Putting an End to the "A" Word

posted on: Feb 27, 2014

It’s not the word you’re thinking of in English. Some in the Arab community are doing their best to strike the “A” word from everyday Arab language.

Holding on to his Arabic roots, Hassan Hachem does his best to keep the language alive. There is one word Hassan’s mother forbids in the house. But the ten year old says he hears that word all too often around the neighborhood.

“Like some Arabic people around me say it, the A-word.” said Hachem, “I can’t say it. It’s like a very bad word. I don’t say it, nor anyone in my house.”

The word in question is “abed,” which literally translates to “slave,” or “abeed,” which is the plural form. It’s got a lot of people in the Arab world saying this is a word they do not need to use anymore.

“Black Americans who are Muslims who understand Arabic, when we hear, “Abeed,” to us it is the equivalent to the N-word.” said Dawud Walid, with Michigan’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

And like the N-word, there’s a movement making waves on social media asking people to stop using the pejorative term.

“We hear this term going to gas stations, to grocery stores.” said Walid, “And it’s extremely offensive and hurtful.”

“You’re being racist [when you use it].” said Hassan, “You’re talking about a human being.”

Out of the mouths of babes, it is a whisper of wisdom, and a shout to every grown-up conversation that words do matter.

On Twitter, the conversation over the use of this word continues by following the hashtag #DropTheAWord.

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Andy Choi
WXYZ Detroit