Al Jazerra America is off air this month, but Arabs can be and are dignified elsewhere
by Jordan Cooper
April is Arab-American Heritage Month — and a time to reflect.
Ancient Persia is the world’s first empire. They created the first teaching hospital. They created the first forms of government insurance and the first private banking institution. They didn’t have slaves and they created polo. Ancient Egypt was created half a millennium after them. They’ve got the oldest wonder of the world in the Great Giza Pyramid. They created the glasses we toast with. And their writing system was the basis for the confusing emojis we see thru electronic devices these days (laughs).
Ancient Israel created the first lasers and the Ten Commandments of the Bible which all of our countries ethical systems are influenced by in some way. Today, modern-day Persia (Iran) is one of the most contentious countries America must deal with. Today, Egypt has over a quarter of its population living in poverty. Today, Israel is still trying to draw out the borders for their country.
However, in the United States Arab-Americans from these lands have made significant contributions. And the second-most circulated newspaper in the United Kingdom said based on a study that they were the most desired ethnicity for women. So much for the jokes about the demon seeds of Ishmael’s descendants from the largest religion in America, Muslim bans from politicians, and Arab women being seen as sex objects.
George Clooney married a high-powered Arab attorney named Amal Alamuddin. GOP Governor Charlie Crist appointed the very first Arab Jew to be the First Lady of a state named Carole Rome. NBA All-Star Jason Kidd wedded a Lebanese journalist named Joumana Samaha. Not many people are complaining on the surface of it, but the manner in how we handle foreign relations with the aforesaid countries shows our true colors. Hence, this month in America at any happening commemorating this month please think about how America can reinvent ourselves to be more inclusionary to Arab-Americans.
Jordan Thomas Cooper is a 2015 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in History and a 2010 graduate of the Real Estate School of Success in Irmo. He is the first African-American to serve in both the governor and lieutenant governor’s office as an aide and first to serve in the Inspector General’s Office in S.C. (Haley) He is also the first person to serve in the top three offices in the gubernatorial line of succession in South Carolina (Haley, Bauer, McConnell). His research shows he is the second black presidential campaign speechwriter in American History and the first for a GOP presidential campaign (Bush 2015). He also played football for Coach Steve Spurrier.