Relationship between Arab Americans and African Americans needs more balance, Black State Rep says
By Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Illinois State Rep. Cyril Nichols has raised an issue that many Arab Americans prefer not to discuss. Are Arab Americans doing enough to balance the support they get from African Americans?
In an interview on The Ray Hanania Radio Show August 2, State Rep. Cyril Nichols of the 32nd Illinois House District in the General Assembly, said that African Americans have done far more for Arab Americans than Arab Americans have done for African Americans.
Nichols said he is not trying to be critical of Arab Americans, but rather, hoping to nudge Arab Americans to recognize they have a responsibility to contribute to a relationship that has given Arab Americans much political empowerment in a state and country that is often anti-Arab.
Nichols said many African Americans are perplexed that Arab Americans want to be identified as being “Middle East and North African” on the U.S. Census yet fail to balance the support Blacks have given to the Arab community in the United States, a leading Black legislator in Illinois said Wednesday.
Illinois State Rep. Cyril Nichols, a member of the state’s large African American legislative caucus of 21 members, which represents nearly one-third of the number of Democrats, said African Americans support Arab Americans twice as much as Arab Americans support African Americans and that he is perplexed that Arabs want to be identified as “Middle East and North Africa” (MENA) in the U.S. Census but don’t do enough to support African Americans who come from North Africa.
During an interview on The Ray Hanania Radio Show, broadcast on the US Arab Radio Network in Detroit and Washington DC and sponsored by Arab News, Nichols said “an imbalance exists” and it “needs to change.”
The interview is available in both audio and video podcast. Click here to download the audio podcast.
Click here to read the full story in Arab News Newspaper.
Click here to download the video podcast or use the widget below to watch the interview.
Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
I have three eNewsletters that each focus on different topics and issues.
- The first is on Mainstream American politics, local, national and international.
- My second eNewsletter focuses on issues facing Arab Americans in Chicagoland, the Midwest and the country.
- My third eNewsletter focuses exclusively on Orland Park, a suburban community located just Southwest of Chicago, the largest city between Chicago and Joliet.
You can subscribe to one or all by using the links below:
Mainstream American Politics Columns
CLICK HERE
Arab American focused columns
CLICK HERE
All Orland Park topics
CLICK HERE
Read my Archived eNewsletters
View Mainstream eNewsletter Archive
View Arab American eNewsletter Archive
View Orland Park eNewsletter Archive
============ PODCASTS RADIO SHOWS ===========
Click here to download the Podcast
Watch/listen to former Congressman Bill Lipinski and columnist Ray Hanania
rip into the headline stories the rest of the media ignores. Click to view on YouTube
A Message from Ray Hanania
Subscribe to my free email eNewsletters and get my columns early before they are published.
I will also include links to my audio podcast “Ray Hanania on Politics” which expands the column topics on Chicagoland and Suburban politics.
You will also get details on where I am scheduled to speak publicly. (Always free to attend and no charge.)
Use the form below and enter your full name (or just your initials, or the community where you live), and add your email address. You will still receive an email requesting confirmation.
If for some reason the form doesn’t work for you, send me your name and email and I will add it … rghanania@gmail.com
A Big Thank You for supporting my writings. Your subscription means a lot to me.
RAY HANANIA
His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
Follow RayHanania at Twitter
- Israelisnipers shooting and killing hospital workers in Gaza - December 11, 2023
- CAIR Condemns Israeli Executions of Wounded, Unarmed Palestinian in West Bank - December 11, 2023
- Arab and Muslim American voters face a “simple choice” between Biden’s inhumanity and Trump’s edgy politics - December 9, 2023
