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.
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