Randa Jarrar (born 1978) is an American writer and translator. Her first novel, the coming-of-age story A Map of Home (2008), won her the Hopwood Award, and an Arab-American Book Award. Since then she has published short stories, essays, and the collection, Him, Me, Muhammad Ali (2016). She teaches creative writing in an MFA program at California State University at Fresno[1][2] where she is currently on leave.[2] In 2018 Jarrar attracted public attention for making statements critical of Barbara Bush on social media following her death.
Biography
Randa Jarrar was born in 1978 in Chicago to a Greek-Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father. She grew up in Kuwait and Egypt. After the Gulf War in 1991, she and her family returned to the United States, living in the New York area.[3] Jarrar studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, receiving an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. She has taught College Writing, Creative Writing, and Arab-American literature. "Fresno State's a majority minority school," she describes. "Many of my undergraduates are brown: Latinos, Asian Americans, Muslim Americans. They're first generation college students. Or they're children of migrant workers. Or they work full time, and parent."[4]
Writings
Jarrar wrote an opinion piece called "Why I Can't Stand White Belly-Dancers", published in Salon in 2014. In this piece, Jarrar said she felt that white women who take part in the art of bellydance are engaging in cultural appropriation and "brown face."[5]
Her commentary was widely criticized; UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh stated ironically "Maybe telling people that they can’t work in some field because they have the wrong color or ancestry would be ... rats, I don’t know what to call it. If only there were an adjective that could be used to mean 'telling people that they mustn’t do something, because of their race or ethnic origin'".[6]
Atlantic writer Conor Friedersdorf pointed out historical inaccuracies in Jarrar's argument, citing an academic source: "[W]ith regional variations, something like Raqs Sharqi seems to have been known throughout the Mediterranean and certainly flourished in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean before the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century".[7] Novelist and comics writer G. Willow Wilson wrote in defense of Jarrar, "When you shimmy around a stage in a hip band and call yourself Aliya Selim and receive praise and encouragement, while the real Aliya Selims are shortening their names to Ally and wondering if their accent is too strong to land that job interview, if the boss will look askance at their headscarf, if the kids at school are going to make fun of their children, guess what: you are exercising considerable privilege."[8]
In response these these criticisms, Jarrar wrote a follow-up to her piece, titled "I Still Can't Stand White Bellydancers".[9]
Mockery of Barbara Bush's death
On April 17, 2018, following the death of former first lady Barbara Bush, Jarrar described her as “Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal. Fuck outta here with your nice words,"[citation needed] referring to her son Former President George W. Bush. Jarrar later boasted that she will "never be fired" for her harsh words, because she has tenure at California State University at Fresno.[10]
Jarrar responded to highly critical condemnatory replies by saying, "I'm happy the witch is dead".[11] She was widely criticized for her actions, and later set her account to private.[12]
Effect on an emergency suicide prevention hotline
Amid criticisms, Jarrar provided a telephone number on her Twitter account as if it was her own contact number, stating "If you really wanna reach me, here's my number ok?"[13] However, the phone number that she provided was that of an emergency suicide/crisis hotline at Arizona State University.
The resulting deluge of thousands of spam callers overwhelmed the mental health crisis center's ability to take calls. Two days after Jarrar's tweet, the mental health crisis center continued to receive between 50 to 70 calls per hour.[13]
California State University at Fresno administration response
California State University at Fresno president Joseph Castro responded to widespread public outrage, saying "Professor Jarrar’s expressed personal views and commentary are obviously contrary to the core values of our University, which include respect and empathy for individuals with divergent points of view".[2] Fresno State confirmed that she was on leave from the university at the time the controversial comments were made.[2] President Castro stopped short of stating what (if any) disciplinary action would take place for Jarrar.
At a news conference, university provost Lynnette Zelezny confirmed that Jarrar's tenure would not protect her from termination, but did not specify whether termination was appropriate at the time.[14]
Alumni and major university donor responses
While a university investigation is under way, several donors to California State University at Fresno reportedly are considering whether the university deserves their contributions.
Ed Dunkel Jr., who made sizable financial contributions to California State University at Fresno in the past, said he will await the outcome of the controversy before deciding whether to close his checkbook.[15]
“I have a lot of friends that I’ve been talking to, and these are people who donate now and talking about holding back, and some are even questioning whether to send their kids to California State University at Fresno,” Dunkel told the Fresno Bee.[15]
“I admire and have a lot of respect for President Castro and huge affection for California State University at Fresno,” Dunkel said. “But I have huge concerns. This represents such an embarrassment to the California State University at Fresno and the community. It’s hard to believe this is an isolated thing that just happened. I have to imagine people previously knew of this person’s character and what she’s about.”
Another controversial California State University at Fresno lecturer Lars Maischak was demoted after tweeting that President Donald Trump “must hang” in order to “save American democracy,” said the university is failing to live up to its promise to defend academic freedom.[15]
