We all know about famous and successful Iranians in our midst. CEO’s and VP’s of big corporations, successful doctors, artists, high-ranking government employees, writers, and gifted scientists, there is always some Iranian somewhere doing something noteworthy for us to feel proud. As a community, however, we tend to lack a common forum and voice. We gather around events and people, but never around issues.
We are, for the most part, law abiding, tax-paying citizens who are assets to our communities, but we tend to shy away from American politics, be apathetic to political developments, and disinterested in local elections. Why is that? Is it because over the past three decades each of us has been catapulted into this new land initially as a “temporary measure,” which turned into a serious, unplanned, and permanent reality? Is it because we see ourselves as “accidental emigrants,” not sure what to do now that we have stayed and have gone on to have children, businesses, and careers here?
Whatever the reasons, the view from the outside in is that we are a fragmented community, unattached and unmotivated to form lobbies to change laws and conditions in our favor. We live in the US now, respecting and loving our new country, abiding by its laws. But we also love and care for Iran and what happens to it and to its people.
Whatever we each think about the Iranian regime, we certainly wish no harm to people of Iran. Then why are we silent when we hear the war drums played non-stop on American media, depicting Iranians as cockroaches, talking about plans to simultaneously hit 10,000 targets in Iran, or speculating casually about striking Iranian nuclear facilities without any reference to the fact that those plants are now located in densely populated areas of Iran, striking each of which will be tantamount to a human catastrophe?
We can and should do more to bring attention to ourselves as a peaceful and peace loving community with intelligence, integrity, and heart. We must find ways to get together and show our strength as a viable, educated, and dedicated populace. Staying silent and indifferent, we will never be heard, recognized, or respected in our proper and deserved position. Accidental emigrants or a community dedicated to a life of integrity in the US, while ensuring a proper and humane approach to a country and a nation we left behind, but will never stop loving—the choice is ours and never as crucial as now.
