This is not a blog

Friday, June 29, 2007

Relax, I'm unarmed! 

I've been looking around for a used car for a while. This other day, I saw an ad on craigslist from a dealer and I called him and we set a time for a test drive. He was from one of small towns around here. The moment I called him I noticed his strong American accent and to tell you the truth I was a bit anxious about meeting him, you know, thinking he looks like one of them cowboys! Have you seen the movie "The Big Lebowski"? He reminded me of that narrator character with big mustaches and the cowboy hat who talks to the dude in the bar. I like these guys actually, they resemble our own "luti"s in a way!

Anyway, I met him and everything went smooth. While in the car, he asked me where I am from and I went to to answer "from Iran". Then he asked me where I have graduated from and I said from some school in Iran. He asked if the education is good in there and I explained to him that there are smart students but the facilities are not on par with the schools in here. He then somehow managed to ask me something along the lines of "Have you ever had any encounters where you get reactions from people because of your origin?" I don't remember his exact words, but I understood what he meant. I told him that I have never felt that I'm being treated differently here. But he reminded me of the fact that I have had this unanswered question for quite a while. I wanted to ask him "should I expect to be treated differently?"

I have heard all these stories about middle easterns being judged because of their origins. Anyone who knows about Iran knows that everything about Iranian people is different from the neighboring countries, but with Ahmadi Nejad and the fundamentalist clerics on the news all the time, I don't expect anyone to see that difference. So I have always wondered, are these stories really true? Do Americans look at me and think with themselves "Huh, this is one of them jihadis with fundamentalist beliefs?" But I have never felt anything like this. Does this mean that it is more likely happen to people who look differently or those who express their beliefs? Or am I emitting atheist waves which helps people get the right ideas about me. Or perhaps I am being treated differently, and I just can't tell, because, you know, I have never talked to a cashier from inside an American person. What makes it more complicated is that in this country there has been a very fresh history of fighting against racism, so people are taught from young ages not to reveal any personal feelings toward people of a different race. So I have always wondered about this and it just bothers me that I don't know. The best answer I have got is from when I had this discussion with my American colleague and he said that this is a college town and people are more used to seeing foreigners. He basically said this mostly depends on the diversity of the environment.

On a side note, what is it with my fellow Iranians answering "Persian" whenever they are asked about their origin? I mean, come on, do people from Italy go around and say "I'm Roman?" I have never introduced myself as Persian, though I understand why someone would do that. They way that works is by taking advantage of the fact that most people don't know the relation between Iran and the ancient Persia. Persian is associated with some fine things like Persian cat, Persian carpets. But Iranian is associated with Ahmadi Nejad and Mullas. Still I think when you say "I'm Persian", you are implicitly admitting that there is something wrong with being Iranian. I know that when I say I'm Iranian, the image that most people get is nowhere close to who I really am as any Iranian. In spite of that, I prefer to be judged for the wrongdoings of the leaders we have failed to choose properly, than allowing myself to remove parts of my identity.