The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), the Center for Arab Narratives (CAN), and Arab Americans for Progress (AAP) came together in the summer and fall of 2024 to launch a sociological survey aimed at capturing a snapshot of Arab American perspectives at a critical juncture marked by political volatility, global conflict and domestic uncertainty.
Across Our Communities: Arab American Perspectives and Priorities is a people-powered reflection of those most engaged with our coalition’s work on the ground. The findings are striking: Arab Americans feel isolated, frustrated, and dissatisfied with current outcomes across nearly every issue area surveyed.
A Community Wedged between Unpopular Foreign Policy and Uncertain Domestic Realities
Arab Americans today are navigating a uniquely intense convergence of foreign and domestic policy pressures. On one hand, longstanding frustrations with U.S. foreign policy—particularly in the Middle East—continue to reverberate across families and communities. On the other, rising costs of living, unequal access to healthcare and education, and weakened civil liberties at home are fueling anxiety and disillusionment.
The weight of these simultaneous pressures is deeply personal. Many Arab Americans are just a generation or two removed from migration, and often still maintain close ties to countries affected by U.S. foreign policy. At the same time, they are also full participants in American civic life, confronting the same systemic inequalities, economic precarity, and political marginalization facing many underserved groups in the United States.
Together, these conditions have created a pervasive sense of urgency—and a desire for change—that runs through the survey’s results.
Key Findings: What Matters Most
The survey assessed both satisfaction levels and perceived importance across eight core issue areas—healthcare, education, civil rights, international relations, employment and the economy, immigration, housing and community development, and the environment. While the report explores a wide range of issue areas, a few overarching themes emerged clearly:
- Material Well-Being Is Paramount: Across nearly every category, respondents prioritized issues that impact their basic security and quality of life. Whether the topic was employment, housing, or healthcare, the most valued policies were those that offered stability, affordability, and opportunity. For example, every respondent considered access to quality and affordable healthcare at least “moderately important,” while over 90 percent rated K-12 quality and college affordability as “absolutely essential” or “very important.”
- Policy is Personal: The responses reveal a sharp awareness of how Arab American identity intersects with public policy. Civil rights protections, immigration treatment, and international diplomacy are not abstract matters—they are experienced as tangible, often painful, parts of daily life. In fact, nearly 90% of respondents called Palestinian human rights “absolutely essential,” making it the most urgent concern overall.
- Demand for Equity and Recognition: Whether respondents were concerned about healthcare access, college affordability, or discriminatory policies, the throughline was a desire for policies that treat Arab Americans as full participants in public life—worthy of protection, opportunity, and dignity. For example, 96 percent of our respondents said it was either “absolutely essential” or “very important” that the government address anti-Arab discrimination, while 94 percent said the same of healthcare quality and affordability. For example, nearly all our respondents said it was either “absolutely essential” or “very important” that the government address anti-Arab discrimination (96 percent), college affordability (92 percent), and healthcare quality and affordability (94 percent).
A Call to Policymakers
The report is a wake-up call for decision-makers. It provides community advocates, researchers, and public officials with concrete data on the issues that matter most to Arab Americans. It also underscores the extent to which many in the community feel left behind—both by domestic policy and U.S. actions abroad.
Arab Americans are increasingly seeking to shape the policies that affect them—through advocacy, organizing, and civic engagement—rather than waiting to be consulted or recognized after the fact. As Arab Americans continue to organize, vote, and speak out, reports like this are vital tools for understanding a community that is politically engaged, culturally diverse, and unwilling to be ignored any longer.
Read the full report here: Across Our Communities