Rachelle Megan Halasa

I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, whom I mentioned in the last post. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to also interview a relative of hers but maybe I will be able to do that and post it after we present. For now, here are some of my questions and her answers:


Alka: Where were you born?
Rachelle: Johnson City, Tennessee. I moved to Michigan when I was in kindergarten because of my dad’s work.

A: What does it mean to you to be an Arab American? In what ways are you Arab and American?
R: You know, I never really identify myself as an Arab American. I always say I’m Jordanian. I think I identify more with being Jordanian than American because everyone here is American or American citizens and it makes me sound more unique to associate myself with my Jordanian identity. “Arab” encompasses a large population and Jordanian means I’m from a specific country. If I say I’m Arab, I could be from Morrocco.
I live here and I have all the opportunities that other Americans have so in that way, I’m American. I think that’s what sets me apart from my parents. They’re Jordanian, not natural born American citizens so I have more opportunities than they did and also, I feel like I’m more aware of the freedoms I have and I take advantage of them more than my parents do. Like say my mom to this day has never voted but I stood in line for three hours just so I could vote for the first time because it meant so much to me. Although I’m American and have the same opportunities, I’m also Jordanian because I know some Arabic and I’m familiar with all the foods and some of the cultural traditions because of my parents.

A: What's the biggest difference between here and when you visit Jordan? How are women treated?
R: I visited in fifth grade so a lot has probably changed since then but I do remember feeling kind of uncomfortable walking in the streets sometimes by myself and I would never wear shorts. Like here, I always wear shorts…I would never wear shorts while I’m there. I think my dad told me not to wear shorts and no one else was either, so I felt uncomfortable. I just remember most of the women covered their bodies and wore a hijab.

A: Is most of your family in America or in Jordan?
R: I probably have more family back in Jordan but we have like a lot here. My mom has ten brothers and sisters and I think like six of them are here. My dad talks to his family on the phone on major holidays and sometimes on the weekends.

A: What do you know about the Israel-Palestine conflict? Which side, if any, do you identify with?
R: Most of what I know is what I learned in school. My parents never talk to me about it. I think it’s like a religious-based conflict or historical-based and my parents don’t know much about history or religion. They’re both more into science, I guess. No, I don’t really have an opinion about the conflict because I don’t know enough about it to have an informed opinion.

A: Did you notice any changes when flying or in the way people treat you in general after 9/11?
R: Personally I wasn’t really affected. Sometimes at school, you’d hear people make jokes about terrorists and Arabs as if they were synonymous. But no one ever personally attacked me or called me out. I remember a few times after 9/11 when I was flying with my dad, he always got the random security checks.

A: What religion does your family identify with? What about you personally?
R: My dad was baptized Catholic and my mom was baptized orthodox Christian. I was baptized orthodox Christian because when I was an infant we were living in Ohio and we were really close with my dad’s side of the family so we went to their church and they were orthodox Christian so they just baptized me there. When I came to Michigan though, we went to a catholic school and I made the personal decision to be confirmed Catholic but that was probably due to the influence of my surroundings. Today, if you ask my parents, they’d probably identify themselves as Christian but neither are active in terms of going to church.

A: What do you think are the most prevalent/damaging stereotypes about Arabs or the Middle East? How do you think we can combat these?
R: Like I said, the current stereotype is Arabs=terrorists and there are also just some misunderstandings about the Muslim faith. I think the media does a lot of their stories on muslim fundamentalists but every religion has their radicals. I think the religion is foreign to begin with and then the media does all their coverage on the fundamentalists which makes people think all Muslims are like that but the religion is actually really similar to Christianity. It’s a monotheistic religion and “Allah” is actually the same thing as the Christian god. I think that people have to be proactive, and look for the facts. The media has already instilled a sterotype that has been in play since 9/11—we can’t undo this damage. Basically, people can not believe everything the media says, and they need to seek the facts through outside sources.