ایرانی یا آمریکایی - Iranian-American

ایرانی یا آمریکایی - Iranian-American

Dear Khaneh Iran; Thanks for your efforts and services to our Iranian community or as you have started to call it our Iranian-American community! This sudden change of status is what I have some issue with and would like to present a simple common sense argument before our status is entirely and completely changed by such an honor.My argument is rather simple-minded but has a connection to what we often refer to as heritage and it goes like this. If I am an Iranian, generally meaning I was born in Iran and now happens to live in US then I cannot really be an Iranian-American unless generally speaking I was born in two places at the same time. Then who am I? I am simply an Iranian who resides in US and is part of a minority ethnic group in this country. For many like me to be categorized under an Iranian-American flagship makes little or no sense. Now if I were an American, born in America, and had Iranian parents then the same argument would have hold. In such case I basically would have been an American with Iranian roots and not an Iranian-American unless once again I was born in two places at the same time.As we see in both cases and according to the given perspective there are empirical conflicts rooted within the subject status. This brings us to ask the reason and story behind the creation of such Americanized hyphenated phrases. A somewhat troublesome issue that is the main area of my attention. To hit the bottom line let us ask ourselves why isn’t it good enough to be an Iranian and stay one. I am not disrespecting American or talking about any fanatic nationalism, just a common sense question?Does insecurity have any part in this? If the answer is affirmative then we should ask why we have allowed ourselves to become so insecure about our roots and heritage that we are challenging the very nature of its existence. Aren’t we selling off our ethnicity and background so cheaply perhaps to satisfy those who have no care and concern about such roots and us all together?If we feel secure and don't see any value in such representations, then I suggest next time Khaneh Iran wants to address our community then it shall remove the hyphen and what it comes after it and naturalization status, then it is only fair if you have the other two phrases "Iranian", and "American-Iranian" (perhaps for those born in US with Iranian roots) at the same place and all along each other to address the community, as such will be a powerfully inclusive and comprehensive representation of a diverse community as we are. Repeat of past could destroy the very fundamental of one's causes, not because of literary use of one phrase Vs. the other one rather due to the fact that the selection signals an insecure and defeated mindset that has no courage to do otherwise and stand for what it wants to represent.Ba-Sepas Mehdi Mahdavi

vol1_no3_fall2002.pdf

Persia House of Michigan

2002 - Fall

vol1_no3_fall2002.pdf (p.4)

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