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State rep. Cyril Nichols, Democrat, 32nd Illinois House District

Relationship between Arab Americans and African Americans needs more balance, Black State Rep says

Posted on August 4, 2023August 4, 2023 By rayhanania No Comments on Relationship between Arab Americans and African Americans needs more balance, Black State Rep says
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Relationship between Arab Americans and African Americans needs more balance, Black State Rep says

By Ray Hanania

راى حنانيا. Ray Hanania
راى حنانيا.
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.


(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter. A political analyst and CEO of Urban Strategies Group, Hanania’s opinion columns on mainstream issues are published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. His Middle East columns are published in the Arab News. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at rghanania@gmail.com.)

 

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Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

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.

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