I do not understand what Orientalism has to do with Arab and Muslim Americans. Can someone please explain

Answer 1

http://www.jiskha.com/search/index.cgi?query=orientalism

Skip the first two links here and read the rest.

Answer 2

PS -- If you look at a map of Asia, you should notice that the Middle East is included in that continent.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=map+asia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Asia&gl=us&ei=lCjATJqlEsaAlAeh8dWNCg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB0Q8gEwAA