Letters
April 19-April 23, 1999 / Farrvardin 30-3 Ordibehesht,
1378
Today
* Kosovo:
- Christian Holy War
* Prejudice:
- I had three black girlfriends
Previous
* Fiction:
- Amateurs night?
- Disgusting
* Scammers:
- Zerangi
- We're not alone
* Prejudice:
- The heart, not skin color
- Noble... but not good
- Righ on
- Will not "marry down"
- I guess I was fortunate
email us
Thursday
April 22, 1999
* Christian Holy War
I read Mr. Tehranian's comments about the genocidal war of extermination
being carried out by the Serbs ["Why
Kosovo?"]. His ability to meticulously manuever around the facts
about the horrendous atrocities being carried out against Muslim women
and children is a disgusting, yet masterful, example of obfuscation. Bravo!
... FULL TEXT
Ali Sadri
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* I had three black girlfriends
This is a response from a siaah-ookhteh-e-vatani: from what I know,
nobody got lynch-mobbed because of the color of their complexion in Iran
["Siaah
Sookhteh"]. So please don't compare the Iranian 'battered' sense
of pride with the European Supremacy ideology.
In different stages of my life I had three black girlfriends and even
to this date my Iranian friends talk about them with envy, so lets not
over-dramatize & confuse the issues. As with any other race, it's hard
& in some cases futile to change the elders' conservative views. But
it's always good to know that your granddad wasn't the Grand Wizard in
the local KKK.
Esphandyar Rohrabi
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Wednesday
April 21, 1999
* Zerangi
I have lived in Canada for almost 30 years. I have a few selected Iranian
friends and I hardly do any business with the members of our community.
This is not because I no longer love Iran or lost my passion for it. This
is purely the result of my past expereience in dealing with my fellow countrymen
["Aaberoo
reezi"].
We, Iranians, cherish the thought of being "ZERANG" which
is a term that can hardly be translated into English. Ideally, Zerang means
to be clever and bright. In practice, however, an Iranian who has earned
the title "Zerang", is often a crafty liar, a cheat, an opportunist,
and untrustworthy. One could say, a huge and dark side of our culture is
summarized in one word.
Unfortunately, I am not surprised to hear about wealthy Iranians living
in California on welfare. Until we put a higher value on our principles
and self-respect over and above our personal gains, a lot of us will continue
being zerang without being clever or decent.
Masoud Almassi
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* Amateurs night?
What is this amateurs night ["Midget"]?
I hope the author of this piece has another job.
Ali R. Shemirani
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Tuesday
April 20, 1999
* The heart, not skin color
In response to the letter "Won't
marry down"
Dear Sara,
Thanks for your response. It is very informative but misguided. Regardless
to what you consider yourself to be the truth is, you're not white. I don't
say this as a put down just merely stating a fact. Be it White, Black,
brown, yellow, or red we are all from God and no one is superior.
Before I met my girlfriend I knew racism existed everywhere but was
under the impression that it was more toxic here in America. I have received
e-mail from all over the world most from Iranian women but some from Iranian
men. Every e-mail that I received was of support and empathy. My girlfriend
was the first Iranian women I had ever really spent time with. The fact
that she is Iranian had nothing to do with the way I feel about her. The
reason I love her is because she is a very good person whom I admire and
respect. Thanks to the Internet, I know have a lot of new Iranian friends
write me since I submitted
my letter... FULL
TEXT
Michael
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* Noble... but not good
Noghrey writes: Please do not promote the ideas of the woman who chooses
Blacks as boyfriends ["Siaah
Sookhteh"]. Although tolerance of other races and cultures is
a noble idea, it is best not to try to ask the public to accept these ideas
based on such isolated cases.
Noghrey@aol.com
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Monday
April 19, 1999
* Disgusting
This story is disgusting ["Midget"].
I think it is inappropriate and misleading to publish this article in the
same column where many interesting and well-written articles have appeared
in the past.
Yahya Fathi
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* Right on
Shalizeh Nadjmi's article was brilliant ["Siaah
Sookhteh"]! I seriously hope that you'll provide us with more
of the same astute and poignant writing. She hit the nail right on the
head and held a long overdue mirror up to our community. I've never understood
some of our bigoted and racist attitudes as it seems oxymoronic!
Why do we as a new minority feel it appropriate to react in such a fashion?
After all didn't we leave our home in order to get away from backward thinking?
And finally if anything, having been mislabeled and misjudged ourselves
in the past 20 years, we should be more tolerant! Kudos Shalizeh!
Banafsheh Zand
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Friday,
April 16, 1999
* We're not alone
To single out a few greedy Iranian thieves for fruad is not right ["Aaberoo
reezi"]! After all many friends from the South of the Border,
many associates from the South Eastern Asian nations, good number of Middle
Eastern and African Moslem, Christian, and Jewish brothers, and sisters,
and a greater number of blu- eyed European junkies are in active partnership
with our Southern California Iranian community of corrupt citizens!
Of course, we haven't mentioned all other American friends whom have
been milking the system for more than 50 yeras. To be exact since 1938.
So, the system, in most part, is corrupt, and corruption breeds corruption.
What about the guys whose parents are using Social Security checks,
even though they never lived in the U.S., or ever worked here, and never
paid taxes, and yet live in Iran, and get checks to the tune of a minimum
of $654 a month! What would you call this, and how would you characterize
it?
Reza Azarmi
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* Will not "marry down"
[In reply to the African
American in love with an Iranian woman:] Many Iranian relatives do
not want their children, especially daughters, to marry Americans or Europeans,
but especially Blacks.
Despite the fact that we are also discriminated against, we like to
view ourselves as White and thus superior. This is a complex that exists
in our culture. Your friend may be able to tell you that the lighter an
Iranian is, the more beautiful s(he) is considered. Class issues are very
important in Iran as well as in the diaspora.
Whether or not you are professional, well-mannered, handsome, or from
a middle/upper class family in the U.S., in my experience, to Iranians,
you will always be considered a lower class person. It is hard for a family
to accept their daughter "marrying down".
I warn that you may receive malicious messages from Iranian men. Many
of them are adverse to the idea of "their" women being taken
away by other ethnicities, but especially by Blacks and Indians (from India).
Here is an article that appeared in The Iranian that may be of interest
to you ["Siaah
Sookhteh"].
Sara Norouzi
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