Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi(2008).
© Last Gasp in San Francisco
Title: Arab in America
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Story and Art By: Toufic El Rassi
Publisher: Last Gasp in San Francisco
Price: $14.95
ARAB IN AMERICA
By: Nadia OxfordDate: Monday, March 10, 2008
Some of humanity's most powerful works of art and are based on times of strife. It's a poor trade-off, of course; peace and love are inarguably preferable to people having to endure genocide for the sake of a good story some years later. Unfortunately, humans are not peaceable creatures, which is a point Toufic El Rassi drives home over and over in his graphic novel Arab in America. Raw emotion is present in Rassi's story, but it's harnessed poorly thanks to the lack of a central plot.
Arab in America is more or less Rassi's illustrated autobiography. Born in Beirut, Rassi's parents moved to America when he was a baby. Despite growing up purely American, however, Rassi faces discrimination and racism daily. After the 9/11 attacks, the assault increases a hundred-fold. Rassi walks through his life and points out the celebrated stereotypes that made his life miserable: Stories like Arabian Nights, The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" and Apu Nahasapemapetelon, the Hindu store clerk from The Simpsons. Rassi also goes extensively into the political issues that tear apart the Middle East and sour Westerners on Semitic culture in general.
One of the most repeated rules a novice writer learns is "Show, Don't Tell." Arab in America has a powerful message behind it, but it fizzles out because of a loose and frankly boring delivery. Rassi tells us about the time his family was pulled out of bed by the FBI shortly after 9/11. He tells us about the slurs his neighbours shouted at him as a boy. He tells us about how Government workers automatically ask him "Do you speak English?" even though he poses questions to them first in perfect English. Far too many pages are filled with text (with some unfortunate spelling mistakes) and garnished with a relevant illustration or two.
Graphic novels such as Maus and Barefoot Gen (also published by Last Gasp) are unforgettable because of subject matter, but also because neither story is afraid to use the comic format and stretch it beyond pre-conceived notions of what belongs in a comic. Neither tells the reader outright about who's good and who's bad. We're left to figure that out through the characters' actions. If Rassi had (for example) made himself the central character in a story about an Arab growing up in white suburban California and showed us the hardships he faced through character interaction, it would bring us much closer to him. As it is, Arab in America reads like a blame list, which is a shame because sensitivity towards immigrants is a topic that we all sorely need education on.
There are moments in Arab in America that are heartbreaking. One memorable story involves Rassi's much-loved father, a role model whose power is chipped away by the Americans who mock his poor English. Rassi struggles to remind us that immigrants are human too, but the lesson would stick to far more people if only it were presented better. Arab in America retails for $14.95.
