Journal Entry #8
I recently read the book “The Limits Of Whiteness” by Neda Maghbouleh, she refers to
Iranian Americans and the everyday politics of race. Neda takes a unique perspective when it
comes to analyzing the racial paradox that Iranians live in. In the book Neda includes
experiences of the youth, when she discusses their own personal challenges concerning their
race. Telling of incidents these children would have in school with their own friends, as well as
faculty. The Limits of Whiteness mainly focuses on the constant, egregious struggle that Iranians
experience with racism and prejudice in America.
Iranian Americans in society typically view themselves to be battling with racial evasion. Even though the states consider Iranians as Caucasian, they are often treated as minorities because of their physical appearance. One of the experiences Neda discusses in her book is Sima’s experience. Sima grew up thinking that having Iranian heritage was uncool but this thought started to fade until she made friends that wanted to learn about her language (Maghbouleh, 88). After accepting her heritage, Sima steps out of her comfort zone when she decides to run for president at her school. After her achievement of looking past being Iranian, regardless of the prejudices set against her, Sima was then bullied by a classmate in front of her fifth grade class. “While taking his right hand from his heart and putting his index finger across his eyebrow” Simas classmate was making fun of her unibrows (Maghbouleh, 89). Throughout her elementary school experience, Sima was exposed to being bullied because of her appearance.
According to the federal government, Iranians and people from the Middle East are classified as Caucasian. The state understands this; and supposedly treats them with the same equal measure as any other race, but these aren’t the same sentiments Neda shares in her recollections. Neda not only writes about Sima’s elementary school experience of getting bullied by her classmate, but also explains how the teachers in her classroom neglected the situation instead of diffusing it and defending her while she was being bullied. It is important to recognize the inattention of the teacher when this situation occurred, as it gives insight to the cause behind this inherent racism. Sima also shares another experience of being bullied, not from her classmates but from her own gym teacher. Sima explains how her teacher used to call her “Perussian” because to him Peru and Iran were the same thing (Maghbouleh, 90). Neda not only addresses the case of Sima but also the experiences of 18 year old Amir. Amir experiences difficulty getting along with white faculty and teens at his school, whether it’s being called a “nigger” or other offensive and profane remarks by his peers. He quotes “my kind of ‘white’ isn’t the same as their ‘white’(Maghbouleh, 93). It is indicated by the state that Iranians are Caucasian but in this case even the staff at Amir’s school turn the other cheek towards bigotry, and do so much as to defend those who taunted Amir. It seems to be extremely unfair how faculty encourages these occurrences of blatant racism and ignorance instead of doing everything in their power to prevent it.
Iranian Americans live within a racial paradox. Where as they are considered to be classified as Caucasian in this country but are not treated equally as their so called “white” caucasian counterpart would, solely based on their physical appearance. Iranians constantly struggle in many different facets given this juxtaposition. It comes to the point where they have become easy targets to verbal assault and harassment for reasons they have no control of, and manners in which they were never even involved. To their own detriment, this fragile environment of fear is daunted over mass American society, exposing them to irrational
Iranian Americans in society typically view themselves to be battling with racial evasion. Even though the states consider Iranians as Caucasian, they are often treated as minorities because of their physical appearance. One of the experiences Neda discusses in her book is Sima’s experience. Sima grew up thinking that having Iranian heritage was uncool but this thought started to fade until she made friends that wanted to learn about her language (Maghbouleh, 88). After accepting her heritage, Sima steps out of her comfort zone when she decides to run for president at her school. After her achievement of looking past being Iranian, regardless of the prejudices set against her, Sima was then bullied by a classmate in front of her fifth grade class. “While taking his right hand from his heart and putting his index finger across his eyebrow” Simas classmate was making fun of her unibrows (Maghbouleh, 89). Throughout her elementary school experience, Sima was exposed to being bullied because of her appearance.
According to the federal government, Iranians and people from the Middle East are classified as Caucasian. The state understands this; and supposedly treats them with the same equal measure as any other race, but these aren’t the same sentiments Neda shares in her recollections. Neda not only writes about Sima’s elementary school experience of getting bullied by her classmate, but also explains how the teachers in her classroom neglected the situation instead of diffusing it and defending her while she was being bullied. It is important to recognize the inattention of the teacher when this situation occurred, as it gives insight to the cause behind this inherent racism. Sima also shares another experience of being bullied, not from her classmates but from her own gym teacher. Sima explains how her teacher used to call her “Perussian” because to him Peru and Iran were the same thing (Maghbouleh, 90). Neda not only addresses the case of Sima but also the experiences of 18 year old Amir. Amir experiences difficulty getting along with white faculty and teens at his school, whether it’s being called a “nigger” or other offensive and profane remarks by his peers. He quotes “my kind of ‘white’ isn’t the same as their ‘white’(Maghbouleh, 93). It is indicated by the state that Iranians are Caucasian but in this case even the staff at Amir’s school turn the other cheek towards bigotry, and do so much as to defend those who taunted Amir. It seems to be extremely unfair how faculty encourages these occurrences of blatant racism and ignorance instead of doing everything in their power to prevent it.
Iranian Americans live within a racial paradox. Where as they are considered to be classified as Caucasian in this country but are not treated equally as their so called “white” caucasian counterpart would, solely based on their physical appearance. Iranians constantly struggle in many different facets given this juxtaposition. It comes to the point where they have become easy targets to verbal assault and harassment for reasons they have no control of, and manners in which they were never even involved. To their own detriment, this fragile environment of fear is daunted over mass American society, exposing them to irrational
judgements concerning Middle Eastern people and their intention. This, in turn, exposes these
innocent Iranian human beings to racism and its consequence.
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