Associated with Stigma, Treatment, and the Origins of Pathology,” by Liam Browning, Nicole Oska, George G. Kidess, Liza Hinchey, Arwa Saleem, Sadie Knill, Malaak Elhage and Arash Javanbakht | Transcultural Psychiatry, December 2025
“Acculturative Challenges and Opportunities Among Arab-Speaking MENA Refugees in the United States,” by Saltanat Childress, Nibedita Shrestha, Ilana Seff, Aaron Hagedorn, Mary McKay and Lindsay Stark | Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, May 2024
“Are We All Post Traumatic Yet? A Critical Narrative Review of Trauma Among Arab Refugees,” by Osama Tanous, Nadine Hosny and Suad Joseph | International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services, April 2025
“Transnational Engagement as Rebellion and the Act of Teaching as Resistance: Narrative Inquiry into an Arab Migrant Social Studies Teacher,” by Yeji Kim and Hanadi Shatara | Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, September 2025
“Intergenerational Relations and Well-being Among Older Middle Eastern/Arab American Immigrants During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” by | Research on Aging, June 2024
“Experiences of Arab heritage youth in US schools and impact on identity development,” by Khadeja Najjar, Shereen C. Naser and Katie Clonan-Roy | School Psychology International, February 2019
“Fear Among the Feared: Arab Americans’ Fear of Crime in an Ethnic Enclave Community,” by Amarat Zaatut and Shannon K. Jacobsen | Crime & Delinquency, May 2022
“Validation of the Ethnic Identity Scale With Americans of Arab Heritage,” by Rawan Atari-Khan, Alia Azmat, Farida Refaat Elhedk and Suejung Han | The Counseling Psychologist, January 2026

Further Resources:

• Arab American Heritage Month Curriculum Presentation Kit
• Read “The Story of Arab Americans’ Beginning in America – And the Quest for Fair Representation,” by Rita Stephan, regional coordinator for the Department of State’s United States Agency for International Development
• Explore the Center for Arab American Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn – the only academic institution in the United States devoted to the study of Arab Americans.
• Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University since 1975 has been the only academic center in the United States focusing on the region from Morocco to the Arabian Gulf.
• Middle East Studies Association is for scholars, students, and others interested in the study of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Islamic world.
• Alif Institute fosters an understanding and appreciation of Arab culture and to engage Arabs and non-Arabs alike to achieve this mission.
• Learn about the Arab American Cultural and Community Center, which serves the community through cultural programs and promotes Arab culture and heritage.
• The Arab American National Museum is the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture.
• 12 Arab American Attractions to See in the United States