Salaita pens award-winning book on anti-Arab racism

Steven Salaita, assistant professor of English in Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, has won a 2007 Myers Outstanding Book Award for writing Anti-Arab Racism in the USA.

The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights annually recognizes a book that extends “our understanding of the root causes of bigotry and the range of options we as humans have in constructing alternative ways to share power.”

"I’m remarkably honored to be recognized by the Myers Center for my work against racism," said Salaita. "I invite people to read my book and enter into dialogue with me and others, no matter how they react to the arguments I raise."

“A sobering analysis of anti-Arab racism, from neo-conservative to liberal, rooted in America's settler colonial past and seeping into every corner of our lives," writes Miriam Cooke, professor at Duke University. "Steven Salaita takes the reader into the crisis of Arab-American communities in the wake of Sept. 11. Written with passion, this lucid account of the dangers of American imperialism paints a dark picture of the agenda of the Bush administration not only in the Arab world but also for people of color at home."

Salaita has published two other books: The Holy Land in Transit and Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Radford University in Virginia, and his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. His recent book is available at the University Volume Two Bookstore, Blacksburg, Va., in the faculty publications section.

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