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

What does the word “problem” mean in the context of Du Bois’s quote? How is this idea of the immigrant as “problem” examined and redefined over the course of Bayoumi’s book?

Every chapter of How Does It Feel to Be A Problem follows the same structural pattern: the subject of the chapter is introduced with an in-the-moment scene. Then, the subject’s complex beneath-the-surface story—including recent personal and political events behind that scene—is related. Finally, Bayoumi connects the subject’s story to broader historic events and sociological analysis. Why does he choose to structure each section this way? 

How Does It Feel to Be A Problem provides numerous examples of different ethnic groups interacting with one another, often banding together to support each other through difficult circumstances. Choose 2-3 examples of these inter-ethnic interactions and discuss the specific ways different immigrant experiences overlap with one another.

In addition to curating this book of Arab-American narratives, Bayoumi notably served as co-editor of The Edward Said Reader. Edward Said was a Palestinian-American professor widely known for pioneering the study of Orientalism, i.e. the imperialistic attitudes, perceptions, and cultural representations that enable Western society to capitalize upon the Middle East. Choose one relevant essay from The Edward Said Reader—“The Palestinian Experience”, “Islam as News,” or “The Middle East ‘Peace Process’: Misleading Images and Brutal Actualities” and apply Said’s ideas to the young Arab-American narratives in How Does It Feel to Be A Problem.

How Does It Feel to Be A Problem features numerous Arab-American gathering places, including mosques, cafes, and Arab-run businesses (both locally and corporately-owned). How do these gathering places function within the sociocultural climate of Brooklyn?

In Akram’s section of How Does It Feel to Be A Problem, Bayoumi introduces the concept of the Arab-American merchant as a “middleman minority”: someone who serves as a bridge between immigrant clients and enterprising groups who “don’t want to deal with them directly” (122). Aside from local merchants, does Bayoumi offer any other examples of Arab-American professional roles that fulfill the “middleman minority” function? If so, how do these roles operate similarly or differently? 

Many of the young subjects in How Does It Feel to Be A Problem navigate experiences that complicate their Arab-American identities. These complications include (but are not limited to): Sami’s work as a marine in Iraq, Lina’s identification with the African-American residents of her Maryland neighborhood, and Omar’s mixed heritage as a person of Chilean and Palestinian descent. How does Bayoumi’s text interpret these complications? What do they tell us about the experience of being Arab-American? 

What role does Islam play in the lives of Rasha, Sami, Yasmin, Akram, Lina, Omar, and Rami? How do these young Arab-Americans respond to religion differently?