Facts You Should Know About Your Neighbors

Among Arab Americans, more than half (56%) say their country of origin is Lebanon. No other country comes close. Syria follows at l4.1%, then Egypt (10.9%), Palestine (8.8%), and Jordan (4.3%). African American roots are sunk more deeply into the nation than any of the other targeted ethic groups. Seven in 10 African Americans are the product of American great-grandparents or beyond. Only l5.9% is either not-U.S. born or first generation Americans. Asians claim the most college graduates (66.7%), followed closely by Jews at 60.5%. Just under half (48.5%) of those of Arab background are college graduates. More than one in three (39%) Italians, 29.9% of African Americans, and 23% of Hispanics indicate they have college degrees. Asian Americans are most likely never to attend services (20%), followed by Jewish Americans (18.6%), Italian (14.2%), Hispanic (9.7%), African (9.2%), and Arab Americans (9%). One in four Hispanics and one in five African Americans earn less than $15,000 a year. At 66.6% and 62.6% respectively, Hispanic Americans and African Americans are most likely to say that their ethnic heritage is very important in defining them. About half of Jewish, Asian, and Arab Americans feel that way, while slightly less than one in three (30.4%) Italian Americans say it is a very important definition of them as a person. Hispanics experienced the most job loses due to downsizing (19%), while Jewish Americans experienced the least (7.9%). Hispanics are three to six times more likely and African Americans are two to five times more likely to have experienced going 24 hours without food than the other four groups. Arab Americans are the least likely (less than one in one hundred) to have gone without food. Three in four (78%) African Americans consider themselves Democrats, followed by 66.1% of Jewish Americans. More than half (57%) of Hispanic Americans call themselves Democrats, while about one in three Italian and Arab Americans do so. Hispanic and African Americans are less likely to give a ringing endorsement of the influence of the Internet. Only 49.4% of Hispanics give it a positive rating and 53.8% of African Americans agree. African Americans attribute negative effects in higher percentages than other groups, but not significantly higher. All ethnic groups, excluding African Americans and Hispanics, report a good likelihood of having friendships with other ethnic groups outside of work or school. While better than 90% of Italian Americans, Arab Americans and Jewish Americans have such friendships with someone not in their ethnic background, only 79% of African Americans and Hispanics say the same thing. Hispanics and African Americans, along with Arab Americans, demonstrate the strongest emotional bond with the country of their heritage. More than three in five Hispanics (62.4%), about three in five African Americans (59.7%), and more than half of Arab Americans (55.7%) say their emotional ties to the country of their heritage are strong, compared to 37.5% for Italian Americans. Close to 70% of Hispanic Americans and more than 64% of African Americans favor taking into account racial preference when hiring or admitting students to a college. On the other hand, 87% of Italian Americans, 80% of Jewish Americans, 76% of Asian Americans and 75% of Arab Americans are opposed to racial preferences.