As Charles Rangel once said, “Americans have faced huge obstacles to achieving the American dream, yet have preserved to overcome them.” Firoozeh Dumas is just like the many immigrants who moved to America to fulfill the American dream, and with facing many obstacles and challenges her and her family never gave up on their dream. In the book “Funny in Farsi” Firoozeh tells her somewhat poignant yet heart touching experiences of being an Iranian-American immigrant. Firoozeh’s journey made her overcome challenges that I myself can not imagine overcoming such as changing some very unique qualities about herself to be able to feel accepted and fit in and to dealing with racism in a country where she considered as her new home where she’s supposed to feel safe. Immigrants all over America are treated differently, which sometimes makes them feel less welcomed than they really are. Firoozeh Dumas’ story as a young Iranian immigrant is one of many. Dumas’ life was definitely influenced by all the biases and stereotypes others had set about her and her family, with being Iranian to not knowing the language everyone spoke around them they definitely faced dispute with trying to fit in.
Firoozeh’s father was an engineer who worked for the National Iranian oil company, and when the US and Iran were on good terms, he came to America bringing his family along to help an American company set up an oil refinery in Iran. Firoozeh saw a different America, the Americans that she saw and knew invited her over to their house and were kind and generous towards her and her family, something you normally wouldn’t have seen after the Iranian revolution. “When my parents and I get together today, we often talk about our first year in America. Even though thirty years have passed, our memories have not faded. We remember the kindness more than ever, knowing that our relatives who immigrated to this country after the Iranian Revolution did not encounter the same America. They saw Americans who had bumper stickers on their cars that read ‘Iranians: Go Home’ or ‘We Play Cowboys and Iranians.’ The Americans they met rarely invited them to their houses. These Americans felt that they knew all about Iran and its people, and they had no questions, just opinions. My relatives did not think Americans were very kind.” (Dumas, 36). Dumas even considers herself “lucky” to have been able to known the sweet and courteous Americans before the Iranian Revolution happened, something that her relatives who migrated to America didn’t get to experience. Her relatives saw the cold and uncivil Americans, the ones that when they heard you were Iranian they would glance and stare and give you looks to the point that made you feel uncomfortable. Americans started treating the Iranians differently so much that if they asked where Firoozeh was from and she simply said Iran the conversation would end there, many considered them Muslim terrorists and all these biases and racial terms they used made Firoozeh realize how different she is from the rest of them.
Having spoken about differences, a foreign name in America can be very frustrating to deal with and I speak from personal experience. Firoozeh also had a strange name and often Americans ended up mispronouncing her name, or simply when they asked for her name and she said it they gave a look or stopped the conversation there because it was just too hard to pronounce and they didn’t want to seem dumb. However, aside from all that what I find so intriguing is Firoozeh didn’t get a job until she changed her name on her job applications. For what it seems like a simple thing such as a unique name it’s heartbreaking how it can change ones life by just alternating a name. “When I went to college, I eventually went back to using my real name. All was well until I graduated and started looking for a job. Even though I had graduated with honors from UC-Berkeley, I couldn’t get a single interview. I was guilty of being a humanities major, but I began to suspect that there was more to my problems. After three months of rejections, I added “Julie” to my rèsumè. Call it coincidence, but the job offers started coming in.” (Dumas, 65). Julie is a modern American name which makes sense that Firoozeh would be treated like an American that was born here and not an Iranian with a strange name who no one would want to be friends with simply because they were too afraid to ask how her name was pronounced. Firoozeh’s decision to take an American name became obvious, she didn’t want to qualify as a foreigner so she took the name “Julie” to see the insights on what people really think about her homeland. Moreover, Dumas was trying to portray her adversity of a name that is considered different and never heard of in a country where other problems are more relevant than having an ethnic name but others couldn’t see that.
Growing up Firoozeh was faced with enormous hate because of her nationality. During the Iranian Revolution her family including many Iranians in America were hated because the ruler of Iran had different plans and opinions that Firoozeh and her family including many Iranians simply did not agree with. Many assumed that just because they were from Iran they had the same thought process as someone who half of the world hated. Unfortunately, because of the Iranian Revolution Firoozeh’s father lost his job with the Iranian company but luckily he found a job with an American firm. But the hate grew so much that Iranians in America were paying the price being treated horribly because a group of Americans in Tehran were taken and for that Americans were getting revenge from the Iranians. “Nobody asked out opinion of whether the hostages should be taken or not yet every single Iranian in America was paying the price.) (Dumas, 118). Iranians chose this way of revenge on the Americans and didn’t think twice about what would happen to the Iranian immigrants in America which is why Firoozeh was so disappointed. Firoozeh was Iranian and because she was iranian she often encountered hate and loneliness. Even now Firoozeh learned to take the hate and store it deep inside her and never turn her face on where she comes from.
Immigrants come here to embrace their culture adapt to their surroundings and call America their new home but still keep their traditions and their countries customs, and show Americans that different is good and it’s ok to be different. Because Firoozeh grew up in a time where Iranians were new to the country she felt as though she had to hide who she really was. My family and I migrated to America 5 years ago, however just like Firoozeh came to America not knowing the language, my parents couldn’t speak the language and often I had to translate for them which ended up with people asking for my name and had trouble pronouncing my name but there’s one difference between me and Firoozeh, I didn’t change my identity to be able to fit it I embraced it. Some Americans are very polite and kind towards immigrants but most however treat you like you are not a part of this world which needs to change. Firoozeh and many immigrants like herself, that hide their identity essentially portray that they are ashamed of who they really are and where they come from. To conclude, Immigrants should be proud of their culture and identity and no let a society construct who they really are.
