Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Iranian-American Nurture New Generations After Revolution
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 12, 2019

Share

IRVINE — Minoo Sharifan came to the United States from Iran in the 1970s for graduate school, and like many others, wound up settling in America, starting a career and raising her family while a revolution upended her homeland and fractured relations with the U.S.

“For younger kids to see kids their age coming to the library and speak Farsi, it’s a good feeling for them and it makes me happy. For us coming from another country, (a) sense of belonging to the group is very important.” — Minoo Sharifan
The two countries remain bitter adversaries. In his State of the Union address last week, President Donald Trump said Iran does “bad, bad things” and “threatens genocide against the Jewish people”; Iran’s foreign minister countered that the U.S. has backed “dictators, butchers and extremists.”
It’s against that tense backdrop that Sharifan and others from her generation seek to build a connection to their Iranian heritage and culture among their American children and grandchildren. Now 67, Sharifan oversees the Persian collection and programming for a library in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, that hosts a weekly story time for Iranian-American children that she began six years ago.
At a recent gathering, a dozen young children sat cross-legged on the floor, listening to a parent volunteer read the Farsi-language version of the storybook about “Elmer” the patchwork elephant. One girl performed a Persian dance for the group, and the children twirled scarves and sang in Farsi.
“For younger kids to see kids their age coming to the library and speak Farsi, it’s a good feeling for them and it makes me happy,” Sharifan said. “For us coming from another country, (a) sense of belonging to the group is very important.”

Nearly a Half-Million People in the U.S. With Iranian Ancestry

The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran overthrew the shah, a close U.S. ally, and installed Shiite clerics in power and a government headed by the anti-American Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Tens of thousands of Iranians fled to the United States.
Today, there are nearly a half-million people in the U.S. with Iranian ancestry. More than 40 percent live in California, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The biggest community is in Los Angeles, which has led some to adopt the nickname “Tehrangeles.” Beyond Southern California, other significant populations live in the New York and Washington metropolitan areas, and in Florida and Texas.

“People feel like their place in the U.S. has kind of continuously been under question, or not completely at ease, because of this bigger relationship between these two countries.” — Persis Karim, chair of San Francisco State University’s Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies
Many who came to the United States after the revolution thought they would someday return to Iran but decided to stay amid icy relations between the countries. Many were upper-class and highly educated in Iran and pursued careers as doctors, entrepreneurs and professionals in America.
In recent years, Iranian-Americans also have taken on a more visible role in politics, winning seats for state office in California, Florida and elsewhere. In Beverly Hills, which has a sizable Iranian-American community, Iran-born engineer and entrepreneur Jimmy Delshad served as mayor.
That doesn’t mean the road has been easy. Many Iranian immigrants recall being taunted as children after Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran were taken hostage and held for 444 days. Today, many are separated from their relatives overseas by the Trump administration’s travel ban, which has made some Americans of Iranian heritage feel their standing is in question despite their citizenship status and longstanding ties to the U.S.
“In economic terms, it has been a pretty successful community, however, we have been dogged by 40 years of bad relations between the United States and Iran,” said Persis Karim, chair of San Francisco State University’s Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies. “People feel like their place in the U.S. has kind of continuously been under question, or not completely at ease, because of this bigger relationship between these two countries.”

Perceived as Different by American Society

After the revolution, many Iranian immigrants sought to distance themselves from the upheaval in their homeland by calling themselves Persian. The second generation, Karim said, has identified more often as Iranian-American to show pride in their heritage and their U.S. citizenship.
But these newer generations have grappled with the sense that no matter how American they become, they are perceived as different by American society, said Neda Maghbouleh, a sociology professor at University of Toronto, Mississauga, who was born and raised in the United States and wrote a book about Iranian-Americans’ experiences.
“The kind of exilic identity that first generation Iranian-Americans have had has been something that has not necessarily translated to second generation use,” she said. “They’re products of an environment that has been incredibly hostile to the Middle East more broadly, to Iran more specifically.”
“The second generation has in many ways seen itself as a racial minority,” she said.
The Iranian-American community is itself diverse and includes Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians and others with diverse views and a shared tie to Iranian culture. Many are quick to distinguish between the governments of Tehran and Washington and the people of both countries, who they see as mutually friendly.

A Common Need to Expose the New Generation

And many see a common need to expose the new generation to Iranian culture.
In the Southern California city of Irvine, an Iranian community organization offers weekend language and dance classes. At the library, families bring their children to mark key moments throughout the year, such as the springtime Persian New Year celebration Nowruz.

“Once my son started speaking fluently, he was floored. His heart melted. As people get older in the community, I think it is really important for my kids to know the language.” — Aliah Najmabadi
In Berkeley, just outside San Francisco, a preschool has grown to include a private elementary school program that immerses children in Farsi, Arabic and Hebrew. Yalda Modabber, executive director of Golestan Education, said she started the preschool more than a decade ago when she wanted to teach Farsi to her first child. She recently expanded to elementary school grades at the urging of parents who wanted their children to continue the instruction.
Aliah Najmabadi, 40, has sent her two older sons to the Berkeley preschool. Born in the U.S., Najmabadi said her Iranian father came to the country to study in the early 1970s and met her mother, a South Dakotan of Norwegian descent.
While she grew up speaking English, Najmabadi said she was surrounded by the Persian culture and language when her father’s family came over from Iran in the years after the revolution, and she wanted to learn more.
She went on to study Farsi, but said she still struggles to understand everything her Iranian grandmother says. Now, her 8-year-old son helps translate, she said, and her father — who sometimes questioned her desire to learn the language — has been moved emotionally.
“Once my son started speaking fluently, he was floored. His heart melted,” Najmabadi said of her father. “As people get older in the community, I think it is really important for my kids to know the language.”

DON'T MISS

2 Charged in Plot to Solicit Attacks on Minorities, Officials and Infrastructure on Telegram

DON'T MISS

Soak in the Sights and Sounds of Fresno State’s Home-Opening Football Win

DON'T MISS

House Republicans Push to Link Government Funding to a Citizenship Check for New Voters

DON'T MISS

Valley Children’s Hopes Paying $400K to Settle a Lawsuit Will Make Another One Go Away

DON'T MISS

Video: Fresno Police Seek Public Assistance in Locating Tower District Felony Assault Suspect

DON'T MISS

James Earl Jones, Acclaimed Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman Killed in Collision with Commercial Truck on Highway 180 Identified

DON'T MISS

One Killed, One Wounded in Fresno Shooting on Cherry Ave

DON'T MISS

Rap Megastar Kendrick Lamar Will Headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show

DON'T MISS

SEC Grabs Six of the First Seven Spots in Rankings as Notre Dame Tumbles to No. 18

UP NEXT

The Architect of California’s COVID Response Is Stepping Down

UP NEXT

With TV Drug Ads, What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get

UP NEXT

Syria Says Israeli Strikes Kill 18 People in a Large-Scale Attack on Sites

UP NEXT

Hate Crimes Rise Against Indian Americans, Deepening a Divide Between Hindus and Sikhs

UP NEXT

Young Golden Eagle Attacks Toddler in Norway, Its Fourth Such Assault on Humans

UP NEXT

Wildfires East of LA and South of Reno Threaten Homes and Force Thousands to Evacuate

UP NEXT

Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer Has Died at Age 58

UP NEXT

Job Killer or Neighborhood Protector? Proposed Warehouse Rules Divide Inland Empire

UP NEXT

More Extreme Heat & More People Bring Danger to CA Cities. Will It Get as Hot as Death Valley?

UP NEXT

Newsom Rejects Bill Providing $150K to Undocumented Immigrants to Buy Homes

Valley Children’s Hopes Paying $400K to Settle a Lawsuit Will Make Another One Go Away

Video: Fresno Police Seek Public Assistance in Locating Tower District Felony Assault Suspect

44 mins ago

James Earl Jones, Acclaimed Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93

1 hour ago

Fresno Woman Killed in Collision with Commercial Truck on Highway 180 Identified

2 hours ago

One Killed, One Wounded in Fresno Shooting on Cherry Ave

2 hours ago

Rap Megastar Kendrick Lamar Will Headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show

2 hours ago

SEC Grabs Six of the First Seven Spots in Rankings as Notre Dame Tumbles to No. 18

2 hours ago

Trump Threatens to Jail Political and Other Opponents

3 hours ago

Merced Juvenile Shot Dead. Police Want Public’s Help to ID Suspect.

3 hours ago

The Architect of California’s COVID Response Is Stepping Down

3 hours ago

2 Charged in Plot to Solicit Attacks on Minorities, Officials and Infrastructure on Telegram

WASHINGTON — Two people who prosecutors say were motivated by white supremacist ideology have been arrested on charges that they used the so...

8 mins ago

8 mins ago

2 Charged in Plot to Solicit Attacks on Minorities, Officials and Infrastructure on Telegram

12 mins ago

Soak in the Sights and Sounds of Fresno State’s Home-Opening Football Win

15 mins ago

House Republicans Push to Link Government Funding to a Citizenship Check for New Voters

Valley Children’s Hopes Paying $400K to Settle a Lawsuit Will Make Another One Go Away

44 mins ago

Video: Fresno Police Seek Public Assistance in Locating Tower District Felony Assault Suspect

1 hour ago

James Earl Jones, Acclaimed Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93

2 hours ago

Fresno Woman Killed in Collision with Commercial Truck on Highway 180 Identified

2 hours ago

One Killed, One Wounded in Fresno Shooting on Cherry Ave

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend