 Foot in the door
Our success here indicates
that indeed we have made it in the great United States of America.
That we belong!
By Faye (Fereshteh) Farhang
April 14, 2004
iranian.com
The many responses that I received for my article
[Rock
the vote with Ameri] on Ameri prompted me to reply
so to make clearer my point in what I consider to be an on-going
analysis of her
effectiveness as a candidate. Just to assure my
reader, I expected most to disagree with me but as a
writer my intention is more to challenge than to
acquire a following.
Again let's consider the bigger
picture ñ why does her political position as a Republican not matter
but her origins should make Iranian Oregonians cast their vote? I need my reader
to see ten steps ahead....bear with me.
It is in one word 'regrettable' that
the many who have read the article on Ameri have failed to grasp my stance
as
to why she is a viable candidate for the Persian American Community at
large -- solely because
she is Persian.
In fact Jim S. in his "opinion" [Inescapable
truth] equates
my reasoning to vote for her based on her Persian background to
a rather arbitrary, ignorant
stance -- similar to voting for someone simply because they like the
same type of pizza as you.
Mr. S., kindly show more sophistication
in your analogies; I am referring to a person's origins
here not their choice of food. I am referring to what will define
her
in one way or another until
the day
that she
dies.
I am referring to what propels me as a democrat and
liberal to vote for her, a neo conservative. The issue at large
is what Ameri represents,
as a figure
head, even a puppet, and not so much what she brings to the table
as a candidate.
All political candidates today have their follies,
in fact the line between
Republican and Democrat is
becoming more blurred. But Ameri may in fact be the "Token Persian" to
make it to Congress! And do you really think that as a Persian American
I will back down from my position to support her, simply because I
am a Democrat and
she's not?
If I lived in Oregon and (thank you for your statistics)
although unnecessary, I would do everything in my power to support
her and her campaign.
She represents to me and should be to Persian Americans at large,
a symbol of inclusion in American political life, this is so much
more
than the
ridiculous "cozy feeling"of having a Persian in Congress
that you talked about.
The point here is inclusion. It has been over
twenty
six years
that the
fundamentalists have ruined and tortured Iran, and forced the majority
of Iranians to embark on a diaspora. It is here that we have begun
to build again from
scratch.
Our success here on various levels -- be it political,
economical, etc, indicates
that indeed we have made it in the great United States of America.
That we belong! And that we will contribute as best as possible
to the American
body
politic.
Let us not
forget that as a community we are "Americans" of Persian
origin. To all those Mr. Jim S's out there who insultingly doubt
that Iranian Americans have done anything in the name of Iran,
in the name
of their origins,
within
the borders of the United States I pose this question: What site
are you writing for? Isn't the work that you see here everyday
on
Iranian.com a testament to the act of representation? I salute
the editor for giving us the stage
to voice our opinions. And that Mr. S. is one example of what Iranian
Americans can do for representation.
Like I said previously, one
step at a time will
get us to that level where we could actually be choosy about the
candidate we support.
And I'll end on a note significant to both our positions on Ameri.
The heart of the matter is elegantly phrased by another
reader of Iranian.com, J.D. Waltz writes in his response to
the article, "It's the question of whether or not some representation
is better than none. And what that representation truly entails.
I'm reminded of
the 'token Black guy' syndrome ... is that worth it? Maybe so.
Maybe it's that foot in the door truly needed for future reform
and true
access, but maybe
it's just hollow appeasement."
.................... Say
goodbye to spam!
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Foot in the door
