The post 9/11 era has been a troubled one for American society and its treatment of Arab and Muslim Americans. They have been marginalized, maligned, and in some cases attacked. Even the presidential campaign was not immune from anti-Muslim bigotry. In fact, it became one of the contest's recurring themes. Barack Obama was said to be Muslim, a rumor that has circulated for nearly two years—a whisper campaign that took off through email and the Internet. At a McCain-Palin Rally in Columbus, Ohio, a woman told John McCain: "I don't trust Obama. I have read about him. He's an Arab." McCain shook his head and responded, "No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man," but left it at that. No one in a position of power, with the exception of Colin Powell, has defended Arab Americans and criticized the scapegoating of an entire people.

Brooklyn has the largest Arab American population in the United States and Moustafa Bayoumi, a professor of English at Brooklyn College, has followed the lives of seven young men and women. He tells their stories in his new book, How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America.