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Happy New Year!

With out sounding like a horrible racist (which I am honestly not) I think people use Persia still because it has a softer/ more exotic image then the war torn stigma attached to Iran, in fact most of the middle East.
Putting it in context you would sell alot more persian rugs in the US than Iranian ones.

pm me if you think I should edit anything as I don't mean to offend anyone.

Mick
 
It doesn't sound racist to me, but I'm not Persian.
You need to understand that Iran does not mean Persians. the Iranian people are Persians, Kurds, Lurs, Laks, Baloch and MANY others. by saying "I'm Persian, not just Iranian (or at all)" you define yourself.
It has nothing to do with the "image", and Persians have been Persians for thousands of years, not the last couple.
Just like I'm not Iraqi, I'm a Kurd. in Iraq the Kurds are hated.
 
Pam said:
Ok, try this. I'm an American, a citizen of the US. I am also a Southerner, which is not a national identity, but a cultural identity. My ethnicity is Northern European, even though I've never set foot there, because that's where my ancestors came from.

More or less confused?
Click to expand...

My ancestors came here on the boat right after the Mayflower. My Great (x about 30) Grandfather was English, G. Grandma was French. Their last name was German. They settled in what is now known as Pennsylvania. Apparently, Grandpa had some really bad handwriting (something that got passed down to me...) and signed his last name on the manifest... Henry Dach. When they arrived in The New World, the Captain of the ship called out Henry Duck. He thought it was a good omen and kept the name.
 
DevilDuck said:
My ancestors came here on the boat right after the Mayflower. My Great (x about 30) Grandfather was English, G. Grandma was French. Their last name was German. They settled in what is now known as Pennsylvania. Apparently, Grandpa had some really bad handwriting (something that got passed down to me...) and signed his last name on the manifest... Henry Dach. When they arrived in The New World, the Captain of the ship called out Henry Duck. He thought it was a good omen and kept the name.
Click to expand...
DevilDach? :lol:
 
stillmanz said:
With out sounding like a horrible racist (which I am honestly not) I think people use Persia still because it has a softer/ more exotic image then the war torn stigma attached to Iran, in fact most of the middle East.
Putting it in context you would sell alot more persian rugs in the US than Iranian ones.

pm me if you think I should edit anything as I don't mean to offend anyone.

Mick
Click to expand...

i don't really feel a stigma attached to iran. other countries have been involved in wars too, i'm not condoning war but i don't think the whole area is defined by it. to me saying i'm iranian sounds like that's my citizenship and i was born in canada. my old roommates grandparents were from ireland, she called herself celtic, noone ever made a big deal about it...

you don't have to edit or anything, i'm not offended. and feel free to still think of me as exotic :)
 
GrumpyBear said:
i don't really feel a stigma attached to iran. other countries have been involved in wars too, i'm not condoning war but i don't think the whole area is defined by it. to me saying i'm iranian sounds like that's my citizenship and i was born in canada. my old roommates grandparents were from ireland, she called herself celtic, noone ever made a big deal about it...

you don't have to edit or anything, i'm not offended. and feel free to still think of me as exotic :)
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to make an issue of it. I was just confused when you identified yourself with a nationality that no longer exists :) I'd have busted your roomy up about calling herself Celtic, too ;) Don't feel picked on.
 
klyth said:
I didn't mean to make an issue of it. I was just confused when you identified yourself with a nationality that no longer exists :) I'd have busted your roomy up about calling herself Celtic, too ;) Don't feel picked on.
Click to expand...

'persia' the country no longer exists but 'persian' the ethnic group does. it's my ethnicity, not my nationality...i've never even been to iran, why would i call myself iranian? and i think my roomate was totally within her rights to call herself celtic...

whatever, i gotta go make some baclava...
 
Perhaps I see it differently because Israel was "born" in 1948, so the immigration thing is relatively "fresh".
If you ask a Persian why he calls himself a Persian, most chances are it's just a habit. something that was a fact around the house when that person grew up. but take a generation back, or two, or hundred (whenever the family first immigrated) and you'll see that keeping the identity was a very important thing.
In Iran for example there's a cultural and "other" separations between the different groups.
I see Persians every day, I have Persian friends, people from my family married Persians... I KNOW Persians.
So when you're around for several millenniums, you have your own language, cuisine, traditions, clothing and endless other things and you have been labeled your entire as that person for worst or better. you are not about to throw it all away just because you moved to a new place. that's who you are.
My mom's side of the family is all Kurds. they were discriminated because of that in Iraq. *because* Kurds are different. so you will not call yourself Iraqi once you move to a new place.

Do you dig? ;)
 
I think ethnic identification varies a lot in the US. I define myself by my culture rather than my ethnicity, but my people have been here since before the Revolutionary War.

Grumpybear,I know it's terribly trendy to identify as Celtic rather Irish or one of the other nationalities that had Celtic cultures, and it's a bit over done. When someone identifies themselves to me as "Celtic" I'm hard pressed not to roll my eyes. I figure it's trendy was because Celtic brings to mind wild, egalitarian warriors and warrioresses with earth crunchy Druid sidekicks rather than any basis in actual fact. Being Irish just doesn't have that same cool cachet these days.
 
Thanks all for the cultural/world history lesson, I learned something here (I really did). I even ended up doing several google searches. I have always liked learning about other cultures (past and present) than mine. I think this goes back to growing up on Travel Log films. I just wished I had the resources to visit everywhere I would like to.
 
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