| C r e a t i v e P e r s p e c t i v e s endeavors to reach out to teenagers, specially Afghan teenagers, who are suffering from cultural shocks, language barriers, and the variety of societal and peer pressure put on them. My main objective is to encourage them to focus on the positives of this society has to offer them, and to learn to work on a healthy balance between their roots and the "American culture". My dream is to one day educate other agencies, then other cities, then states and maybe other countries on the issues of being torn between two cultures, in the hope to increase cultural sensitivity and awareness. My articles will continue to focus on the issues currently causing disturbance among teenagers and their families. And I would like the readers to provide me with feedback of what they would like to see published in future articles. |
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Being Different: Part II
A wise reader of my
previous article pointed out that I had forgotten to
include prejudice among Afghans themselves. I guess part of
the reason that I didn't do so is that I felt that was a separate article of
it's own. Well, the truth is that prejudice among Afghans has always existed.
It goes back in the days of our great, great
grandfathers when our nation was very
segregated. Sometimes prejudice was welcomed
and encouraged even in my
days. And I am not very old!
I remember when I was a little girl when I saw
other kids outside I
would run to play with them. I was blind to
skin or hair color or shape of eyes.
My only need was to have them as close to my
age as possible.
However, I learned even then that there was a
difference in treatment of
the various ethnic groups. I learned that they all had
certain
life styles, and some lived in highly segregated areas.
Sometimes some racial groups had to
work harder to achieve a good education or a higher
rank in the
government or companies or agencies with possibly the same
qualifications of someone else of a different race.
I saw the unfairness and
called tabiz-e-nezhadi. There was not only an ethical o
r racial distinction,
but class distinction as well. It sometimes mattered which
family you were born in, who your father was, who
your mother was, which school you attended,
or which neighborhood you lived.
I have witnessed families teach their kids that a particular race, class or
family was below them. Especially when certain marriages took place
between
different Afghan ethnic groups or of different religious belief, it caused
families to even break up.
These issues often come in the way of people befriending each other too.
Sometimes there is a sense of shame involved in associating with a
different group rather then one's own.
I am not suggesting that it be a perfect society without any
prejudice. I
don't believe that such thing exists anywhere, except in the eyes of a
child. I believe that this belief of prejudice is also present in the
United States,
however it is banned, not accepted and fought. People of
all spectrums (i.e. employment) look into these issues carefully.
Of course education and redirection will always be needed.
Even in the contemporary life of Afghans in America, and maybe other
countries too, there is a great deal of segregation and prejudice. I see and hear it
at times in Afghan social gatherings. It disturbs me greatly.
In California Afghans have separate mosques, celebration days, gatherings
and organizations for certain ethnic groups. Thus the separation is
even further enhanced by the involvement of these groups with several
opposing religious and political organization. Bottom line, the tension and
intensity of emotions among our people of the same country is enormous and endless.
This cycle is a vicious one. But we all can start with ourselves. The
whole notion of "why don't we all get along" has received a whole different meaning
among our people. We can start by not asking, "So who was his/her father?,
What race are they? Who was his/her great grandfather?" Ask who the very
person is, not the person’s ethic or family background.
Dear reader, there is hope among us. If we stop and redirect our
Afghan counterparts when talking about a particular race in a
demeaning and degrading way, stop and redirect respectfully,
and hope that they learned something, we go home feeling that
our good deed for the day is fulfilled.
Until next time...
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Other articles by Sonia Rahel:
Searching for Inner Strength (Oct-Dec. 1997) Being Different (Part I) (Jan.-March 1998) send comments to Sonia Rahel at rahelsonia@hotmail.com
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