لم يحمل الإغتراب واقعاً سلبياً على بناتنا في الخارج؛ وخاصةً تلك النخبة من الشباب والفتيات اللواتي تربين في وسط أسر عربية حافظت على أصالتها وتعهدت قيمها الدينية والأخلاقية من الضياع... فكان للتمازج بين أصالة الشرق وبين الإرتقاء العلمي في الغرب دوره الكبير في تألق كثير من شبابنا  وفتياتنا في الخارج. وقد أثبتوا تواجداً رائعاً في العديد من المجالات الحيوية وإليك مثلاً الشابة السورية نور العقاد ابنة الجراح الدكتور نبيل العقاد وخريجة جامعة جورج ميسن في واشنطن قسم الصحافة والإعلان والتي كتبت مقالة حول انتخاب ملكة جمال أمريكا لعام2010 في مجلة هفينغتن يوست  (Huffington Post)  التي تصدر في لوس أنجلس حيث لفتت الشابة نور وبطرقة لبقة وذكية إلى أن نساء وفتيات عربيات ومسلمات يستحقن الإحتفاء والتتويج نظراً لإبداعهن في مجال العلم والعمل ولم ينلن ذات الحظ من الشهرة والدعاية الإعلامية التي نالتها ريمة الفقي ملكة جمال أمريكا اللبنانية الأصل...

سحر مهايني

 وإليكم نص المقالة:

Yaaaaay! Rima Fakih, an Arab-American, has won the crown of Miss USA. Now young Arab American girls everywhere have something to aspire to: strutting in skimpy bikinis and winning pole-dancing contests.

Im not denying that many Arabs, including myself, thought it was really cool that an Arab American won the Miss USA pageant. But should this really be looked at as a groundbreaking moment? I even saw one facebook post equate Rima Fakihs win to Barack Obama becoming the first African American President. If a beauty pageant win is our breakthrough moment, we are in a lot of trouble.

I dont recall Arab Americans being this excited about the success of other American women from Arab descent. Why cant we get this excited over women such as Diane Rehm, the exceptional and adored public radio host that has over two million listeners across the country. Broadcasting five times a week, Rehm hosts some of the most engaging and fruitful discussions among the nations most prominent politicians, policy makers, and analysts.

Or what about the architect, Iraqi born Zaha Hadid? She was one of the first women to design a major American art museum, The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

And how can we forget about the most famous White House Press Corps. member, Helen Thomas? Helen Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, has covered the White House under every President since John F. Kennedy. Shes actually one of the few that still does the job of a White House Press reporter--she holds the feet of all administrations to the fire.

These are the kind of women we should be proud of and go crazy over on facebook. These are the kind of women our children should aspire to be.

Congratulations to Rima Fakih on accomplishing her goal. And I hope she uses her success to make a real difference in this world. But until she does, lets keep things in perspective. We, in the Arab-American community have a great deal of work to do.