Persian Realm

Well, what do you expect?

Well, what do you expect? When we half-Iranians are not rich and famous you reject us as non-Iranians. But, when we become successful you are eager to claim us as one of your own.

...

Ok..Hala in yaru chi kareh hast ' Oscar gerefteh ?! poul dadeh beh bichareh hayeh bi khaneman dar Iran ?

Feshangi jaan

Feshangi jaan,

In response to your question:

Wonder no more.... of course NOT!

I wonder...

If Mr. Danesh were a serial killer, some of us would still beat our chests and so bitterly complain about him failing to bring up or acknowledge his Iranian ancestry. 

I think the fact that we know he has Iranian blood in him and he is offering joy to people through his art is enough of sarbolandi and eftekhar. Why do we always have to try to force our claim on others.  On the one hand we lecture freedom of choice and democracy and so on, and on the other we take away the same freedoms from people who wish to excercise them!

I say let the man be. 

Feshangi

About DD: Darius Danesh Persian Roots etc ...

As far as I know Darius Danesh is quite comfortable with his Persian Roots. He was even at last Year' First Annual Noor Film Festival in LA where his girlfriend actress Natasha Henstridge

//www.noorfilmfestival.com/Images/OpeningCere...

was a Jury Member.

I don't see any particular reason why his being proud of his scottish roots would make him less proud of his Persian / Iranian heritage. After all everyone is and should be proud of their mother. I am half French so I can fully understand being caught between two cultures. It has nothing to do with false pride or anything of that sort, its just that one is a combination of the two. If you happen to be talented with good looks all the Better which is the case for Darius Danesh.

After all even Elvis was Cherokee by his mother and Sinatra and Dean Martin were Italian but they were born in the US and considered themselves as American first and formost. I think that one's identity is a combination of many things but what is important is to be happy with it and comfortable otherwise why bother.

Again Danesh is quite comfortable about both his Scottish and Persian Roots and in fact on the Official Website of Gone with the Wind in one of the videos the producer mentions that he is also Iranian :

//www.gwtwthemusical.com/sights_sounds/sights...

Why should anyone be proud of being Iranian or Persian?

What have we done in the last 1400 years to make us proud of our heritage? And as for the period before that, who cares? Unless being a clown like Shirin Ebadi who declares herself as the daughter of Cyrus while believing in Islam!

I read all these comments

I read all these comments and I think Darius Danesh is a great looking man and has a great voice too.
(just saw and heard him on youtube again).
The thing is I don't see anyone calling him names here AT ALL!!
In fact one is saying he probably has his own 'good reasons' for not wanting to say he is part Iranian and the others are saying If people of Iranian decent don't want to proclaim it right out loud to the world, then let them be!
As we know, for years some Iranians have been claiming Andre Agassi- one of my all time favorites in tennis and a wonderful person- as Iranian.

Well is he or isn't he?

Born and raised in the US to an Iranian dad who left Iran many years ago doesn't "necessarily" make him one!

Obviously he can claim his ancestry or he can choose not to. - probably if he were askesd he would say his dad was Iranian/Armenian/Assyrian.

My great great grand-dad was Russian. from what I've been told he was born and raised in Moscow and he was well loved during his life and had lots of kids... I have always had an affinity towards the people of Russia (especially their suffering during the 1+2nd WW wars and under the Soviets), cause I feel there is a tiny bit of them in me somewhere, but that doesn't mean everyone should feel the same way!

I wish Darius Danesh the best in his new show as Rhett Butler, he definitely does represent the HUNK Rhett (Clark Gable) was!

By the way what Darius had said has actually been taken out of context, read this from the Telegraph.Co:

[When I ask if his positive attitude to life comes from his living in the US for the past few years, he almost sounds as if he's doing an impression of his idol, Sean Connery. "Not at all. I'm Scottish through and through.
It comes from my mother, who would say, 'Eat when you're eating and walk when you're walking.']

From: //64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:un8PHDFQuNcJ:... from

Chicago Dad

I am not an expert in mixed nationalities nor may I speak for anyone, but it seems to me that the objections you have seen might be to Mr Kadivar for bringing up this young and probably very talented actor's name only to claim credit for iranians and maybe it's just for the sake of his name.
Of course people can be proud of their heritage, and one does not have to necessarily be iranian to show pride in their nationality, but if they are not claiming that nationality themselves, then it's foolish and ridiculous to keep bringing them up in this manner.
There are quite a few articles and youtube clips that have repeatedly forced Ander Agassi into the list of Iranian national pride, although Agassi himself has denied it.
A lot of us have adult kids who even if %100 from iranian parents, call themselves Iranian/American and rightly so, they were born here in the US and this is the only home they know... None of them deserve a bashing.

Bashing Never Works

It seems odd to me to see how some Iranians take deep offence to Mr. Danesh proclaiming his pride in his Scottish ancestry.  I'm not sure if they are upset because he didn't express equal devotion to his Iranian ancestry, or because he didn't express pride soley in his Iranian ancestry.  Either way, I feel sorry for those that only have harsh words for this young man.

My wife and I had a wonderful son of mixed ethnicity.  During his life, I never objected -not a single time- to his mother teaching him first, to speak Persian, then to read and write it, to  teach him of his ancient heritage, or to her taking him to Iran numerous times.   I never thought that by her making him proud of his Persian ancestry that it diminished his love of his American (and further back, his European) heritage.

As he grew older and his personal identity began to develop, he began to identify himself as Iranian-American...not quite the same as me as far as being American goes, and not quite the same as his mother as far as being Iranian goes.  Did either one of us  get our feelings hurt?  Absolutely not.  He was part of us and part of where we came from whether he liked it or not.  He could have called himself an apple and proclaimed his pride in being an apple and that would not have changed the way we felt about him because we would have known exactly what he was even if he didn't say it.

If I would have derided my child and used harsh and hurtful language toward him because his mother thought it important to make him proud of being Iranian, many iranian.com readers would call me a racist. If I put him down for saying he was proud to be Iranian, many would think me an unfit, unloving, and a prejudiced  man.   And, they would be right!

When those same people would deny Mr. Danesh the unconditional right to express his pride in that which his mother taught him to be proud of, are they any less prejudiced and racist?  I think not. 

Calling this young man names will never endear him to his Iranian heritage.  Perhaps, a little understanding and love will do the trick, however.    

IRANdokot And Other Concerend Iranians

Mr. Danesh does not want to be labled "Iranian" and I'm sure he's got his own "good" reasons for that. Some Iranians' persistance on calling Mr. Danesh or Mr. Andre Agassi Iranian is analogous to the mullahs' unwillingness to accept that people have the right to choose their own religions or opt for having none, at all.

After all, who would want to be identified with a country run by the mullahs?

She said: "Darius is a great-looking guy. I liked him a lot."

I undrestand when you heard this statement as your name is also Daruis you felt something "ghelghelak" you :-)

What I know from Mariah would makes me want to be renammed Darius too :-)

And when I read :

She told Britain's New! magazine: "I adore British men - and I rather fancy Prince Charles. He is suave, educated and is a great role model."

I'm LOL :-) :-) Prince Charles ! What's else ? ;-)

May be she would mean they are very rich, if not I dont catch any other reasons ?! May be she has never met an Italian or a French one !

He acknowledges his Persian heritage too

On his official website, he writes in his biography that he is both Scottish and Persian. Also when his father was diagnosed with cancer a few years back, he dedicated his second album to him, calling his father his "hero."

Let's not be too hard on the youth who have mixed ethnicity and been raised abroad their whole lives. It is not unusual or difficult to understand that they "feel" like both their ethnicities.

Some people made very harsh remarks about Aravane Rezaie (the Iranian French tennis star) on this website a while back, saying she is a gharbzadeh because she plays for France. Well, she also represented Iran in many tournaments, even winning the title for her country.

People, please research a bit before pulling the trigger. Let's counter all the hate with a little love is all I'm saying :)

Chera mikhahim beh zoor...

In Mr. Danesh hich alagheh nadareh keh irani bashe ya begeh az taraf-e pedari ba iran nesbati dareh.
Migooyad: "I'm Scottish through and through. It comes from my mother."

Chera mikhahim beh zoor kasani ra keh Nemikhan nesbati ba iran/irani dashteh bashen ra beh khodemoon bechasboonim?

Inja ham zekr shodeh kasani mesl : Agassi, Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen(deceased), Hamassa Kohistani(Miss England/world 2005)tajik/Uzbeck/afghani -Dar chand ja dar you tube az oo beh irani boodan yad shodeh!
Chera?
Nemikhan... ya nistan, veleshoon konid.

Ma beh andazeh iranihaee keh mikhan irani bashan darim, bavar konid!

Mariah the publicist

what did you expect Marial Carey to say about British men when interviewed by a british media??
that british men are lousy and insensitive etc etc etc??
of course she is trying to sell her records and a smart salesperson would not put down her potential customers.

scottish or persian

Dear Mr Kadivar, 

You have mentioned Mr Danesh at least twice now, is this because of his name or are you especially impressed with his talent? Are we considering him Iranian/Persian because of his name?

What makes Darius Danesh Persian?  He's known as the British pop idol and he says he's scottish thru and thru...

Another one who doesn't like to be called Iranian is Andre Agassi and we still force his name in the list of famous Iranians who make us proud!!!  I think we should change the criteria: if a famous person is proud to be Iranian, we shall be proud of him/her too, I should also add that I can admire someone's talent without feeling proud of them.

Darius also said despite living in Los Angeles for the past few years, he has not adopted any of their habits, and still thinks of himself as a true Scotsman.

He added: "I'm Scottish through and through. It comes from my mother."  

IRANdokht