Arab-Americans-Making a Difference, by Casey Kasem

There are about 3 million Arab-Americans. As a community, we’ve been making a difference by demonstration our loyalty, inventiveness, and courage on behalf of the United State for over 100 years.

Among America’s activists who are making a great difference are the founder of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), Candy Lightner, and America’s --- and probably the world’s – foremost consumer advocate, Ralph Nader. Back in 1960, Ralph Johns, a key participant in the civil rights movement, encouraged the famous Woolworth ‘sit-in’ at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Among business leaders is the founder of an international, billion dollar engineering firm, Jacobs Engineering Group, Dr. Joseph Jacobs. A former chemist with dozens of patents became Armand Hammer’s successor as Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Occidental Petroleum – Dr. Ray Irani. The former head of the Federal Aeronautics Authority, Najeeb Halaby, was CEO of Pan-American Airlines. An internationally respected financial expert and economic forecaster is Dr. Ray Jallow. Paul Orfalea founded the world’s biggest international chain of copying service stores, Kinko’s, and Waleed and Malik Ali founded MPI, the world’s largest home-video distributor of documentaries.

Entrepreneur Tony Ismail founded the Alamo Flag Company in Dallas and Built it into the largest retailer of flags and related items in the US today. Wood-working furniture maker Sam Malouf, whose quality pieces are in demand, has had many of his creations exhibited in museums.

The Texas lawyer who won the biggest settlement in US history, on behalf of Pennzoil ($10 billion dollars!), is one of this country’s most successful attorneys, Joseph Jamail.

Some of the famous people you may know in the entertainment world are singer-songwriter Paul Anka who was one of America’s first pop teen idols. Ukelele-plucking, falsetto-singing Herbert Khaury became famous as "Tiny Tim." In the world of rock, there was the late, legendary Frank Zappa. On the West Coast, Dick Dale was the ‘King of the Surf Guitar.’ One of today’s superstars is singer-dancer Paula Abdul. The first teenage singer to have her first two singles hit Number One is Tiffany. Speaking of music, two of American’s landmark shows on radio were created by two Arab-Americans, Don Bustany and yours truly - - "American Top 40" and "American Country Countdown." Recently, I added "Casey’s Top 40" and "Casey’s Countdown."

On Broadway, playwright Fred Saidy wrote two classics, Finian’s Rainbow and Bloomer Girls. Opera prima donna Rosalind Elias hit the high notes at the Met. For avant-garde "Dancer of the Year" in 1992, The New York Times picked Elie Chaib, a 20 year male Broadway veteran with the Paul Taylor Company.

Turning to television, Lucie Salhany, chair of Fox Broadcasting Co., was the first woman to direct a television network. She now heads the United Paramount (TV) Network.

Among TV directors, two Arab-Americans have each helmed over 300 episodes for the network. Assad Kelada has done numerous pilots for series Like "Family Ties" and episodes of "The Fact of Life," "Who’s the Boss?" "WKRP in Cincinnati," etc. After directing Broadway hits like "Sweet Charity," "Mame," and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," John Bowab switched to TV and has directed "Soap," "Benson," "Bosom Buddies," "The Facts of Life," and the last season and a half of the "The Cosby Show."

Did you know that the highest-rated episode in television history was the last episode of "M*A*S*H"? The actor who played the role of not-so-crazy Corporal Klinger for its entire 11-year run was the talented Jamie Farr.

On NBC-TV, "Saturday Night Live’s" bandleader for many years was G.E. Smith. His family’s Lebanese name, Haddad, means ‘blacksmith.’

The best known Arab-American was also the founder of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital - - the late, great comedian and actor Danny Thomas. His daughter is Emmy Award-winning actress Marlo Thomas, and his son is a television and film producer and multi-Emmy winner for the "The Golden Girls" – Tony Thomas.

The leading man who starred in the movie Flashdance was Michael Nouri, more recently seen in TV’s "Love and War" sitcom. Actress Amy Yasbeck and actor Tony Shalhoub who currently plays Antonio are both featured in the TV series "Wings." Crusty but soft-hearted Mel in TV’s "Alice" was portrayed by the late Vic Tayback. One of the co-stars of the series "Empty Nest" was Kristy McNichol. Khrystyne Haje, who was picked by People magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the US", was the star of TV’s "Head of the Class."

Two other fine movie and television actors who also starred in popular TV dramas are James Stacy, who played the title role in "Laramie" and M Michael Ansara, who played Cochise in "Broken Arrow."

Among the many other performers, and award-winning comic actress from San Diego recently scored a hit as a fun-loving nun in the Sister Act films, Kathy Najimy. The head of Carolco Pictures, handling the Rocky, Rambo, and Terminator films, among other, is "billion-dollar producer," Mario Kassar.

The producer who presented the epics the Message: The Story of Islam (a biography of Mohammed) and Lion of the Desert, not to mention all the blockbuster Halloween chillers, is Moustapha Akkad. The co-writer-director of the loony comedy hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is Tom Shadyac, who recently directed Eddie Murphy in the remake of the Nutty professor.

Fouad Said was the cinematographer who designed Cinemobile - - the first customized van for filming on locations while working on the TV series "I Spy." One of show business’s legendary talent managers was George "Bullets" Durgom. Who through the years, managed Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Marilyn Monroe, to mention a few. Mike Toney played ‘Fat Sally’ in Martin Scorsese’s film Casino.

Among Oscar winners: Best Actor for the movie Amadeus- F. Murray Abraham. Winner for Best Screenplay Adopted From Another Medium - - his novel, The Exorcist - - William Peter Blatty. The first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Thelma and Louise - - Callie Khouri.

For Best Song – "Last Dance" from Thank God, It’s Friday- composer Paul Jabara. Also, set decorator Emil Kuri, nominated for films like Mary Poppins, won the Oscar twice for The Heiress and Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

In the military world, US Air Force Col. James Jabara became the world’s first jet ace during the Korean War. West Point graduate and 4-star General George Joulwan commands both the US and NATO forces in Europe.

In World War II, Army officers like Maj Gen. Fred Safay fought alongside Gen. Patton, and Brig. Gen. Elias Stevens served on Gen. Eisenhower’s staff. In 1994, one of our Navy’s ships, the destroyer escort USS Naifeh, was named in honor of an Arab-American Navy Lt. Alfred Naifeh of Oklahoma.

In politics, US Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) has retired. A new Arab-American Senator is Michigan’s Spencer Abraham. New Congressman, Nick Joe Rahall II, and Congresswoman Pat Danner from Missouri. Today, the first Arab American ever appointed to a US Cabinet position is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala.

One of CNN’s political commentators is the former White House Chief of Staff and Governor of New Hampshire, John Sununu. Then there’s American’s longest-serving White House chief of protocol, Ambassador Selwa Roosevelt. Her assistant, Thomas A. Nassif, also served as US Ambassador to Morocco. A special Presidential envoy was the late Ambassador Philip Habib. A 50-year veteran with United Press International is the dean of the White House press corps – feisty Helen Thomas, who’s covered eight Presidents since 1961.

Others who have served in high elective office include former US Senators James Abourezk and James Abdnor, both of South Dakota; former Congressional members Mary Rose Oakar of Ohio, George Kasem of California, Abraham Kazen, Jr. of Texas, and Toby Moffett of Connecticut. Victor Atiyeh was the popular governor of Oregon.

In sports, the Heisman Trophy-winner who threw the "miracle touchdown" pass for Boston College some years back was Doug Flutie, more recently the Canadian Football League’s Most Valuable Player. Also quarterback Jeff George of the Atlanta Falcons, and Philadelphia Eagles coach Rich Katite who now coaches the NFL’s New York Jets. Don’t forget former linebacker for the Chicago Bears and an NFL Hall of Famer, Bill George, or former Cleveland Brown Abe Gibran.

The former owner of the Miami Dolphins has a football stadium named after him – Joe Robbie. One of the owners of Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals was Fred Saigh. In auto racing, Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500 in 1986 and is the all-time earnings champ among Indy car racers. Major League baseball player Joe Lehoud played with the Boston Red Sox. The founder of the Professional Bowlers Association is Eddie Elias. In the ring, Petey Sarron won the world feather-weight championship in 1936-1937; Zuhair "Steve" Mansour was weightlifting’s Gran 3-time U.S. National Chess Champion is Seattle’s Yasser Seirawan.

In the world of fashion, the prestigious CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award for 1990 and 1991 went to Arab-American Joseph Abboud. He’s the only designer to win the award tow years in a row. J.M. Haggar of Haggar Slacks manufactures more men’s slacks than anyone in the world. In addition, Farah Brothers manufactures men’s and women’s slacks; and Maloof Brothers manufactured Mod-O-Day women’s dresses.

Another inspiring success story was that of writer-lecturer on business and success, Nido Qubein. When he came to the United States as a teenager, he could barely speak English. He went on to become president of the National Speakers’ Association and the youngest member inducted into the International Speakers’ Hall of Fame.

In education, Jack Shaheen, Emeritus Professor of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University, is also a film critic, consultant on the Middle East for CBS, and author of books like the TV Arab. Columbia University professor Edward Said is a will-known literary and social critic, as well as a respected music reviewer whose column appears in The Nation. David Adamany is President of Wayne State University in Detroit. The 1990 Pulitzer Prize for biography (Jackson Pollock: An American Saga) went to the author of three other national bestsellers as well – writer-publisher Steven Naifeh of South Carolina.

In science and medicine, one of America’s most famous pioneers is Houston heart surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey, who invented the heart pump. Today he’s Chancellor of Baylor University’s College of Medicine. The winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Chemistry is Harvard’s Dr. Elias Corey. Geologist George A. Doumani’s explorations helped prove the theory of continental drift; he has a mountain peak named after him in Antarctica. Another American geologist, Farouk El-Baz, helped plan all the Apollo moon landings and later pioneered the use of space photography to study the Earth. Finally, the courageous astronauts who lost their lives aboard the space shuttle Challenger included several racial and ethnic groups: African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Anglo-American, Jewish-American – and an Arab-American: a school teacher, Christa McAuliffe.

We’ve all heard this quote before, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," a famous quote by an Irish American President, John F. Kennedy. These words, that inspired an entire generation, were first written by, among others, the Arab-American author of the Prophet, Kahlil Gibran, more than 60 years ago.

Blah...blah..blah....
All of us saw the 'difference' they made on September 11.
Either you're an American or your not an American. People need to drop this hyphenated crap.

I liked your entire response - It needs repeating!

People need to drop this hyphenated crap.

growing up in yonkers we had lots of arabs from jordan who came here, this was in the early 70's, i know what you mean they were my good friends and decent people they were catholic also, but these events just change (my) way of thinking, my husband was yelling at me because i made a remark about the gas station owners being arab he preached to me that i was a racist now, and i told him i really don't care i guess i am, i hate and mistrust them all right now. i will not let my daughter become like me but she will be a god loving american first. by the way i am in PA now and we have a population of some type of middle east people all over they are dr's and who knows what they are ..........i'm paronoid......jihad..........

I don't think, however, that most Arabs are white.

To me it only matters because they're whining about racism and profiling but they are considered to be Caucasians. So are Indians from India and the Israelis. Someone on here told me that that the Muslim Arabs are descended from the desert nomads and are a different sub-race and background from the Christian Arabs who are more like Eastern and Southern Europeans.

These new immigrants, who were predominantly Christian, came to America in pursuit of better opportunities.

I don't think you can even compare Christian and Muslim Arabs. It's not about race if they are the same race, it's how and what they believe. If people really are following the Koran (whatever race they are), they believe the Koran should be the law of the land and they believe the entire world at some point must submit to Islam and allah. It's the same as Nazis, there are many German inventors, they can make a list even more impressive than Kasem's but that doesn't make the Nazis any safer.

Oh, no doubt, no doubt. I'm glad you make the distinction. As for Muslims who believe the whole world should become Muslim, as a Christian, the Christian goal is to convert the entire world to Christianity, so I can't hold that against Muslims. It's their methods of achieving their goal that's always been the problem, and their way of enforcing their religion in the Muslim countries. We all joke about it being a fitting punishment for thieves to have their hand cut off, but I don't really endorse that punishment. It's barbaric.

Either you're an American or your not an American. People need to drop this hyphenated crap

Agree emphatically

IMHO, the hyphenated American fad really picked up steam as a result of the mini-series 'Roots'.

Let's face it, we all are hyphenated. Except for native-Americans ( and if we go back far enough, they are too) we or our ancestors came from another country.

Time for us to pledge our loyalty to AMERICA and remember our heritage as intereresting history

Quite frankly, I was surprised at seeing Doug Flutie

Flutie has already demostrated he's a traitor to this country when last year he was campaigning with Hillary Clinton in Buffalo, NY. Now I know why I never liked that no game midget.

Arab-Americans may be OK, but after seeing the Arab world (Islam) reaction to the bin Laden tape, all I can say is that it reminds me of the African-American reaction to the OJ Simpson verdict.

LOL This is the funniest statement on this thread. And its SO true. I never thought I would find an ethnic group with a bigger conspiracy imagination than our black friends, but the muslims have done it.

Now I know why I never liked that no game midget.

What a stupid thing to say. He's a "traitor" for campaigning for Hillary, but now that you know he's got Arab blood, that's why you don't like him? He's a Christian, not a Muslim, and he does a lot of work on behalf of autistic children, since his son is autistic.

Do you think James Jabara and Lt. Alfred Naifeh are not "real" Americans, too? Read post #55 and get back to me.

my husband was yelling at me because i made a remark about the gas station owners being arab he preached to me that i was a racist now, and i told him i really don't care i guess i am, i hate and mistrust them all right now.

Wouldn't you think that if the Arab or Moslem population of this country was going to do something, they would have already done, after the US went into Afghanistan?

This isn't Israel, but some are sure acting like it.

You have more to fear from your fellow Americans hitting and killing you in a car (Americans killed 40,000 of their fellow citizens in car crashes last year, 16,000 or so of those were drunk Americans btw) than from any terrorists.

It's the same as Nazis, there are many German inventors, they can make a list even more impressive than Kasem's but that doesn't make the Nazis any safer.

Do you go around assuming that all Americans with some German in them are Nazi's? That's basically what's happening, an entire group of Americans is being labeled based on the actions of a minority/group that were not Americans to begin with.

As for Muslims who believe the whole world should become Muslim, as a Christian, the Christian goal is to convert the entire world to Christianity, so I can't hold that against Muslims.

You just made me stop and think, lol. And we've had the missionaries that just got back from Afghanistant in the news constantly (here in Texas).

We all joke about it being a fitting punishment for thieves to have their hand cut off, but I don't really endorse that punishment. It's barbaric.

Maybe it's barbaric, but I'd like to see murderers put to death, and rapists and pedophiles have their, ummm, you know, cut off. Loreena Bobbit could handle that position quite nicely.

Implicit in my statement is the fact that I didn't like him BEFORE this thread was posted. This thread only gives me another reason to dislike him. I don't give a damn if his son is the head of the DNC, anyone that would campaign to get Hillary Clinton - the most repulsive human being in national elective office - deserves to be harrassed and shamed until they have no followers. Of course, you seem to be willing to carry this man's water regardless. If so, you're no better. And no, you don't get a pass if you have any connection to an autistic child. People need to appreciate kids, not use them as human shields in their political battles.

The Americans that Casey Kasem mentioned are mostly 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Americans, and they're completely assimilated. Weren't you surprised to see how many famous and influential Americans were of Arab ancestry? I sure was. The fact that it's surprising is evidence of their assimilation, at least to me. Haggar slacks. Kinko's. Who'd have thunk it?

I understand where you're coming from, but you've got to make a distinction between the recent immigrants and the ones that have been here for generations and are assimilated into American culture. But as I said, I understand where you're coming from. I had Arab friends in college; some were jerks, but most were really nice, (the Christians from Gaza were the best ones of the group), but now I think back and wonder what may have been going on behind their friendliness and their smiles. I don't like feeling that way. I was at a seminar in a hotel yesterday and the gift shop clerk was an Arab immigrant. I made sure I looked him right in the eye and smiled. He was nice to me and I was nice to him. Look them straight in the eye and be polite. That shows them that you aren't afraid or intimidated by them, and that you're a nice person. It also shows them that we know we're going to beat the terrorists and that any sympathies Arab immigrants may have towards terrorists are not going to do them any good. We are going to win this war, and they can't do anything about it.

You missed my whole point. Kasem makes a list of mostly Christian Arabs supposedly to make all Arabs seem like great people. I think the Muslims would actually be insulted by his list just because he found so few impressive Muslim Arabs to put on it. Danny Thomas did not come from the same kind of Arab background as bin Laden or the hijackers so this list is pretty meaningless. The Arab community supporting the Sept 11 attacks cannot claim Christian American Arabs as being on of their own.

Implicit in my statement is the fact that I didn't like him BEFORE this thread was posted. This thread only gives me another reason to dislike him.

Well, I figured that much out. The fact that now you know he's got Arab blood is a legitimate reason to dislike him even more? Whatever. What does that say about you?

I'm not carrying his water for him. I'm pointing out facts, not making judgements about him based solely on his ethnic heritage.

You sure are a negative person. I think Hillary Clinton is a poor excuse for a human being, much less a Senator. Do you equally despise all the Irish and Italians who voted for her? The people who voted for her are the ones who put her in office. If you're going to blame somebody, blame the people who actually voted for her, each and every one--and make sure you cast aspersions against all their ethnic origins because they supported Hillary, just to be consistent in your logic.

But go ahead and read post #55 and tell me how those military heroes aren't "real" Americans, or are somehow less worthy because of their Arab heritage. Go on, I dare you!

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