The wedding was incredible, easily the best day of my life. The honeymoon was a continuation of just that; 2 weeks in heaven to start off a wonderful marriage. I've got lots to talk about both of those matters, but given the significance of today's date I'm going to talk about one particular thing that happened while we were off on our honeymoon.
We were returning to our hotel one night and as we got out of the cab and walked to the entrance of the hotel a young guy (I'd say late 20s) holding a drink came up alongside me and said "hey pal." I looked at him at which point he said "I thought you were Osama's brother." I ignored him and walked away.
Now I was born in this country, I'm a U.S. citizen, I pay my taxes, I donate to charities, I vote, I contribute to the economy, I love my country and I wouldn't rather move to any other place, yet for the first time in my life I felt foreign than night. I felt unwelcome in the country that I had the right to be in, I had just as much right to be there as the guy who made me feel so very wrong for being there yet because of his one line I felt like I truly didn't belong. I didn't think something like that would bother me so much, after all I'm pretty good about taking things as light hearted as possible, but that one incident struck home.
And I began to wonder, had I just been really lucky since 9/11? Were there more people like him who would see me and based on the color of my skin would brand me a terrorist? What made me any less of an American than him? Haven't we been through this before? I thought the civil rights movement brought forth the idea that we can't just single out a group of people based on the color of their skin. For the first time in my life I wanted to leave, I wanted to be at home and I didn't want that home to be here.
It may not seem like much, after all it was just a 5 second interaction with some drunk jerk; drunk people say things all the time, get over it right? Well I am over it, but that isn't to say that I'm afraid of something like that happening again. I've said it before, that it all boils down to education and understanding of people and cultures other than our own.
Muslims don't hate Americans, that's just not how things work. My mom is a muslim and she'd never hurt a fly, she cried at 9/11, she donated to the relief fund, she condemned those who did it - just like everyone else. She isn't a fanatic, I'd say she follows the Qua-ran like many people follow the Bible, she doesn't interpret it strictly but she takes it to be a set of morals that she attempts to uphold in her daily life. And to those who don't believe it, must muslims are just like that. They don't walk around with AK-47s plotting ways to attack the West, they lead normal lives and have normal families just like everyone else. I've been to Iran around 5 times now, the only current example of a true Islamic state - did I see people running through the streets plotting to kill Americans? No, I saw normal people doing normal things. Sure their customs are different, but none of those customs include hating Americans. Yet I read through some of the discussions that happen online, even in our own forums, and I'm disgusted. I read statements of people who are clearly ignorant of what they are talking about, attacking people and cultures they don't understand. What if we were all judged by the acts of the D.C. sniper, McVeigh or Dahlmer? Everyone would think that any American was a crazed mass murdering psycho.
As I write this, I'm worried that my point won't get across, that everything I've said here will be dismissed at the hatred will continue. I was just as angry as anyone when the towers fell, I wanted to see someone pay, I wanted revenge - but we must all understand that the revenge isn't against every middle easterner you see. A group of people hated our government, so they took that anger and hatred not out on the government, but on over 3000 innocent people. What sense does it make to attack that group of people by targeting those that honestly have nothing to do with it, some of which are just as American as anyone else in this country.
Today we should all remember the tragedy of 9/11, but we must also remember not to let one tragedy lead us to another one. American doesn't mean white; keep in mind how this country was founded, the melting pot has evolved to include a few new shades but the fact remains the same that we are all Americans. I may not look like everyone else, but I feel the same attachment to this country - please don't make me feel unwelcome.
Take care.
We were returning to our hotel one night and as we got out of the cab and walked to the entrance of the hotel a young guy (I'd say late 20s) holding a drink came up alongside me and said "hey pal." I looked at him at which point he said "I thought you were Osama's brother." I ignored him and walked away.
Now I was born in this country, I'm a U.S. citizen, I pay my taxes, I donate to charities, I vote, I contribute to the economy, I love my country and I wouldn't rather move to any other place, yet for the first time in my life I felt foreign than night. I felt unwelcome in the country that I had the right to be in, I had just as much right to be there as the guy who made me feel so very wrong for being there yet because of his one line I felt like I truly didn't belong. I didn't think something like that would bother me so much, after all I'm pretty good about taking things as light hearted as possible, but that one incident struck home.
And I began to wonder, had I just been really lucky since 9/11? Were there more people like him who would see me and based on the color of my skin would brand me a terrorist? What made me any less of an American than him? Haven't we been through this before? I thought the civil rights movement brought forth the idea that we can't just single out a group of people based on the color of their skin. For the first time in my life I wanted to leave, I wanted to be at home and I didn't want that home to be here.
It may not seem like much, after all it was just a 5 second interaction with some drunk jerk; drunk people say things all the time, get over it right? Well I am over it, but that isn't to say that I'm afraid of something like that happening again. I've said it before, that it all boils down to education and understanding of people and cultures other than our own.
Muslims don't hate Americans, that's just not how things work. My mom is a muslim and she'd never hurt a fly, she cried at 9/11, she donated to the relief fund, she condemned those who did it - just like everyone else. She isn't a fanatic, I'd say she follows the Qua-ran like many people follow the Bible, she doesn't interpret it strictly but she takes it to be a set of morals that she attempts to uphold in her daily life. And to those who don't believe it, must muslims are just like that. They don't walk around with AK-47s plotting ways to attack the West, they lead normal lives and have normal families just like everyone else. I've been to Iran around 5 times now, the only current example of a true Islamic state - did I see people running through the streets plotting to kill Americans? No, I saw normal people doing normal things. Sure their customs are different, but none of those customs include hating Americans. Yet I read through some of the discussions that happen online, even in our own forums, and I'm disgusted. I read statements of people who are clearly ignorant of what they are talking about, attacking people and cultures they don't understand. What if we were all judged by the acts of the D.C. sniper, McVeigh or Dahlmer? Everyone would think that any American was a crazed mass murdering psycho.
As I write this, I'm worried that my point won't get across, that everything I've said here will be dismissed at the hatred will continue. I was just as angry as anyone when the towers fell, I wanted to see someone pay, I wanted revenge - but we must all understand that the revenge isn't against every middle easterner you see. A group of people hated our government, so they took that anger and hatred not out on the government, but on over 3000 innocent people. What sense does it make to attack that group of people by targeting those that honestly have nothing to do with it, some of which are just as American as anyone else in this country.
Today we should all remember the tragedy of 9/11, but we must also remember not to let one tragedy lead us to another one. American doesn't mean white; keep in mind how this country was founded, the melting pot has evolved to include a few new shades but the fact remains the same that we are all Americans. I may not look like everyone else, but I feel the same attachment to this country - please don't make me feel unwelcome.
Take care.
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Forum of hate - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
Anand, do please lock this forum. It is spreading hate throughout the world. Oh the travesty, oh the pain.We need to call the Care Bears to help heal this aching land of all this hate once and for all. Oh the humanity.
Anonymous - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
I for one think this debate is good. It lets us know of all the pain and hate going through both sides of the world.It also shows how little we know of each other.
Ano - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
194 - Posted on Sep 24, 2004 at 1:29 PM by brownguy////You need to spend some time in that 3rd world hellhole they call India to see what makes the USA so special. If you like it there, well, good riddance :) :)///////
Ok whiteguy!
Anonymous - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
Anand please lock this thread. It is becoming a forum of hate.I love this site - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
Please be considerate and understanding about this issue.#197 Anand is probably from a muslim family and though he might not be muslim he probably has nothing to do with pork let alone would want to "pork his wife". Perhaps saying "make sweet beautiful love" would be more applicable considering Anand's grandeur about the whole wedding thing.
#192 I'm sorry but Islam is the bastard religion of Judaism. Don't believe me? Read the Quran/Koran and compare it to the Talmud and Torah. The only difference is good ole Mo' couldn't bare to think that the Jews were the "chosen people" (rightly so) so he concocted a religion where Jews and Christians were all wrong, Jesus didn't get crucified (contrary to what even secular historians living at the time account) and Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Ismael (supposed Father of the Arab people) instead of Isaac.
I don't care if you're religious or if you aren't but if the Torah and the story of Abraham first came into existence (at least) 2,000yrs prior to good ole Mo's story in 800AD, I'd go with the former for authenticity when it comes to religious mumbo jumbo. Then again, we can put it all aside, get wasted and go looking for "Osama's brother".
Anonymous - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
Hi Anand, Congratulations on your wedding. I've had the same thing that has happened to you happen to me many times. I'm what my parents would call an ABCD (American-born confused desi - indian). My parents are from India and ive gone there every year since i was 3, and I love it there. In fact, instead of hating Americans they tend to look at Americans as high than their own citizens.I believe it is the arrogance and ignorance of most Americans that is the root of these problems because they simply listen to the media like zombies, and dont create their own opinions
Anonymous - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
#192 Mohammad Zeeshan“…..will find peace and lose this irritation and anger towards muslims and islam.”
If you read my posts #165, #177 & #181, you will see that while I explain that root of Islamic terrorism, I do not show any anger or irritation towards Muslims. The rest of the world may not know it, but Muslims are the biggest victims of Islamic terrorism.
Tod - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
AMEN...Not an American.
who cares - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
Anand,Congrats on your wedding. You know I really care and in some way hope that my words of encouragement will someone lift me above the other geeks by creating some association to you. I can't sleep at night knowing this kind of stuff goes on in the world. I mean, your feelings were hurt and that's horrible. Heaven forbid you dwell on this for the rest of your life. You live in the melting pot of racism. We all seem to tolerate each other for face value.
Things could be better, say in France for instance.
Or you can live with all the pain like #184 does because he's just "another nigger". Please! If that's how you view yourself or perceive how others view you what's the point of getting out of bed in the morning? Especially if you've done that much service for this country.
Familiarity breeds contempt. Become familiar with the self-loathing of hate and idiocy and you will become just that.
You had a bad day. Go home and pork your wife.
Anonymous - Friday, September 24, 2004 - link
#192I want to inform you that I used to be a follower of Islam. I was born into a Muslim family. The imam of my mosque indoctrinated me in Islam. I can recite the Koran from memory. My indoctrination taught me to hate everything non-Muslim. I was taught to wage jihad until the Hindu kafirs were subjugated. My imam now sits in a south Indian jail for instigating the bombing of a railway station in which, several innocent men, women and children were killed. Some of my classmates who swallowed what was fed to them are now dead, tracked down and killed in shootouts with the cops, or are rotting in jail for their crimes of terrorism.
If I was not a free thinker, a skeptic, a believer in science, evolution and common sense, I would either be dead (by the way believing I will be humping around in paradise with the virgins Allah would provide), or I would be rotting my sorry ass in jail for the crime of terrorism. I am thankful to my common sense to have walked out of that group.
I know more about Islam than you will ever know. I have since denounced that medieval faith, and am its critic. I am currently writing a book explaining the role of Islam in the spread of terrorism, past and present. It will explain the unscientific ludicrousness of the religion. The CORRECT you want me to follow is political correctness which prevents the criticism of Islam for its role in world terrorism.
By the way my buddies who ended up as Islamic terrorists, were sweet nice lads till they took the wahabi bait. They were not poor. They are from what you might consider affluent families. And finally, I would like to add that because I renouncing Islam, my Father, cousins and Muslim threatened to kill me if I did not come back to it(Islam); I do not blame them, nor bear a grudge against them, after all they are only practicing their faith.
If you want a debate, I would be happy to indulge you. I have seen the cancer from within.