WI: Steve Jobs self identifies as Arab-American?

Steve Jobs' biological father is a Muslim Syrian-American. He was give up for adoption after birth and never reconciled with his father. Moreover we never hear about Steve Jobs' ethnicity. I feel Jobs missed out on an area where he could have profoundly influenced the world.

If he had self identified as an Arab and championed Arab-American rights, American and Arab relationship, and Arab modernity - he could have been an influential opinion leader given his unique position as America's most admired industrialist. It would have meaningful impact as most Americans can't name a single Arab they could admire or even feel positively about.
 
I don't think it would have had a profound impact on the world, unless he somehow used Apple to aid the revolutionaries during the Arab Spring. Otherwise, this would likely be little more than a footnote in history. Jobs will always be known for his work with Apple.

Yeah, this thread won't end well.

Duck and cover lads, this one's going to get ugly...
Can we not act mature?
 
I don't think it would have had a profound impact on the world, unless he somehow used Apple to aid the revolutionaries during the Arab Spring. Otherwise, this would likely be little more than a footnote in history. Jobs will always be known for his work with Apple.




Can we not act mature?
This is the internet...it's known for immaturity.
BTW, he is being remembered and honored by various participants in the Arab Spring, including in Syria.
Ironic that the two people thanked for their tech support by the Arab Spring are a Jewish Atheist (Mark Zuckerberg) and a Syrian-American Buddhist...
 
just wanted excuse to use this...

troll threads.jpg
 

Warsie

Banned
So we are getting all channy in here? XD

Erm ditto I do not see much change. After all Obama is POTUS byt race relations in USA aren't exactly better. Esp given copouts like obama being mixed and son of an african not a native black. Apply that logic to Steve Jobs about how he 'didnt grou up in arab culture' or something like that
 

Warsie

Banned
I think Apple will be more popular in Saudi Arabia, in Saudi Arabia Macs are very much popular..

Asked this saudi dude just now about this he said they're about the same popularity as in the us re. Iphones but he wasn't too sure about macs there.
 
I don't know why a bunch of guys are trolling this perfectly sensible question.

Arabs have a negative image in the US which could have been helped by Steve Jobs. Highlighting the contributions of a popular American industrialist of Arab decent could only help the image. Furthermore it would certainly help Arab impression of America if Steve Jobs is celebrated as a great Arab American who helped define our modern age.

The US Embassy in Syria is already capitalizing on this:

http://www.facebook.com/syria.usembassy/posts/10150354617657649
 
Primus: before 2001, most Americans didn't care about Arabs one way or another. If they thought about Arabs, they probably thought rich oil sheikhs, Bedouins, or possibly Lawrence of Arabia if they were particularly well-versed in cinema. The 1.2 million* Arabs in the US were just like any other Hyphenated-Americans, distinguished primarily for living in Michigan. About 60% of Arab-Americans are Christian (mostly but not exclusively of Lebanese extraction), with about 30% Muslim and 10% Jewish (unlike Israel, where a Jew is by definition not an Arab and an Arab not a Jew, Jewish Arab-Americans historically had no problem so identifying).

Let's say that Steve Jobs emphasizes his identity as Arab-American. He funds community centers, cultural celebrations, provides scholarships. What's the result? Probably not a whole lot. It's possible that Arab-Americans in their late 20s and younger would have a bit of a reputation for majoring in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (if that's how he focuses his scholarship money), like Indians do these days...but that's probably it. Steve Jobs was not a huge cultural icon yet.

Now, 9/11 - Arab Americans are villified. Steve Jobs spends millions on slick ad campaigns emphasizing that Arab-Americans are Arab-Americans, same as anyone else. Hopefully, this will result in less crazy Arabophobia, but it could also backfire. In fact, the biggest effect I could see is if the ad campaign backfires, and Steve Jobs ends up irreversibly linked with Arabs - in the worst possible way. That could butterfly all kinds of Apple stuff, potentially changing the face of mp3 players, smartphones, and digital content purchase. Still, I suspect that the most likely result is that Arabs are marginally less likely to get heckled at the airport. There's no chance in hell that it's gonna stop the invasion of Iraq.

Come the Arab Spring (assuming it isn't butterflied :D ), we might see a Jobs-motivated push to increase American awareness, which I guess could lead to earlier and/or greater US intervention - particularly in Syria.

*Per the US Census. The Arab-American Institute claims 3.5 million
 
Maybe, but I don't buy the idea American consumers are so hysterical as to turn against Apple products because Steve Jobs is ethnically Arab. Just as we don't boycott Google because Russia occasionally act thuggish. More likely Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria will make a big deal about how great America is, being a place where immigrants and sons of immigrants assimilate and contribute.

Conservatives will no doubt make something of the fact that Jobs was not raised a Muslim and how Islam/dictatorship is holding the Arabs back. So it does serve both ends of the political spectrum, but it would nonetheless moderate the image of Arab Americans being The Other.
 
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