Being young and arab in america the title comes from web du bois who asked the same question about african american during jim crow bayoumi who is an english professor at brooklyn college chronicles seven arabs men and women mostly in their 20s in brooklyn and we meet their friends as well. How does it feel to be a problem just over a century ago web du bois asked that very question in his american classic the souls of black folk and he offered an answer being a problem is a strange experience he wrote peculiar even no doubt evoking the peculiar institution of slavery du bois composed his text during jim crow a time of official racial segregation . How does it feel to be a problem being young and arab in america by moustafa bayoumi. The story of how young arab and muslim americans are forging lives for themselves in a country that often mistakes them for the enemyarab and muslim americans are the new largely undiscussed problem of american society their lives no better understood than those of african americans a century ago under the cover of the terrorist attacks the wars in afghanistan and iraq and the explosion . In relating the gripping personal stories of seven young arab and muslim americans from brooklyn in how does it feel to be a problem moustafa bayoumi reveals the feelings and frustrations of the current eras scapegoats who can be demonized profiled and reviled without fear of sanction