From: The South Chicagoan

Strictly speaking, it’s not a Latino issue. But the saga involving Amal Abusumayah brings up so many issues that are relevant to the Latino experience when dealing with people who have a small-minded view of what our society ought to be.

Abusumayah is the woman who was shopping at a supermarket in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park when someone went out of their way to make a rude comment to her about Arabs, then later tried to yank the hijab off her head.

IN SHORT, IT was an incident of anti-Arab sentiment, and the woman (who is white) who was involved in the incident against Abusumayah was arrested by local police. Earlier this week, she had a $5,000 bond set, and she could get some time in prison if ultimately convicted – since police went so far as to seek “hate crime” charges against her.

Of course, the incident had to occur within days of a study commissioned by BusinessWeek magazine that said Tinley Park, Ill., was the best municipality in the United States in which to raise children.

It will be interesting to see which event – the study or the incident – sticks in the public’s mind when it comes to the Chicago suburb’s reputation.

As reported, Abusumayah was trying to shop for groceries when the woman made comments about the gunman at Fort Hood, Texas, claiming he was a foreigner and so was she. Then, when Abusumayah was trying to use the self-checkout lane at the supermarket, the woman came up from behind her and tried to rip off the head scarf that she wears as a religious gesture of modesty.

THERE HAVE BEEN some people who have been critical of the fact that “hate crime” charges were sought because they want to believe that there is some level at which trying to make someone uncomfortable about their ethnicity is somehow either appropriate, or the type of harassment that people like Abusumayah just have to learn to put up with.

Which is why I couldn’t help but comment on this incident, since it sounds all to common to many of the incidents of harassment that Latinos are confronted with each day.

Now as reported, the woman who was so offended by Abusumayah’s presence in the supermarket made comments about people not belonging in this country, even though it turns out that all the people she specifically mentioned were U.S. born – which means they’re U.S. citizens who have every right to be in this country.

That is the case for Army Major Nidal Hasan, who was from the Virginia-based suburbs of Washington, D.C., and for Abusumayah, whose parents were immigrants from the Middle East but herself was raised in Berwyn.

WHO OUTSIDE OF the Son of Svengoolie – that Chicago-based television host whose Berwyn fetish is better known than the tacky horror films he narrates – would have a problem with that?

What this comes down to is that someone has their own idea of what constitutes a “real American,” and it doesn’t include someone who doesn’t come from a background identical to their own.

It is the same twist of logic that Latinos often have to cope with when people get worked up about the fact that the Latino population is growing at rates that will make us an equal presence in numbers by the middle of the century – and already have us at a significant share of the U.S. population now.

It really is the case for Latinos, a growing percentage of whom are born in the United States and come from parts of the country that once were a part of Latin America. Listening to actress and Texan Eva Longoria describe herself as a 9th generation American when she appeared last week on George Lopez’ talk show is interesting because it is a claim that few of these so-called “real Americans” can make.

SO EXCUSE ME for feeling a little bit of sympathy for Abusumayah.

Her story is one that has been experienced by so many others whose ethnic origins lie in Latin America. The encouraging aspect of this incident is that the local officials didn’t hem and haw and try to figure out legalistic reasons by which the woman could be let off for her alleged actions against Abusumayah.

So perhaps that is one bit of evidence that our nation is moving in the right direction.

But the real progress will be achieved when certain people quit thinking of “foreigner!” as an expletive every time they see someone who doesn’t look exactly like they do.

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