This is a post from my blog I did previously, with some updates. I will confess that I love learning about the Middle East. I love learning more about Jews, Muslims, Arabs, etc. I have so much to learn.
I’m a grad student working on some genetic studies (one of my many jobs). As part of the genetic study we are doing, we have our study participants tell us their race. In medical studies, different treatments can affect different races quite dramatically.
I’m designing a database to capture the information for the study. Many people don’t identify as just one race. Some are multi-racial, and even put percentages on their forms, such as 50% white, 25% hispanic, 25% black. So, I was asking questions about how to properly capture the data.
I learned that there are 5 basic races: White (Caucausian), Black, Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander. As I have discussed on this blog before, genetic studies show that Native Americans are related to Asian peoples. Simon Southerton seems to have shown that peoples migrated across the Bering Strait, and settled the americas. But according to one of the genetic specialists (I’ll call her Ann) in my office, there is still a big enough difference between Native Americans to separate them from Asians. Same goes for Pacific Islanders.
It seems that many people often refer to the Jewish race, or the Arab race. Some of you may be familiar with the “Cohen” gene, which is a distinguishing gene among people of Jewish descent. So I asked Ann what race Jews were, and she said “Caucasian.” She said there is some interesting distinguishing characteristics of Jews, but not so much to call them a separate race. I asked about Arabs? “Caucasian.” Ok, what about people from India? “Caucasian.” This one really surprised me (as if the others ones didn’t.) I would have suspected India Indians to be Asian, but that is wrong.
Hispanic is the truly confusing one, because there are black hispanics, and white hispanics. If a person is a black hispanic, genetically they are black. Otherwise, they are Caucasian.
I was truly intrigued to learn all of this. Then to top it off, I discovered Ann was from Iran. (She told me it is pronounced ear-ron, not eye-ran, so I will endeavor to pronounce it properly from this point forward.) Now, I just couldn’t resist asking more questions.
I told her that I had heard that Iranians are not Arabs, and that I never really understood that. To me, it always seemed like anyone from the Middle East was an Arab. If Iranians are not Arabs, what are they, and what distinguishes an Arab?
She told me that they refer to themselves as Persians. I had a college professor who had told me he was Persian, and when I asked him where that was, he said “Iraq.” So, I asked her if Iraqi’s were also Persians. She was surprised to hear me tell her than an Iraqi claimed to be Persian, but then decided that it was possible, and then gave me a history lesson.
Persia was once much larger than it is now, and was centered in Iran. Around 600 AD, the Arabs from Saudi Arabia expanded their kingdom and conquered Persia, converting everyone to Islam. (Prior to that, the Persian religion was Zoroastrianism.) Even though the Persians converted to Islam, they never liked the Arab rulers, and a few hundred years later, overthrew them and installed their own kings.
I asked about the differences between Sunni and Shiite (or Shia) Muslims. Shia Muslims follow a direct lineage through to the prophet Muhammad. Sunni’s believe that clerics do not have to be genetically related to Muhammad. The Sunni line is larger than Shia. Iran is really the only nation primarily Shia. Iraq and Sadaam Hussein were ruled by the minority Sunni, but it appears that the Shiite majority is taking control of the government, so there could be a 2nd Shiite nation. Most other Middle Eastern countries are Sunni. Perhaps Persia is coming back into existence!
Anyway, Ann told me that Iranians hate to be referred to as Arabs, and identify much more with Europeans. She told me that Afghanis feel the same way. She said she knew Americans had a hard time telling the difference, but that people in that part of the world can easily tell the difference between a Persian and an Arab.
Ann has been in America for about a year. Prior to that, she lived in France. She said she really liked Utah, and culturally, felt that Utah was quite similar to Iran. She said families are very important in Iran, and very important in Utah. She said France was much more secular, and the people weren’t as nice. (I’ve vacationed in France, and didn’t think they were very nice either.)
Anyway, it was a truly fascinating conversation! I actually knew a little about Zoroastrianism. For example, the star at Jesus birth was discovered by the Wise Men from the East. Some scholars believe that the Wise Men believed in Zoroastrianism. (I did a post on this at Christmas.) Ann was surprised to hear this. I also know that there is a mountain in Saudi Arabia called Jebel-Musa which means Mount of Moses. Some Muslim and Christian scholars believe that this may be the true location of Mount Sinai, and I think there is some pretty intriguing evidence to support that claim. (Ann didn’t know that either.)
Some of my commenters gave me the following information.
On 21 March 1935, the ruler of Persia, Reza Shah Pahlavi, issued a decree asking foreign delegates to use the term Iran in formal correspondence. Some believe he made this decision in order to be closer to Germany, by trying to emphasize the Aryan connection between Hitler’s idealistic German Aryan race and the Persian Aryan race, given that “Iran” means “land of Aryans”, at a time where the German empire was slowly becoming an unstoppable superpower. Some others believed he changed “Persia” to “Iran” to present a new and modern face of the country in the world.
It should be noted that the first Aryans originated from India. This was a warlike society that called their best and courageous “Aryan” or nobleman. Therefore it was not so much a race, as class of people. Afterwards, wave and wave of these “Aryans” immigrated to Mesopotamia (Currently Iran) and to IndoEurope. After centuries the name Aryan or Nobleman was exchanged for race. The reason why Iranians don’t look like Germans is (1) because of weather and (2) because Aryans in Iran were integrated to the Arab kingdom in the time of Mohammad and so Aryans and Semites mixed.
Currently, anyone who is a native Arab speaker is considered Arab. Anyone who doesn’t is not.
The Iraon- Persian dialects include Tajik (Tajkistan), Farsi (Iran and parts of Afghanistan), Dari (Afghanistan), and Azerbaijani. The Tajik, Afghan, and Azerbaijani people I know would not identify as Persian–only Iranians would. It really is that simple.
So, did anyone know the difference between a Persian and an Arab? Do you have any other interesting things to add?
As a supplement, I would recommend reading Persepolis and watching the film. It is a truly excellent story, and gives a feel for the history and culture, especially regarding how the Persians fit in with the rest of the Middle East (and with Europe).
p.s. regarding who’s “nice” and who isn’t “nice” — I don’t think it’s particularly friendly or “nice” to toss in a gratuitous swipe at the French…
I knew that Persians were not Arabs. I learned this from Iranian graduate students.
The French were very kind to me. They did not complain about my Cajan-laced French. In fact, when I explained that my French had been ruined because I had worked with a Cajan, they were fascinated.
The Germans thought it was funny that I had a Bavaian accent.
The Italians on the other hand… If you can’t say anything nice…
Hispanic was never a defining racial term. It was coined by the Nixon Administration to lump people from Spanish-speaking nations and Spanish-speaking backgrounds together in a nice bureaucratic pigeonhole.
I think the idea of race as a scientific category rather than a sociological one was a highly debated one. I personally decided to put multiracial on everything, because I feel pretty sure everyone is multiracial.
Thanks once again, Faithful Dissident. Nice post. Chanson beat me to the punch on recommending Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis graphic novels. I think that the Iraq wars have colored Americans’ perceptions of Middle Eastern cultures that have much more variety than the Islamist extremist factions that get all the air time on T.V. Every Iranian person I’ve ever met has been really nice, generally urbane and well-educated (the OB GYN that delivered me into this world was Iranian!).
Yes, my friend from Iran is exceptionally nice. She always says that Americans have a strange view of Iranians. In many ways, Iran is a much more secular country than say Saudi Arabia. Even Tehran is close to the foothills, just as Salt Lake City is, and they have inversion problems too.
It is a scary fact that there are still genetics labs working to identify and categorize “races”. In a couple decades we will look back at our racialized biology pursuits, shake our heads, and wonder what were we thinking?
“Prior to that, she lived in France.”
That’s probably why she said “ear-ron” since that’s how the French pronounce it. Such is my suspicion, anyway.
Persian is actually related to English, as they both belong to the Indo-European superfamily of languages.
thisisthe,
It is a known fact that blacks have a higher death rate in heart attacks, have more problems with SIDS, and women are more likely to suffer fatal heart attacks than males. This is not disputed–it is scientific. Chinese have a high rate of psoriasis.
The 3 biggest mistakes a statistician can make, is when they do not control for race, age, and gender. False conclusions will result, when one doesn’t take these issues into account. Categorizing by race is not based on some sort of discriminatory bias. We need to know why blacks have a higher rate of SIDS, so that whatever the problem is, it can be solved. For this reason, race is explanatory. Please do not try to insinuate that medical scientists are racist–that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Your comment shows a significant lack of understanding of medical science.
Ben,
Ann was born, and grew up in Tehran and practiced medicine there. Then she moved to France for 1 year, and has been in America for 2 years. “Ear-ron” is the Farsi way to pronounce the country’s name–it has nothing to do with France. If the French pronounce it correctly, that’s great. Most Americans butcher the name, and I was merely trying to point that out.
So funny this post came out just now. Sunday we had a Noruz (Persian New Year) party at my house. We had about 30 people, consisting of some of my Iranian English as a Second Language students, as well as Iranian converts/investigators to the Church. Let me just say that anyone who hasn’t discovered Persian cooking yet is missing out big time. In my experience Persians are warm, kind, generous, appreciative, very intelligent and educated, and well-mannered. It’s a shame they don’t have the type of government in Iran that their wonderful people deserve.
Yes, Andrew, I didn’t realize that it was the Persian New Year until today when I saw it on the news. I guess luck is on my side! (I’ll have to talk to Ann about it–she didn’t mention a word about it to me today either.)
My first memories of Iran come from those Mickey Mouse posters people stuck in the rear-windows of their pick-up trucks during the hostage crisis. Not a good way to start off a relationship with an entire people and culture, who deserve the benefit of the doubt, eh?
This is a great post. Am I the only one who LOL’d when I read that Ann said the culture in Iran is similar to the culture in Utah
My landlord (and his wife and child) are from Iran. Those are probably the only Iranian (or Persian) people I’ve met, but if they are any indication, I have to agree fully with Andrew that they are very kind and intelligent.
In adition to being an engineer at a very large company, my landlord also owns a number of properties. If anything goes wrong, or if I have any request at all about the house, he will drop everything and bend over backwards to make it right. On more than one occasion, such as when I asked if it was OK to change the paint color in the living room, or to cut down a large tree that kept scraping against the house and making eerie noises at night, his reply was “Sure, I just want you and your family to be happy.” At New Years, I found a greeting card in my mailbox from him with a $50 prepaid visa card in it.
The whole concept of race is a sham. People invented to make themselves feel better about themslevs by taking credit for other people’s achievements; “My people built the pyriamids”.
As for Arabs and Persians. Being Arab is like being Hispanic. If you speak Arabic then you are an Arab.
Pedro,
If race is a sham, can you explain why blacks are more likely to die of a heart attack than whites? Why are whites more likely to develop skin cancer than blacks?
I don’t have much to add, but let’s just explain that the term Persian is used for two purposes. The first one is the language, and the second one is the race (or nationality). Persian language (which is locally called “Farsi” or “Parsi” in older texts) in the official language in Iran and some areas of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. However, Persian as a race or nationality is equivalent to Iranian nowadays. So people from Afghanistan are called Afghan, or people from Tajikistan are called Tajik, although they may speak Persian (Farsi).
Both the language and the race are influenced by Arabs after Islam. The Persian alphabet changed after Arabs invaded Iran 1400 years ago and lots of Arabic words entered the language. Today the relation between Arabic and Persian languages is like the relation between English and French. Almost the same alphabet, and a lot of words in common. But the grammar, verbs and pronunciation are totally different, so they do not understand each other at all! The race also influenced by Arabs as a result of war and also proximity of Iran and Arab countries around Persian Gulf. Even some people in southern part of Iran speak Arabic and dress like Arabs.
There is another point here too. Though Persian and Iranian are considered having the same meaning, it’s not always the case! There are people who speak different language as their local race/tribe/language in Iran (like Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Luri, etc) These people have no doubt that they are Iranian, but if you call them Persian, they may say “Hey, I’m not Persian, I’m Armenian!” . I had this conversation with a guy at college, which I think is the result of equivocal meaning of term Persian as a language and a race/nationality.
The final advise is that never call a Persian/Iranian “Arab”! Otherwise you will here such a long story as I said!!
Azerbaijanis are not iranian people they are Turkic. And they speak turkic languages.One’s gotta be really ignorant not to know thye difference between persian poeople and arabs.
1) They speak diffrent languages
2) they look different ( arabs are genetically semites, while persians are iranian people)
3) They have absolutly different cultures
and much much more.
Race is an anthropological, geographical and cultural animal. It all depended, before transportation became available outside a 50 mile radius, on whom we married. Eventually we will all be one beautiful people. There will be no need for the “race” blank on job applications. G.
I’m not Arab or Persian and I tend to think of them as the same when speaking generally. They live in the same region of the world, they have the same religion, and they have a relatively strong cultural understanding of each other. The same could be said of Americans and Mexicans. Whereas Americans and Mexicans are collectively called westerners/infidels/meddlers/whatever by many folks in the middle east, it’s convenient to refer to everyone in the middle east as Arabs. That works when you’re talking in generalities, but may provoke a correction by an Arab or Persion if uttered in their presence … to which you should politely make the distinction. So, yeah, I’m boiling this down to a matter of nomenclature, convenience, and etiquette for those that are neither Arab nor Persian with the suggestion that more specific language be used for those that might take exception. Or if you happen to be able to tell the difference, then do that. My guess is that it’s not an insult to be called one when you’re the other, just incorrect.
Just another point of view. Thanks for the article.
You are incorrect in thinking Arabs & Iranians look the same. I am Iranian born and know an Arab when I see one. It is as you say Chinese & Japanese look the same which they dont or Mexicans & White Americans look the same and they dont, you are born here so you know what the featurs are. Having said that, many Iranian women were taken as slaves to Arabia and mixed with Arabs, Arabia has been mixed by many over thousands of years. Iranians in the north are lighter skin & we do have blonds, redheads that would make the Irish blush. In my family many have green eyes, hazel and blue, not just brown.
We have many people in Iran that are olive skin, not brown or dark and becuase the south is very hot, the people in that region have darker skin usually. Iranians are Caucasian, the Caucus mountains run from Russia south to Iran. Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan were all part of Persia, so if you call yourself white which is incorrect, it is Caucasian you are part of the Indo-german which is Indo-Iranian of people, over 600 words in English is Parsi the language or Iranians.
Arabic language & religion was not accepted but forced on Iranians, humiliation tactics, extreem taxes & many other ways used to first covnert the aristocrats & merchants, it took hundreds of years & not until the Turks forced Islam that Iran became majority Muslim, however we won the language, heritage & culture war with Arabs.
If you can tell the difference between, a Canadian, American & Mexican you will be able to tell the difference between Arab & Iranian easily as I can tell the difference between Korean, Thai, Chinese & Japanese easily.
Iranians have been invaded by Arabs 13th century & again 20th century, as we have had issues with Arabs always using our people and taking credit for our people and what they have accomplished before the invasion & after under the umbrella of Islam, we have had issues and after 1980 invasion this probelm was started again and Iranians not being Semitic truly do not like being called Arab, it is a great insult to us. As Americans that have called me this and in return I called them Mexican they were greatly insulted.
Jews are Semitic people, however the Jews living in Europe & Middle East including Russia have been mixed so long that the language Yidish is an Indo-germanic language & they have changed their looks by living in a cold area.
if you look at most Italians, Greek or Spanish, you would have difficulty to tell if they are Iranain or European. The difference is not in skin tone or color, color of eyes, it is the difference in our bone structure. Mongols, Chinese are similar but not with Caucasians of Iran, Europe, India and if you look at Africans they are in many ways far closer to many Arabs than Caucasians.