Persian Heritage

Escaping the Iranian Revolution in 1978, United States was the place my parents were forced to call home. They had to leave all their belongings and prized possessions in Iran and leave with only the clothes on their backs. They came to America and started from the bottom up, regardless if they were wealthy or not. A lot of Iranian degrees were not valid in the United States. So, whether you were a teacher, a doctor or a well known business man, you were simply labeled as an immigrant who did not know the English language. In order to assimilate, the Persian people had to learn a new language, a new culture and a whole new way to try to connect their heritage in their new home. Unlike American culture, the Persian culture is very strong in the sense that even thought the persian had to assimilate, they still kept their language and heritage alive (to some degree).
However, do the children who were born in America in these Persian cultured homes still consider themselves more Persian than American. Well, the answer is that it all depends on how much your parents have instilled the culture in their children. Personally, I am a Persian first generation American Citizen, but consider my self more Persian than American. I was brought up with the values of the Persian culture and were taught many of the traditions that my parents followed in Iran. Yet, as you go down the line to the younger generation, they would consider themselves more American than Persian. This is so, because the younger generation have parents who are first generation Americans and grew up in America. In a few decades I wonder if the children of the next generations will even know Farsi or any of the culture. Now it is up to organizations to perhaps teach the American-Persians about their culture and how easy they have it compared to Iran.