The Battle Over Rami Malek’s Heritage

The evening of February 24th was undoubtedly a big night for American Coptic Egyptians. Rami Malek, a Coptic Egyptian from the San Fernando Valley, won the Oscar for “Best Actor” for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

At first, his win seemed to reverberate throughout the world. I could practically feel the excitement, my own included, bleeding from Instagram and Facebook.

I mean, Rami Malek won! Someone who looks like me won! Someone who understands my culture  won an Oscar!

“I am the son of immigrants from Egypt,” Malek said in his acceptance speech. “I’m a first-generation American, and part of my story is being written right now.” Hearing someone call themselves Egyptian at the Oscars, letting the whole world know that we exist and can succeed, gave me goosebumps.

However, after news outlets started reporting his win, a new question arose:

Who IS Rami Malek, and what is HIS culture?

For example, “Egyptian Streets” published an article that said that Rami Malek was the first Arab to win an Oscar. In the comments section, it looked like most Egyptians– both Muslim and Coptic– took issue with this. The general gist was that we are not Arab, we are Arabized; Similar to the way Native Americans are not white, but rather they are westernized. To call a Native American “white” would be an insult to the group, who are only westernized because their land was taken and they were forced to change their language, religion and culture.

On the other end of the spectrum, other people were insulted that one would insinuate that Rami Malek isn’t Arab. Doing so is meant to divide us and distance ourselves from Arabs, who are currently an oppressed group in America. Furthermore, it would be akin to trying to distance yourself from the obvious, which is that we’re Arab because we have an Arab culture.

I was curious about the discussion, so I created an informal poll on my Instagram feed. It asked, “Is Rami Malek Arab or African? If you have a different viewpoint, send it to me.”

All in all, I received about ten different distinct answers as to what Rami Malek’s ethnicity actually is, and had an exact 50/50 vote on my poll.

These fractured answers illustrate the paradox of identity politics amongst the Arab/MENA/Egyptian/Coptic community. This paradox, however, existed long before present day Arab Media outlets, so it begs the question, how do Egyptians identify themselves in America, and how does being Coptic factor into this discussion?

“I feel so seen!” said Maha Kamel,an Egyptian Muslim, who was watching from her current residence in DC. Originally, Kamel’s from Tarzana, the same suburb in Los Angeles that Malek is from.

Sarah Ibrahim, another Egyptian Muslim, contemplated that:

“Coptic Mom and Dad” and “Arab Film and Media Institute” were the first two [media outlets] Facebook posts I saw on my Feed. I reposted from the “Arab Film and Media Institute,” because I felt it spoke true to who many of us are as people from Arab speaking households. The fact that I even had to contemplate which article to repost sparked this dissonance in me as well.

Rami Malek himself has illustrated this dissonance in his identity, and even goes so far as to mention the identity issues he had growing up as many Coptic Americans can relate to during his speech:

I think about what it would have been like to tell little bubba Rami that this might happen to him one day and I think his curly-haired little mind would have been blown. That kid, he was struggling with his identity, trying to figure himself out. And I think, to anyone struggling with theirs and trying to discover their voice, listen: we made a film about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself, and the fact that I’m celebrating him and this story with you tonight is proof that we’re longing for stories like this. Part of my story is being written right now, and I could not be more grateful.

“Rami Malek’s win was for all of us, an Egyptian first and foremost” as Sarah states. She does not see why Arab media and even the Coptic Community are claiming specifically to their own communities.

However, many in the Coptic community have a completely different view point. I received numerous messages as an answer to my poll, and listed just a few here:

Question: Is Rami Malek African, Arab, or something else entirely?

Arguments that Rami Malek is Coptic:

Sophia Soliman:

There are numerous hazards to using social constructs like race, nationality and ethnicity to define a people. However, in the case of Rami Malek, I think the best way to describe his ethnicity is Coptic. Given that he’s Coptic, he’s clearly not Arab. Though Copts have a lot in common culturally with Arabs, the amount of persecution and subsequent efforts to raise awareness of their plight makes the distinction subtle but essential. Not only are Copts an ethnic group, but they’re a religious group with a shared language, history and tradition, further distinguishing them from Arabs. Copts are also considered to be the indigenous people of Egypt, so I think classifying him as African wouldn’t be incorrect though it would be imprecise. The clearest and most concise ethnic classification for Malek is therefore Coptic.

Arguments that Rami Malek is North African:

Mary Beshay:

Egypt is within the Saharan Desert, more specifically the Nile River Valley and the Nile Delta. We are not sub-Saharan and we are not part of the other traditional African Tribes. We are not Arab, since the Copts stem from the pharaonic Egyptians. Our language, Coptic, is the final evolution of the ancient demotic language. Our roots stem from these people, we are not native to the Arabian Peninsula and are thus not Arab. Arab invaders came to Egypt during the Arab Conquest in the 7th century. They impose their religion, law, language and culture. We are the minority that has survived oppression and persecution. Arabs do not get to diminish our values, traditions, ethnicity and religion and then get to claim that one of our own community members is a part of theirs.  

Arguments that Rami Malek is Arab:

Nikki Ramsy:

While Egypt is in Africa, it’s important to factor in Egyptians’ blatant anti-blackness that is alive and well. Many Egyptians try to distance themselves from other parts of Africa, which the world views as poverty-stricken and “third world.” Also, Rami Malek is an Egyptian American, and to identify him as African would homogenize him with black Americans. This would not only be a gross injustice to the Egyptian community, which has its own distinct set of characteristics but especially to the black community, which has a completely different history and culture. It’s important not to undermine the Black community by grouping them with others, such as Rami Malek, who do not share their experiences and who are not identified as black (by black Americans themselves or by the public in general). I understand Coptic Egyptians’ hesitancy to identify as Arab, associating “arabness” with their Islamist oppressors. But this label is definitely more accurate, especially in the context of him being American. In the United States, race is understood completely differently, and there a lot of things Egyptian Americans, even Coptic Americans, share with Arab Americans.

Arguments that Rami Malek is African:

La-Vie Mina:

He’s Egyptian who’s a product of forced assimilation/adaptation to the Arab culture. We as Copts were a people and indigenous to Egypt before the Arabs invaded. We adopted their language,),  foods, traditions, etc.,while preserving our religion. And although in Africa there are still differences between the rest of indigenous cultures in Africa to us, or what has been deemed African culture,we are African, we just are not what is viewed as African.

Arguments that Rami Malek is Middle Eastern:

Sandra Kirollos:

I saw a post on Facebook commenting on his and Salah’s (the football player) success saying that they don’t represent Egypt, they represent the countries that took them in and nurtured their talents. I agree with that. But that’s not necessarily why I think he’s not Arab or African. If you constrict him to either identity, you take away the struggle he talked about growing up and finding his place in the world. Instead, I see the Middle East as a mix of cultures and identities. He is Coptic Egyptian which has a completely different identity from Arab and African. I don’t know if he identifies as a Coptic Egyptian American but we should respect the fact that he’s not trying to restrict his identity to either one. I also believe that the Coptic Egyptian identity needs to have just as much exposure as Arab identity, African identity, Muslim identity, etc. 

Apart from these, there were also several answers that couldn’t fit neatly into one category. For example Janine Gharghoury told me that Rami was first and foremost Coptic, but that he is both Arab and African.

Marilyn Henien, who hails from the same San Fernando Valley like Rami Malek, states that “technically Egyptians aren’t Arabs, but I think now, especially in America, it isn’t a huge cultural taboo to say they are. But if you go to Egypt and say that and it’s a huge issue. Sooo [sic] the politically correct answer I think is African but Egyptians get lumped in both groups so maybe they don’t belong in either?”

***

There was a wide range of answers, many of which conflicted.; I could not string their ideas into a coherent synthesis of the Coptic Egyptian identity, which was my hope at the beginning of this venture.

But maybe, that’s the point.

We American Copts are the first generation in this country. It is because of people like Rami Malek, who are brave enough to venture out into the world and be seen by others, that trigger these questions. These are questions we need to have, and will undoubtedly continue to have.

One thing is for sure. Rami Malek is a symbol for a people who are no longer portrayed only as terrorists in the media. The Coptic community is no longer visible by just the persecution of our people in Egypt. And that, I think, is a win.

Peter Aziz is a MPA candidate studying public policy and is a NNAAC transformative Leaders Fellow with the Arab American Civic Council.

Marianne Melleka Boules is a nonprofit consultant living in Orange, California. In her free time, she likes to write, drink tea, and rock climb with her husband Tony. 

If you would like to contribute to the Coptic Voice, please send an email with your bio and topic of interest to CopticvoiceUS@gmail.com