Middle-Eastern Archives - The Race Card Project

My Tenth Birthday Was Super Awkward

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 9/11, Middle-Eastern, September 11th, Sunnyvale, TX, Wilson Sunny

Wilson Sunny,
Sunnyvale, TX

I was born September 11th, 1991. Ten years later, a great national tragedy happened within the United States that shook the nation to the core. It was the first time, I believe, the term “terrorist” became a mainstream word. Not when Timothy McVeigh decided to blow up a building in Oklahoma City. Nor would Americans be called as such when they were first involved with fighting in the Middle East during the Gulf War. It’s only reserved when nations decide to attack America. But, I digress. When we learned about the attack, everyone was in shock. Once the shock subsided, anger arose. Anger for people who look a specific way. For those who wear a specific type of clothing, or for those who have a specific skin tone color. A color that I have. While the anger never led to physical violence in my life, it did lead to snide comments, especially with a birthday tied to the event. Others would ask “was that a gift from Uncle Osama?” The problem with the joke is I am not Middle Eastern. My parents were born in the South of India. But we were all just blindly melded together. I should be grateful that no physical harm came towards me. But, I know that there are those who did have to suffer persecution for events they had no hand in. Just as Japanese Americans had to face in the 1940’s. And just as those that have suffered after the 2016 election…

The TSA checks are not random.

May 20, 2024May 20, 2024 Aren Kazanciyan, CA, Middle-Eastern, profiling, random, targeted, TSA

Aren Kazanciyan,
CA

As far as the popular conceptions of race go, I am usually considered Middle Eastern. My family members and I are always heckled by airport security, without fail.

Middle Eastern, Woman, non-conformist, Human.

March 19, 2024March 19, 2024 human, Middle-Eastern, non-conformist, Ornella El Tamer, USA, woman

Ornella El Tamer,
USA.

I hate being called a “white boy”

January 15, 2024 anonymous, Asian, culturally diverse, hate, human, I don't understand, jews, Latino, Middle-Eastern, school, skin color, stereotyes, stereotype, USA, white, white boy

Anonymous,
USA.

“White boy”, , , .

What I don’t understand is why there has always had to be a race at the bottom. No one seems to be able to get the freaking idea of racial equality through the six inches between their ears. First it was Africans. Then Jews, Asians, Latinos, Middle Eastern Peoples, there is always one at the bottom. Why do humans always feel the need to elevate themselves above one another? Same species, same intelligence, same hands, same ears, we are so much more alike then different. Yet no one can ever get that. And practically my whole life is dominated by “your a white boy” and “your racist” and my school life: “get out of here ‘white boy'” “you can’t do anything because your white” and I live in a very culturally diverse community which is a good thing, but I’m so immediately judged by my skin color. It does not freaking matter what your skin color is! I can’t get a girlfriend because I’m white. I cried looking at my white hands when I was younger because of how much it was the cause of my problems. I don’t think the world will ever change. Maybe it will change who it is racist to, but seems to never stop being in some way, racist.

I hate being called a “white boy”

March 23, 2023March 27, 2023 anonymous, Asian, culturally diverse, hate, human, I don't understand, jews, Latino, Middle-Eastern, school, skin color, stereotyes, stereotype, USA, white, white boy

Anonymous,
USA.

“White boy”, , , .

I look white…privileged and disrespected

November 15, 2022 disrespect, Grand Blanc, MI, Middle-Eastern, name, Natalie Eashoo, white, white name

Natalie Eashoo,
Grand Blanc, MI

At first glance, I look white. I am Middle Eastern and European. Looking white and having a “white name” has given me a very privileged life. When people have found out or realized that I am middle eastern, I have received very hurtful comments.

I never thought you’d like this.

October 24, 2022October 24, 2022 Asia Smith, black girl, Broadway, different, Filipinos, Hispanics, Indian, Japanese, Kansas City, language, Middle-Eastern, MO, music, talk white, white school

Asia Smith,
Kansas City, MO

This has been said to me many times throughout my life. I am a black girl who goes to a majority white school. I love my own culture but growing up in Missouri around a lot of non-black people like Hispanics, Filipinos, Japanese, Indian and Middle Eastern has helped me learn a lot about other cultures. I have tried many different foods and listened to different types of music. I have learned to love broadway music which a lot of people seem shocked when I tell them that. I also watch shows or movies in different languages which is another thing a lot of people wouldn’t assume about me. Being black in a nearly all white city has taught me that I can hold onto my culture while learning or experiencing aspects of others. There are always people from more diverse parts of Kansas City who tell me I’m “too white” or that I act or talk “white” which is really offensive because I have no intention of being/acting white but they don’t understand that it is just how I grew up.

You don’t wear the headscarf though

June 4, 2022June 10, 2022 headscarf, Middle-Eastern, Misk Al Zahidy

Misk Al Zahidy

I am Middle Eastern and when I share that with people they automatically get confused as they associate being Middle Eastern with someone who wears a hijab.

“You don’t look Iranian!” “I am.”

May 15, 2021May 25, 2021 actor, Chicago, IL, Iranian, Middle-Eastern, Rom Barkhordar, what are you, you don't look

Rom Barkhordar,
Chicago, IL

This was a brief exchange with someone I just met who, to his defense, had a few beers and was feeling rather boisterous. I explained to him that I am an actor in Chicago, doing a theatrical production where I play a middle-eastern character. He is also an actor, but found it hard to believe that I could be cast as a middle-eastern person based on how “white” he thought I looked. He was drunk, I was sober, and so I really didn’t want to get into it with him at the time. What I really felt like telling him was, “You have no idea WHAT a middle-eastern person looks like, because I look VERY Iranian.”

White husband became Iranian September eleventh.

May 11, 2021August 16, 2022 9/11, Chicago, husband, IL, Iranians, Maren Robinson, Middle-Eastern, National Geographic, September 11th, white

Maren Robinson
Chicago, IL

I watched how my American-born half-Iranian husband went from being perceived as white (Iranians are Caucasian) to being perceived as vaguely “middle eastern” (eliciting double takes on trains and extra searches at airports) after September 11th. He is an actor, so I have also watched him play characters who are Caucasian, Spanish, Jewish, Armenian, French, and of course various middle eastern characters and it is still something he struggles with feeling the advantaged of being raised white, but playing other races, with other dialects and languages. I have also watched his increasing discomfort as he tries to reconcile the complex issues of race and the current American discomfort with anyone who seems to be middle eastern with his artistic practice.

“You don’t look Jamaican or Cuban”

April 6, 2021March 14, 2022 Arab, assume, Cape Verdean, Cuban, FL, Jamaican, Miami, Michael A. Caldas, Middle-Eastern, police, Polynesian, terrorist, you don't look

Michael A. Caldas,
Miami, FL

I’m a Cuban and Jamaican descent mix. Most people when they look at me think that I am either Cape Verdean, Polynesian, or Middle Eastern. When I was at Tuskegee, on the road there, we stopped at gas station to make a rest-stop and when one of the older white women working the cashier, denied me service because they assumed I was Arab (Islamic) and thought I was a “terrorist”. I simply walked away because I was scared they gang up on me or get me killed by the police.

I look white & I’m not racist.

October 14, 2020October 16, 2020 African, Black, British, check the box, Cherokee, Creek, European, German, Great Falls, human, Indian, Iranian, irish, look white, Lynn, Melaneasian, Middle-Eastern, mix, Muskogee, Native American, Racist, Sahara, SC, Seminole, Sexuality, stereotype, Syrian, Turkish, white

Lynn,
Great Falls, SC.

I tend to look white; especially when not in the sun. I’m actually a mix of: European (German, Irish, & British), Native American (Seminole, Cherokee, & Muskogee Creek), Black (African -sub-sahara regions- and Melanesian), and Middle Eastern (Syrian, Turkish, Indian (India) & Iranian)…….Somehow I ended up looking more European instead……I hate being called racist, bigot, and white supremacist…I’m not. Just because my genetics chose to appear more of European than my other ethnicity doesn’t mean I’m against anyone of any race, creed, sexuality, or religion. I’m a human being. I would love if we could have HUMAN to choose as a box for race instead of all the other stuff…..It’s hard to check one box because I’m so mixed…..But I have to go with what I physically look like.

I’m Middle Eastern but I’m white?

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 but I'm, check the box, Germany, grandparents, Ilana, Isreal, label, Middle-Eastern, New York, NY, white

Ilana
New York, NY

I grew up in Israel to a father born in Germany and a mother born in the United States. Yet every time I tick the “white” box I feel uncomfortable. The culture I grew up in was considered “white” but the Middle East is ethnically diverse. Everyone was a “mixed breed” because they had parents from all over the place. People know where their grandparents come from, whether it’s Poland or Morocco, France or Egypt, Russia or Lebanon. How can you label this kind of culture “white”?

Is your uncle Osama bin Laden?

September 11, 2019September 11, 2019 9/11, CO, Colorado Springs, Middle-Eastern, Osama Bin Laden, stereotype, Tiffany Compton

Tiffany Compton,
Colorado Springs, CO.

I always thought I was like everyone else until a kid in my 6th grade class asked me this question. After 9/11 my Middle Eastern background has been stereotyped and my life hasn’t been the same.

We know where we came from

November 12, 2018 blood, foreign, Isaac Weiss, Levantine, Middle-Eastern, rule, tribe, USA, Wayne State, where did you come from

Isaac Weiss,
Wayne State

Yes, we’re a Middle Eastern tribe. Yes, white people can usually tell we’re not the same as them by looking. Yes, Europeans never accepted us in their countries, even when the homeland we were expelled from was still under foreign rule. And yes, a few decades ago they tried to murder every last one of us to protect the white race from our polluted Levantine blood. So we can handle people of European descent hating us for being foreigners. What we can’t handle is being erased, blended into our white oppressors, told *we benefit from white supremacy.* We know where we came from. We’ll defend ourselves to the death on our own soil if need be. But we will not be told by people who should know better that we’re from somewhere else.

Invisible to the census but here

September 24, 2018September 24, 2018 application, bubble, census, check the box, Grsteena Khoshaba, Invisible, MI, Middle-Eastern, official document, Race, really white, Warren, Where am I

Grsteena Khoshaba,
Warren, MI.

I am a Middle Eastern girl and I just have one question. Where am I? Why is it whenever I have to fill out an official document that asks for my race, Middle Eastern is not an option? We are forced to bubble “White” when we’re not really white.

You don’t look like you’re Middle Eastern

May 7, 2018 Alexandra Garabedian, but you don't look like, CA, Laguna Niguel, Middle-Eastern, you don't look like

Alexandra Garabedian,
Laguna Niguel, CA.

Arab, not Muslim. Know the difference.

May 1, 2018May 1, 2018 Alice Saidawi, Arab, CA, clarify, difference, Islam, Middle-Eastern, Muslim, religion, San Francisco, truth

Alice Saidawi,
San Francisco, CA.

Often times when I tell people I am Arab or Palestinian, they often immediately assume that I am Muslim as well; there is a huge differentiation. I’ve encountered many experiences where the person I was talking to seriously did not understand the difference. I’ve had to clarify this difference to numerous people who had this idea that the two were synonyms of each other but they are not the same; Palestine is a country and Islam is a religion. People often confuse the two because they assume that all Middle Eastern countries practice Islam but this is not true.

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