Racial Justice and Our Community How Racism is Affecting our Community at a Time of War and Polarization
By Hooshyar Afsar
Introduction
The tumultuous events of the past few months have resulted in further polarization of our community in the U.S. and worldwide. What has also more brazenly surfaced is a tendency to identify as “White” in the U.S., along with calling the Islamic Republic government an “occupying force.” The slogan “we are Aryans and we don’t worship Arabs” that is chanted in demonstrations outside and even inside Iran is part and parcel of this phenomenon. Why is this happening and how can this impact our community and its place in the global human community?
Myth of an Aryan Race: European Connection to Anti-Arab Racism
I have written before on the myth of an “Aryan Race” both in English and Persian. [1, 2] Readers could always go back to the two-piece series for more details. Since those articles have again become relevant considering the current state of our community, here is a brief summary: The notion of race in its modern interpretation is a social construct and has no scientific basis. Human beings all over the planet share over 99.9% of their genetic make-up or DNA. The observable differences in identifiable characteristics of humans, such as skin color, are the result of adaptation to the environment and migration (gene flow). The term “Aryan” found its way in Western European literature initially as a purely linguistic term identifying a root Indo-European language and later became a racist trope to justify the Nazi Germany “racial purity” movement. “Aryan Race” was used as an ideological basis for antisemitism and the holocaust in the twentieth century.
In Iran, the myth of “Aryan Race” was first promoted by the intellectuals of the mid- to late-nineteenth century as part of the emergence of Iranian nationalism. It is a myth as, in ancient Iran, the contemporary notion of race did not even exist; it is only a made-up social construct for promoting racism and its social, political, and economic goals.
After the constitutional revolution in Iran (1905-1911), the myth was written into history books by certain intellectuals/leaders of the revolution and later adopted by the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah, during his reign (1925-1941). The idea promoted a historical bond with European “Whites” as the Iranian national identity and celebrated the pre-Islam “grandeur” of the Persian empire as a pristine, purely Iranian entity. It became part and parcel of historical education during the Pahlavi era. Now, with the nostalgic emergence of pro-monarchy movements predominantly outside Iran, the myth of an “Aryan Race” is again on the rise, intermingled with anti-Arab racism, identifying the Islamic Republic as an occupying Arab entity.
Identifying with Israel and Othering Palestinians
One distinct pattern that has emerged in our community is that many people see Israel as a friend of Iranian people and detest Palestinians because the Islamic Republic supports the Palestinian cause for self-determination. Some justify this by using the logic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” explaining this as a mere tactical alignment. They use the same reasoning vis-a-vis the current U.S. administration, despite the world outcry of the illegality of the war, war crimes already committed, and genocidal intent expressed in the U.S. president’s posts on social media. Others go further and consider the Israeli and U.S. governments friends of the people of Iran.
What is a miss in the above line of reasoning? Such lines of thought ignore the fact that the UN’s International Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that what Israel was doing (and has continued to do) in Gaza is a plausible case for genocide. The U.S. is also complicit in this case, as it has fully supported the Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza. The “friendship” of the current U.S. administration and Israeli government with the people of Iran has become even more complicated with the war that started on February 28. With the president of the U.S. (POTUS) stating on his social media post that a “whole civilization will die tonight,” the case of genocide by the U.S. and Israel is potentially extended to Iran. In fact the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in its Article II, states that “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy” which was made clear by the POTUS in his post. In its Article III, the genocide convention also clarifies what acts are punishable, clearly including “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” and an “attempt to commit genocide.” Having said all of this, while many people in our community have since stepped back from supporting the war, others have doubled down and are “ok” with being in the conundrum of supporting a genocide against their own people and homeland. Simply, the othering of Palestinians as a basis for justifying the Israeli/U.S. war on them is extended to Iran and Iranians. Our community is dehumanized again and sadly some of our compatriots support such dehumanization.
The Rulers of Iran are Arab or Iran is Under Occupation
The notion of calling rulers of the Islamic Republic “Arab” and not genuine Iranians is another aspect of propaganda in our community mainly put forth by pro-monarchist groups. The idea is that “genuine” Iranians who are of true “Aryan Race” could or would not be establishing a theocracy. This argument doesn’t hold since there are clear examples of theocracies being established by the indigenous people of a country in the history of the world. Valid examples are the Spanish Inquisition, whose office was directly appointed by rulers of Spain in 1480, and a more recent one is Israel itself, which shifted to a theocracy based on the 2018 basic law. [3] Israel does not have a constitution, instead it has fourteen basic laws approved by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) that are the basis for the interpretation and rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court. The 2018 basic law declared Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish people and made specific provisions that identified Israel as a Jewish state, including support for the illegal settlements in the occupied territories. I wrote about this in detail in Persian, comparing the Islamic Republic with Israel and showing how Israel is on its way to become a full-fledged theocracy. [4] Seven million Jewish Israelis are not foreigners and the current leaders of the Israeli government were born and raised there, yet they now promote a theocracy.
The leaders of the Islamic Republic were born and raised in different parts of Iran and while the majority of them are not from minority ethnicities and are Persian, many of them are from other ethnicities. For one, Masoud Pezeshkian, the current president of the Islamic Republic, is half Kurdish and half Azarbaijani (or Azari). [5] Also, based on the lowest demographic estimates, including the CIA’s, Iran being a multi-ethnic society, has a population of 1.5 million Arab-Iranians. This means that you could be an Iranian of Arab ethnicity, and in that specific case, being Arab does not make you non-Iranian.
Last but not least, most of the Iranian dynasties of the last 500 years, starting with the Safavid dynasty (1501- 1736) and ending with the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925), were of Turkic origins. Does that make them non-Iranian? I again would refer interested readers to the article I wrote titled “Iranians and Issue of Race” in Peyk, discussing in detail the multi-ethnic and diverse nature of Iranian society and how ethnoracism among Iranians does damage to the unity of our communities and solidarity with other human communities. [6] One aspect of ethnoracism in our community is the search for a false sense of “racial purity” and ties with European and American whiteness through an imaginary and misinterpreted interpretation of Iranian history and identity.
International Growth of Fascism Affecting our Community
In the past decade, we have witnessed the rise of ultra nationalism and facism around the world. There has been the coming to power of Modi in India, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Javier Milei in Argentina, Kast in Chile, right wing governments in Italy and Sweden, Victor Orban in Hungary, and the rise of openly fascist and anti-immigrant parties in France, Germany, and England. Amid the ups and downs, Bolsonaro’s loss and conviction in Brazil and Orban’s loss in Hungary after 16 years, fascism remains a formidable and growing political force in the world.
The international trend has an impact on our community. Generations who grew up under the politically and socially repressive practices of the Islamic Republic have found affinity with these movements in the U.S., Canada, and in Europe. Although the destructive attacks by Israel and the U.S. on Iran’s infrastructure in the most recent war has caused many Iranians inside and outside Iran to separate themselves from Israel and the current U.S. Administration, many diehard pro-monarchist opponents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran have doubled down on their alignment with ultra nationalist and fascist movements internationally.
Where Do We Go from Here?
During the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the hope that our community would once and for all turn away from the myth of an Aryan Race and find its true place in the human community was strengthened. The movement was focused on turning back gender apartheid in Iran and attracted progressive communities around the world. Certain leaders of the movement, such as Nasrin Sotudeh, even talked about recognizing that the identity of every Iranian is an intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political beliefs, religion and class.
Unfortunately, the despair and exhaustion in our community, caused by repression and economic pressures, allowed racist and ultra-nationalistic ideas to return with more force. The brutal suppression of the protests by the Islamic Republic on January 8th and 9th of this year further intensified such tendencies. This makes the endeavor for racial justice and gender equality—and appreciation for overall diversity of our communities along the intersection of politics, class and religion—even more urgent. The recognition that such efforts require patience, perseverance, and solidarity with all human communities is key to a better future.
References
[1] – https://peykmagazine.com/en/2023/05/08/the-myth-of-an-aryan-race/
[2] – https://peykmagazine.com/en/2023/07/03/the-myth-of-an-aryan-race-2/
[3] – https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-08-06/ty-article/.premium/israels-nation-state-law-controversy-explained/0000017f-e97c-d639-af7f-e9ff8e650000
[4]-https://peykmagazine.com/3997/%d8%af%db%8c%d9%86%d8%8c-%d8%af%d9%88%d9%84%d8%aa-%d9%88-%d8%aa%d8%a8%d8%b9%db%8c%d8%b6/
[5]–Boroujerdi, Merhrzad; Rahimkhani, Kourosh, Postrevolutionary Iran, A Political Handbook, Syracuse University Press (2018).
[6] – https://peykmagazine.com/en/2023/09/05/iranians-and-the-issue-of-race/
