Instituting Identity: Schools and Arab American Identity Formation in Dearborn, 1980s-1990s

Abstract

Public schools in Dearborn, Michigan, experienced increased enrollment of students of Arab descent during the 1980s and 1990s. While social, political, and personal contestation accompanied this demographic shift, the experiences of Arab American students in Dearborn revealed a spectrum of acceptance and rejection of American values among communities of Arab descent. As the presence of Arab-descendant youth increased, public schools shifted from emphasizing assimilation to becoming more accepting of cultural pluralism. This shift developed through a reciprocal process in which Arab-descendant students and their adult allies demanded respect for their multifaceted linguistic, religious, and ethnic identities even as they refashioned conceptions of who they were through acculturation. By illuminating Arab and Muslim students’ school experiences amid heightened geopolitical tensions, this article complicates prevailing narratives about Arab American identity formation. Additionally, its examination of youth identity formation in relation to geopolitics, religion, nationality, race, and gender broadens understandings of schooling and identity formation within the United States.