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Page 12 Book Review Street Roots • May 19-25, 2017 The best defense Iranian-American author Negid Farsad uses comedy to tackle social justice issues BY MIKE WOLD mostly because of references to lady parts and sexual activity. The purpose of the tour was more to let people understand that t may be possible to change the world Muslims are as varied as Christians in their one joke at a time. At least, that’s the activities and political beliefs. She writes thrust of the new book by Iranian- American comic Negin Farsad. Half comic affectionately of holding a sign in a square in Salt Lake City, “Hug a Muslim,” and finding autobiography, half serious examination of that Mormons actually like to hug. the ways that stereotypes play out, the In 2014, she initiated a comic counter narrative follows Negin from her childhood campaign sparked by anti-Muslim ads on the in Palm Springs, where she had to sort out New York Metropolitan Transportation what it meant to be ethnically different. Authority (MTA). After taking the M TA to “Here’s the thing: I used to feel black ... court to get a ruling that posters promoting there’s the kind of blackness that’s defined positive images of Muslims did not violate a by its opposition to whiteness.” new “no politics” rule, the posters went up Farsad was actually one of two Iranian- with slogans like “Muslims! They invented American kids in a school that was coffee, the toothbrush, and algebra ... Oh otherwise white and Latino. So she tried to wait, sorry about the algebra. That’s a year identify with Mexicans, too, without much of class you’ll never get back” and “Beware success. It wasn’t until she was in college The Muslims are Coming! And they shall that “it struck me. I wasn’t black, or strike with hugs so fierce, you’ll end up Mexican or Asian or Russian. I was an calling your grandmother and telling her you Iranian-American Muslim female ... To large love her.” swaths of the American public, that means I Farsad details some of the personal was a possibly dangerous brown person who experiences that led her to politically active potentially sympathized with A1 Qaeda ... comedy. One of the earliest was being cast People needed to know that secular, fun in a play where a boy had to choose between Muslims who smell nice are the norm ... And I had to let people know it with the only her and a blond white girl, and all the boys in the middle school audience were calling tool I had: comedy.” her ugly and telling the boy to pick the Farsad is not a stereotype. Besides being blond girl. Luckily, the script dictated a stand-up comic, she holds two master’s otherwise. Similarly, in an Ivy League degrees, in public policy and African- college, she found that being brown American studies from Cornell University. definitely was not the way to make it in the She’s also not a Polyanna or someone who dating scene. lives in a bubble — one of her social justice Some people tell Farsad she should just comedy projects was a tour of red states in identify as “American” rather than “Iranian- the South and West titled “The Muslims Are American.” The problem, she says, is that Coming.” She was sometimes confronted she grew up in a non-American culture for with picketers who believed that her her first 18 years, and it’s part of who she is purpose was to convert people to Islam. — you can’t understand her without But, as she put it, you wouldn’t actually understanding that side of her experience. learn much about Islam from her comic That isn’t to say she prefers Iranian culture routine, which would likely be offensive to to American cultures; there are parts of her Muslim and Christian fundamentalists alike, C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T I SISTERS OFTHE o n a n » U n U .o r g Dine Barter 133 NW Sixth Share 503.222.5694 IL L U S T R A T IO N B Y J O N W IL L IA M S , R E A L C H A N G E parents’ culture she loves and parts she hates. Farsad makes some cogent political points. “It is hands-down the strangest form of white privilege for mass murderers who are white not to get the ‘terrorist’ label... We’re so committed to maintaining white privilege that even murderers have a better go of it. So if you or anyone you know uses the word terrorism, then let’s just dole that out equally.” But she doesn’t agree with the idea that people of color shouldn’t have to be the ones to teach white people about anti racism. “Do people ask where you’re from? That’s great! Let ’em know ... they should know where you’re from, because in that moment you are the PR for your ethnic group.” What she doesn’t like is having to do “terror-splaining.” “I go on a T V show and I At Health Share, we believe good health is more than what happens inside your doctor’s office. Good health starts in your community and includes staying active, eating healthy food and getting regular check-ups. Share your healthy habits with family and friends. We can all have better health when we share it together. Better health together. www.healthshareoregon.org was asked if I could terror-splain why the Charlie Hebdo cartoons had motivated the attack ... I don’t know any terrorists, I’m likely to know more about the history of capri pants.” Addressed both to whites and people of color, this book will make both groups laugh. The only weakness is that Farsad doesn’t seem to have much grasp of class realities; they just don’t seem to be a part of her experience. So social justice comedy gets to be a matter of talking about diversity and social privilege within a middle-class milieu. Still, there aren’t that many social justice comics around as it is, and we’re lucky Farsad is one of them. Reprinting courtesy of Street Roots' sister paper, Real Change News, Seattle
