stop calling me a terrorist

The BBQ Pit
21

ShadiRoxan, I am so sorry that you have to put up with this. Such ignorance out there. Yeesh.

Something quite similar to this happened to me several years ago. A new woman was hired at work. I am from Southern California—there are a lot of Middle Eastern people living there. Glendale (my hometown) has the most Armenians outside of Armenia, so I’m told. But I digress…

Anyway, I was chatting with this new employee, and asked her where she was from. She looked a little frightened and evasive and said, “Persia”. I said, “No really, where is that?” After a bit of probing, the woman admitted that she was from Iran. Even in my general state of cluelessness, I could see the apprehension in her face. I forget exactly what I said to her, but basically I welcomed her enthusiastically to America. (I also assumed that she’d left Iran because things were tough over there for her family, and I also alluded to that.) I guess that did the trick, because she was always very warm and friendly with me all the time she worked there.

It always saddens me to think of how she felt, though—worried to reveal where she was from, worried that she’d get shit for it. I think her fears were allayed, at least at that workplace. We were quite the melting pot and as far as I could tell no one really gave a damn where anyone else was from.

22

Once upon a time, when I was ignorant, I invited my nice Jewish boyfriend and a lovely Palastinian male friend to the same dinner party.

Only one of them was a pig. But I’m not saying which, because I’m sure someone else has had the exact opposite experience.

As I’m sure we all know, ethnic slurs in the workplace are not legal.

23

BRUTUS,
I’D LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT I’VE TAKEN YOUR COGENT AND WELL THOUGHT OUT COMMENTS IN THIS THREAD TO HEART. UNFORTUNATELY I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN AFFORD ALL THESE CAPITAL LETTERS, BUT I’LL TRY TO KEEP IT UP AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.

If the only response people can come up to a thread about flippant racism being treated as if it were a joke is to comment on the original poster’s style of writing, the terrorists have already won.

24

I remember my cousin ranting at Christmas a few years ago about her friend’s boyfriend, who was a Muslim. She stated that all Muslims were pigs and terrorists, blah blah blah. And I asked how many she knew.

“I only need to know one.”

:rolleyes:

Shadi, wonder how this guy would have liked to be called “Bubba” or “The Grand Wizard.”

What an ass.