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Quote #10
It's almost always somehow there, the notion that I am Arab, in any and every interaction. And sometimes it's quite grossly and offensively present, depending on how bigoted or ignorant the person I'm confronting is. (256)
Ahmed spends a lot of time trying to deconstruct the idea of Arab identity, especially so she can get at the truth of who she is and whether or not the label truly applies to her. She not only has to investigate the origin of "Arabness," she also has to confront what other people think it means. And this is not always pleasant.
We see this in the standoff on the bus in Cambridge, when a man spits at Ahmed upon learning that she's Arab. It's not just this one instance that makes Ahmed's research so urgent; she finds that almost everyone she meets has preconceived notions (usually negative) about Arabs.