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Article: The face of the enemy: (61) Arab-American writing post-9/11.
- Article from:
- Studies in the Humanities
- Article date:
- June 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Department of English. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Right now,
the face of terror
mostly
looks
like
me.
--Richard Montoya, "Anthems"
The predicament of 9/11 was not only an American national security plight, it brought about a personal dilemma to Arab-Americans. As expressed in the previous lines in Richard Montoya's satirical piece, similar to the Japanese in 1941, Arab-Americans bare the face of the enemy, even though they themselves are Americans. Arab-Americans are confronted with the double burden of mourning their country's misery on the one hand, and defending their Arabic heritage on the other. Although they are Americans by nationality, they still have the Middle Eastern ...