From: bavafa@netcom.com (Hooshyar Naraghi)
Subject: Re: DEEP THOUGHTS & RACISM [sci-anonymous-poster]
Organization: Center for Racism Prevention
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 10:00:26 GMT

Poor amir khAn had said:
>>Arabs...... the world would be a safer place without them. Just the deep 
>>thought.....

shahram replied:
>I am not racist, nor am I pro-Khomeini or pro-MKO. But UNFORTUNATELY I have to
>agree with Amir on this. I have friends among Arabs and they are nice
>people, but the fact that I could find good people among them whose
>thoughts and deeds are different from those of the rest of Arabs, does not
>change the truth about the majority.
        ^^^^^^^^^       ^^^^^^^^^^^^
What is the truth here?  What is your definition of the majority?  Do
you mean the majority of all Arabs in the world?

>I am not saying this because of my
>nationality and I emphasize that I AM NOT RACIST. My opinion about Arabs
>was formed by what I saw from them.               ^^^^^^^^^^

I can understand that you are very careful not to be called a racist.  I
hear you, shahram khAn.  What is your opinion about them?  BTW, when one
forms an opinion about some people based on observation and it turns out
the observation is very much the same in other races or ethnic groups,
then the first breezes of racism can be felt.  And all of that while we
sincerely believe in ourselves that we were not a racist.

>Just look at what they do in this
>country. The way they waste money. The way they DON'T study. In my school,
>the biggest portion of academic dishonesty is committed by Arab students.
>They buy their compter projects, senior design projects, etc. I am not
>saying that all of them do it. What I am saying is that MOST of them do it.
>A lot of them in this school came here for undergrad. study at least one year
>before me( I came here six years ago). Now I am in the second year of
>graduate school while some of my Arab classmates have not yet finished their
>B.S. requirements. They don't even care about themselves. Most of the time I
>see them sitting in cafeteria playing cards. As far as their attitude
>goes I give you the opinion of an American friend of mine:"when Arab girls
>come to this country they go wild."

I have seen all of the above characterizations in almost any human being
from any country, race, ethnic or religious affiliation.  I guess I have
a hard time to label above observations as 'arabic.'

>I am sure that if you get out of Nebraska and spend enough time in a state
>where there are a lot of Arabs, a place where they can spend money, then
>you'll see that what Amir said and I agree with has roots in reality, it
>is based on observation and IS NOT out of racism.
             ^^^^^^^^^^^
You have convinced me that you are speaking out of observation and not
racism (BTW, this is the third time so far).  I am only asking you to
elaborate how you reached the conclusion that above behaviours were 
indeed arab-specific.  Please!

I am sure if some day you decide to get out of your place and visit us in
this California within the territory of the rich at Stanford, you will
observe that so much money is spent by non-arabs that you will grow
two shAkhs on your head.  :-)  And the off-springs of those excessive
spenders 1) do not study and 2) play cards at cafeterias.

> Do you remember the 
>attitude of their football players toward the Iranian players???? Did we
>ever treat them the nasty and unpleasant way that they treated us? Did we
>ever invade Iraq, whether before that goddamn revolution or after it?

ostAd, one of the flaws of racism is that it tends to form an opinion
based on _observation_ or _hearsay_ of few isolated cases, and pretty
soon it turns into a universal message (matlab bast-e omoomi peydA mikonad)
without any solid evidence.  Now, can you tell me more about _their_
football players?  I am confused because I do not know of a country named
Arab.  You were talking about Arabs, and not a particular country right?
So who was playing football against the Iranian football team?  :-)

>What really hurts is that still when some Iranians want to talk about
>themselves vs Arabs, they refer to it as "Arab and ajam". I am sure that
>those ignorant people wouldn't do it if they knew why Arabs called us ajamies.

Oh, I forgot.  Sometimes racism utilizes some distantly past historical
event to establish its universal point.  The more distant the event, the
more genuine the claim!

>There is a lot more to say about them.
                                  
You mean you haven't said enough about _them_ already!?  :-)

>My whole point is that making a statement based on observation does not
>make anyone racist.

Racism is a human disease, a very bad one that disintegrates any community,
city, mahaleh, or even a newsgroup.  A racist person is somebody who,
consciously or unconsciously, attributes general behaviourial short-comings
of any people to a certain denomination.

Let us hope that we will refer to our consciousness and re-evaluate our
preconcieved ideas about peoples of the world.

Regards,
Hooshyar F. Naraghi
bavafa@netcom.com
(415) 322-8056

Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian