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Arab-Americans: We Weren't Wanted At Bay Ridge July 4th Picnic
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 15, 2011
Modified Jul 15, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 15, 2011
Modified Jul 15, 2011
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Brooklyn members of The Arab American Association of New York say they were ostracized at a July 4th picnic in Bay Ridge sponsored by state Senator Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) and Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge). The Arab American Association of New York offered to help with the entertainment for the annual event, which raises money for local community groups. But the event's organizer, Chip Cafiero, turned them down, telling the Brooklyn Paper, "Arab Americans are more than welcome to come down, but they come down as American Arabs. If the Italian Americans wanted to come down, they can, but we’re not going to play Italian music."
But the group's president, Linda Sarsour, counters, "Having an Arab-American band play at an Independence Day event visually displays that Arab-Americans are patriotic and they are a partner in all aspects of the community." To which Cafiero replies, "America is a melting pot. But it’s all about all the different nationalities becoming Americans." And everybody knows what it means to be an American, right? In case any of you pinkos had any doubt, Cafiero explains that being American is about the "undying" love of hot dogs and the J. Geils Band. ANGEL IS THE CENTERFOLD, BABY!
Reactions to the kerfuffle are mixed depending on where you find them. On the Facebook page for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, commenter Farouk Masud writes, "And they wonder why we choose not to assimilate. How are we supposed to assimilate when the very people we are trying to assimilate with don't want us assimilating with them." On the Brooklyn Paper website, Andrew from Bay Ridge has this counterpoint: "It's sickening how political correctness and self hatred has rotted Westerners' perception of this event and countless others like it. There is NOTHING wrong with being American and leaving all the other ADJECTIVES (e.g. arab, african american, italian, blah, bleh, yadda yadda yadda) home."
Asked for further comment, Sarsour tells us, "We as Arab-Americans will not stand to be defined nor will we ever hang our ethnicity at the door for anyone or event. We will not separate our multiple Identities to satisfy an event that is supposed to celebrate the freedoms that people of all ethnic backgrounds came in search of and cherish so deeply." We reached out to both Senator Golden and Concilman Gentile and we'll update if we hear back.
Tagged
arab americans
bay ridge
brooklyn
july fourth picnic
Marty Golden
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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