Overview
1 Introduction
2 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on political perspective
2.1 Iranian Revolution
2.2 Iranian-American relationship before the Iranian Revolution
2.3 Iranian-American relationship during and after the Iranian Revolution
2.4 Iranian immigrants’ position as citizens in the States
3 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on social perspective
3.1 The warm welcoming Americans
3.2 The rising of anti-Iranian sentiments among Americans
4 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on economic perspective
4.1 Pre-Revolution period
4.2 Economy downturn and struggles
5 Conclusion
Reference
Iranian Revolution: Implications towards Iranian immigrants in the United States
1 Introduction
The Iranian Revolution in 1978-79 and its aftermath changed life for many Iranians who had
decided to flee their country. Since then, the world witnessed the rapid growth of Iranian
diaspora population worldwide, especially in the United States of America where half of the
diaspora Iranians settled in. In Firoozeh Dumas’ autobiographical text Funny in Farsi, Dumas
chronicles her and her family’s experience of being a diaspora in the United States, though
with a tinge of wit and humour, nevertheless still depicting various impacts of the Revolution
on her family empathetically. Therefore, based on the events and the element of
characterization from Dumas’ memoir, this paper will focus on the relationship between the
Americans with the Iranians before and after the Iranian Revolution in light of political,
economic and social perspectives.
2 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on political perspective
The political affairs between the United States and Iran have indeed influenced how the
Iranians are treated in the America. The impact of such affairs on the Iranian immigrants in
the U.S before and after the Iranian Revolution will be examined in detail based on Dumas’
memoir. Concerning politics, this essay would also give a glimpse of Iranians’ position as
citizens in the U. S. Before elucidating how political affairs affect the lives of the IranianAmericans, this essay feels the need to briefly explain the emergence of Iranian Revolution in
1979 in the following section.
2.1
Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution is the outburst of discontentment towards the ruling of the shah, both Reza
Shah and his successor, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (January, 2008). For decades, Reza Shah
ruled Iran with a heavy hand and allowed, or perhaps encouraged, foreign investments on the
Iran oil fields. His son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who took over Iran in 1941, continued to
drive Iran towards modernization under similar tyrannical rule. As a result, Iran became
considerably richer and more powerful in its military equipping as a result of modernization.
However, many religious Muslim Imams perceived such modernization as a wicked Western
influence that destroyed the modest and traditional Islam foundation in Iran. In 1979, led by
the religious leader Ayotollah Khomeini, the Iranians agitated against the shah and managed
to form a new theocratic government. Apparently, the Iranian Revolution also marks the
obstinate confrontation between the ideologies and values of the Islam and the West—
especially the America. With these, this essay proposes that there is a change in how the
Iranian immigrants are received by the Americans before and after Iranian Revolution. The
subsequent paragraph illustrates how the Iranian-Americans were received before Iranian
Revolution
2.2
Iranian-American relationship before the Iranian Revolution
Before the Iranian Revolution 1979, Iran had a close relationship with the United States. In
fact, on 1977’s New Year eve, U.S. president Jimmy Carter stayed in Tehran, displaying a
sign of strong comradeship between the American and the Iranian government. During this
period of time, the Iranian immigrants were accepted in the U.S. almost effortlessly, or in
more moderate terms, without much resentment. As Firoozeh Dumas came to the States in
1972, which is before the outburst of Iranian Revolution, she admitted that the Americans
were very kind and helpful towards them although they were apparently foreigners.
According to Dumas’ memoirs, the American neighbours and friends were rather eager and
enthusiastic in merging Dumas and her family into the local community. For instance,
Dumas’ school friends shared Western food with her, “I bet you’ve never tried an Oreo! Have
one,” or “My mom just baked these peanut butter cookies and she sent you one (p. 34).”
Moreover, the Americans did not want Dumas, an Iranian little girl to be left out in their
traditional celebration. Dumas recalls, “On Halloween, one family brought over a costume,
knowing that I would surely be the only kid in the Halloween parade without one (p. 34).”
After two years staying in Whittier, Dumas and her family moved back to Iran and when they
came back to Newport Beach in 1976, there was a change in how the Americans treated
them. The succeeding section of the essaay will describe on how the Iranian-Americans were
received during and after the Iranian Revolution.
2.3
Iranian-American relationship during and after the Iranian Revolution
As the tension between the U.S. and Iran mounted during and after the Iranian Revolution,
hospitality towards Iranian American immigrants gradually turned to hostility. The uneasy
political relationship reached its peak when a group of Iranian students occupied the most
obvious U.S. presence in Iran—the embassy of United States in Tehran and seized sixty-six
Americans as hostage in 4 November 1979 (January, 2008). The tangible hatred that the
Americans felt towards the hostage takers in Tehran quickly spread towards all Iranians.
Dumas describes in her memoir:
Overnight, Iranians living in America became, to say the least, very unpopular…Many
American began to think that all Iranians, despite outward appearances to the contrary,
could at any given moment get angry and take prisoners (p. 39).
As a matter of fact, the distrust and hatred displayed by many Americans during this
time span were such that the social and economic aspects of the life of Dumas and her family
were considerably affected. The details of such influence would be further explained in the
later sessions of this essay. For now, the following paragraph will discuss a relevant issue on
Iranians’ position as citizens of the United States.
2.4
Iranians immigrants’ position as citizens in the States
This essay would like to draw the readers’ attention to the Iranians immigrants’ delicate
position as citizens in the U.S., which is represented by Dumas and her family. Dumas’
father, Kazem, as she recalls, was treated like a ‘second-class citizen (p. 118)’ in the States.
According to Shafir (1998), a citizen refers to a person with legal status, carrying rights to
certain things entitled to a member in a community of shared law. Meanwhile, the term
“second-class”, according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Hornby, 2005), is
defined as a label possessed by individuals which deems them to be “less important than
other people”. By combining the two definitions, second-class citizen therefore means a
person with legal status in a nation, who is however perceived as less important and thus
might be denied of certain privileges entitled to the other citizens.
In Funny in Farsi, despite the fact that Kazem was legally a U.S. citizen, and had the
rights to vote (p. 118), he was treated as a “second-class citizen (p. 118)” by the Americans,
as according to Dumas’ memoir. First of all, as every citizen should be viewed equal and are
accredited for fair treatment, the choice of Dumas’ strong words suggests that Kazem’s rights
as citizen was perhaps slowed to be catered to by the U.S. government as compared to
citizens who are white. Secondly, Kazem had always remained an outsider in the eyes of the
American society, as suggested by Dumas’ words:
In 1980, however, despite my father’s staunch devotion to freedom and fairness, he was
still a foreigner with an accent, an accent that after the Iranian Revolution was
associated with all things bad. He was treated like someone who should just pack up and
go. But go where? (p. 119)
Kazem’s predicament presumably implies that the Iranians would not be able to
receive the same treatment like a Scandinavian in the America, despite the long period they
have spent dwelling in the “Promised Land” (p. 4), of which is ironically not very promising
to them.
3 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on social perspective
Generally, the term “social” pertains to how human beings live or associate as they stay
together in groups or communities (Hornby, 2005). It concerns the interpersonal
communication that all humans have with one another and also their welfare as members of
the society. In the following section, this essay will focus on how the Iranian Revolution
1979 affected the social affairs between the Americans and Iranian immigrants in the United
States with reference to Dumas’ memoirs - Funny in Farsi.
3.1
The Warm Welcoming Americans
In the earlier chapters of her book which was set during the Pre-Iranian Revolution Period,
Dumas clearly depicts the America as a friendly and receptive host. In fact, Dumas admitted
that “I was lucky to have come to America years before the political upheaval in Iran. The
Americans we encountered were kind and curious, unafraid to ask questions and willing to
listen (p. 31).”
Despite of the distinctive differences in language, culture, and religion, the Americans
received the Iranian immigrants well. In the memoirs, Dumas writes that “my father’s
description of America had been correct. The people were very, very kind” (p. 7). Here,
Dumas repeats the intensifier “very” to amplify the benevolence of her American neighbours
and friends. For example, a neighbour voluntarily helped Dumas and her mother to find their
way back after both of them got lost (p. 6-7). Besides that, Dumas’ American friends invited
her for social gathering and sleepover at their houses (p. 36). These evidences taken from
Dumas’ memoir showed that there was a peaceful, trusting and helping relationship coexisted among the American settlers and the Iranian immigrants.
The Americans’ curiosity to learn more about Iranian cultures also shows that
Americans espoused positive attitudes towards the Iranian during the pre-revolution period.
In the memoirs, the Americans often asked Dumas and her family about their Iranian culture,
camels, and Persian cats. This might be irritating to young Dumas, but she later admitted that
such questions were often “asked with kindness (p. 34)”. Apart from that, Dumas’ friends
also pleaded Dumas to teach them writing their names in Farsi. All of these events indicate a
cross-cultural communication taken place between the American and Iranian immigrants.
This intercultural information sharing can help to bridge social gap between the Iranian
immigrants and the Americans.
3.2
The Rising of Anti-Iranian sentiments among Americans
The Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 and the hostage crisis has changed U.S. public opinion
towards the Iranian community, including the Iranian abroad (Habibi Nader, 2003). In
response towards the hostage crisis, the Iranian immigrants in United State were no longer
receiving the same treatment as they did during the pre-revolution period. Dumas felt the
change of America’s attitude toward the community of Iranian immigrants as she wrote in her
memoir; “we remembered the kindness more than ever, knowing that our relatives who
immigrated to this country after Iranian Revolution did not encounter the same America” (Pg
36). Instead of receiving warm and friendly welcome, the Iranian immigrants were subjected
to racial profiling and social discrimination.
Racial profiling is a situation whereby a certain crime is attributed based on one’s race
or cultural background (Michele, 2005). For the Iranian immigrants, the anti-Iranian
sentiment as well as the racial profiling attitude have become so ingrained in the Americans
that Iranians will always be treated as the scapegoats should any act of terrorism is carried
out. This view is supported by Dumas herself when she wrote:
Sometimes, mentioning that I was from Iran completely ended the conversation. I never
knew why, but I assume some feared that I might really be yet another female terrorist
(p. 40).
The statement above is ironic because Iranians in the U.S. are innocent of
perpetuating this stereotype. In fact, Iranian immigrants are amongst the most highly
educated and skilled immigrated groups in the United States, with the fewest social problems
(Bozorgmehr Mehdi, 2001). Despite of all these, they still receive hostile and prejudicial
treatment from the host country.
Apart from racial profiling, the Iranian immigrant community in America is also
oppressed due to social discrimination. First and foremost, there are traces of outspoken
hatred shown by the American society towards Iranian immigrants after the hostage crisis.
For instance, vendors start to sell car stickers and T-shirts with racist remarks like “Iranians
Go Home” and “We played cowboys and Iranians” (p. 36). The Americans also project their
negative stereotypical Iranian images via media such as newspapers with racist headlines like
“Iranian Robs Grocery Store” (p. 177). Minor crimes committed by one or two Iranians was
magnified, highlighted and scrutinized under the sun. As a result, the Iranian immigrants in
the U.S. live lives filled with fear and anger.
Moreover, social discrimination towards Iranian-American immigrants also existed in
the education system, as described by Dumas in her book. Even if Dumas won the French
Language impromptu speech competition depending on her own efforts and determination,
the organizer questions her qualification and credibility of winning it due to her Iranian
identity. This instance shows the deprivation of Iranian immigrants in U.S. of their rights at
being recognized for their achievement in studies. Also, this example points out the
Americans’ strong sense of racial superiority. They could not accept the fact that they had
lost to a non-white.
4 Iranian Revolution and Iranian immigrants: impacts on economic perspective
Apart from political and social aspects, Americans have also demonstrated a considerably
drastic change in their treatment towards the Iranian-Americans from the economic
perspective, as discussed by Dumas in her memoirs. According to the definition provided by
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Hornby, 2005), economy refers to the relationships
between production of goods and services, trade, and the distribution of money in a particular
country or region. Within the context of the book, Dumas straightforwardly illustrates this
aspect of impact particularly through her father, Kazem. The following section of the essay
will therefore focus on the economic impacts brought on by the Iranian Revolution towards
the Iranian immigrants, comparing in details the kind of treatment received by them before,
as well as during and after the Iranian Revolution.
4.1
Pre-Revolution period
Economic inducement is considered to be one of the main pull factors that contributes to
Iranian-American immigrations ever since the fiscal year of 1921 (Thernstorm, 1980). As job
opportunities and salaries were substantially higher in the United States than in Iran, most
Iranian students were tempted to return and obtain permanent residency in the States after
their graduation. At the early days before the political upheaval in Iran, Iranians were well
received by the Americans in various occupational fields, one of the examples being the
existence of close bonds between National Iranian Oil Company with American firms,
whereby Dumas’ father, Kazem, was assigned to supervise American contractors in the
design of an oil refinery in Isfahan as a senior project manager. This demonstrates
American’s willingness to involve in collaborative relationships with Iranians regarding the
matter of oil production (Reimers, 2005). Although the pre-1979 Iranian-American migration
movement was relatively small, Americans took Iranian immigrants in under their roofs
welcomingly from the aspect of economy. Nevertheless, following the outbreak of hostage
crisis, such attitude changed, and will therefore be discussed in the next session of the essay.
4.2
Economy downturn and struggles
As Iranian Revolution 1979 evolved and reached its peak soon after, marked by the
significant event of Americans being taken hostage in Tehran, Americans’ attitude towards
Iranian immigrants demonstrates a sharp decline, from being hospitalizing to full of “palpable
hatred” (p. 117). Iranian-American immigrants were then collectively seen as one due to
racial profiling, and suffered from consequences that trailed along. The prejudice faced by
Iranian immigrants did not stop on the point of their social living, but extended to the
economical aspects in their lives. Although in her novel ‘Funny in Farsi’, Dumas recollects
her memories humourously, her tone changes when it comes to the point of describing the
economy crisis experienced by her family during the Iranian revolution. In terms of job
applications, it is depicted that Iranian-American immigrants face struggles. For example, in
the context of the novel, Kazem lost his job as an engineer with an American company
immediately after the hostage incident broke off. While applying for new jobs, United States
companies shut their doors at the face of Iranians applicants, and even Saudi Arabian
companies who are in somewhat related to the Iranians for being Middle Easterners turn
down Kazem’s job application as soon as they realized of his nationality.
From another point of view, the subtle economy oppression faced by Iranian
immigrants can also be seen when Dumas is forced to re-adopt her English name “Julie” after
being rejected for job opportunities using her Iranian name “Firoozeh”. Even she herself
admitted to the fact that Julie is like “an evil twin” (p. 65), one who enables her to achieve
dreams and realistic demands such as advancing her career path. The word ‘twin’, indicating
a blood relation, also implies the inseparable bond between her Iranian identity as well as the
fake identity she uses for getting acquainted with the American society. This is further proven
by the receiving of interview opportunities only after adding on the name “Julie” to the
resume. In her usual humourous way, Dumas comments on the incident by saying that:
Perhaps it’s the same kind of coincidence that keeps African Americans from getting
cabs in New York (p. 65).
In the statement above, Dumas has likened the Iranian-American immigrants to the
African Americans who have a well-known lingering history of being discriminated by the
whites in the United States, therefore indicating to her American readers that IranianAmericans too have suffered from the biased treatment they received from the Americans in
many different aspects.
5 Conclusion
Undeniably, Iranian revolution has caused significant impacts towards the Iranian immigrants
in the United States. Because of the Revolution, the Americans’ attitude towards the Iranian
immigrants is changed from welcoming to distrust and suspicion. Such attitudes of the
Americans in general affect the Iranian American immigrants’ lives politically, economically
as well as socially. Nevertheless, this essay regards such change of the Americans’ attitudes
towards the Iranian immigrants as something inevitable, for it is an act of self defence.
Putting any one into the American’s shoe, he will also react to ‘the race that had kidnapped
his people’ probably the similar way—treating the race with distrust and fear. Such action
could therefore be considered as a justifiable defence taken up by the Americans, and thus the
blame of discriminating against the Iranian immigrants should not be put single-handedly on
the former.
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