How Does It Feel to Be A Problem: Being Young and Arab in America (2008)

The fourth chapter in How Does It Feel To Be A Problem tells the story of Akram, a bright young Palestinian man who attends school while also working long hours at the family-owned grocery store, Mike’s Food Center. The family plans to help finance Akram’s education with earnings from the store. Akram hopes he will be the first member of their family to gain a college degree from a US institution. 

The environment and clientele of Mike’s Food Center is very diverse, including Arab-American, African-American, West African, and Caribbean locals. Akram is adept at speaking toward all of his customer’s experiences and interests, effectively speaking many different languages. In this sense, he and his family’s store follow what Bayoumi identifies as the “middleman minority” archetype: a merchant who acts as a go-between for higher-up corporations who want to sell to inner-city ethnic minorities, but don’t want to deal with this customer base directly. Bayoumi explains that because of their go-between status, middlemen minorities are often misunderstood on all sides, not quite fitting into any single social category. 

After the September 11th attacks, Akram faces discrimination against his Palestinian heritage for wearing the keffiyeh (a head and neck wrap) in school. School officials misunderstand the significance of his garment, believing it speaks to terrorism or antisemitism. In fact, the keffiyeh is a symbol for the homeland that Akram lacks as a Palestinian-American. “Some people have do-rags,” he explains, “We have our hattas” (127).  

Bayoumi goes on to detail the tension that surrounds local Arab-American stores after 9/11. While Mike’s Food Center is mostly supported by the immigrant community that shops there—with the exception of one vocal African-American resident named Walter, who nevertheless continues to come to the store—many stores owned by Arab-Americans are subject to hateful “anti-terrorist” vandalism and violence. 

After experiencing constant discrimination for being Arab-American, Akram considers moving to Dubai. There, Akram believes he can pursue the American dream of prosperity while remaining true to his Arab identity. As he explains by quoting African-American poet Langston Hughes, “America’s not America anymore to me” (145).