Final answer:
The American image of the Arab is inherited from racial profiling post-9/11, cultural stereotypes portrayed in popular culture, and historical relations between the U.S. and the Middle East, influenced by orientalism and American interests in oil.
Step-by-step explanation:
The American image of the Arab is primarily inherited from various historical and cultural sources, including the media, historical events, and cultural interactions. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the ensuing Islamophobia marked Arab Americans, often unfairly associating them with terrorism. Racial profiling against Arab Americans, especially in air travel, is a manifestation of this.
Orientalism, as critiqued by Edward Said, has heavily influenced American perceptions, showcasing Muslims and Middle Eastern individuals as irrational and violent in popular culture. This stereotype was reinforced in films like Disney's Aladdin and True Lies, presenting a skewed image of Arab people. The media and entertainment industries, therefore, play a significant role in shaping this image.
Historical interactions, such as the early Arab immigrants from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, primarily Christians from Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, as well as American involvement in the oil industry in the Middle East, have also shaped perceptions. Additionally, the American cultural practice of orientalism romanticizes Eastern art, culture, and people, often misrepresenting them to fit Western preconceptions of exoticness.
Overall, the American image of Arabs has been derived from a combination of targeted discrimination post-9/11, long-standing cultural stereotypes perpetuated by popular culture and orientalist thought, as well as historical relations between the United States and Arab countries, compounded by the interests of U.S. in the Middle Eastern oil industry.