PART-3: DO WE KNOW WHO WE ARE?
Click here for PART-1:
Click here for PART-2:
Click here for PART-4:
Click here for PART-5:
This is the third episode in this series of posts. If you are reading this installment first, you should start with Part-1 and Part-2.
Now that I have identified the groupings (as I see them) of Turks in the US, I will now attempt to deliver the goods. The prize being how we could assimilate, not lose our identity, and be as effective as others before us here in the US, defining policy and public opinion, while helping shape the future of national, and global philosophy, and contributing to the way of life as Americans (while publicly/privately acknowledged for our Turkish heritage and ethnicity.)
First and foremost, Turks in the US must relegate the 'intra-national' bickering involving ethnic, racial, nationalistic, religious, and political matters pertaining to Turkey and its internal policies. We must rise above the issues that do not pertain to the America we are part of, and let the native Turks deal with those intricate affairs. They will probably appreciate us more for that anyway.
If you asked a typical Italian-American living in the US today who the political leader in Italy is, or the party platform of the current administration in Italy, or what the number one reality show on Italian TV happens to be, I doubt you'll receive the correct responses. This does not mean that they don't care or imply their ignorance. It simply means, in the order of their priorities, they feel they are more of an asset to America, as Italian-Americans, if they choose to parlay their intellectual powers toward the 'national' or the American agenda without the localization of the 'un-unified' extremities that exist within their home country by deferring to the native/local 'experts.' And by no means am I suggesting that us Turks simply disconnect from Turkey and the Turkish scene. I am asking us to prioritize our options as we can be more effective and taken more seriously if our 'Turkish-ness' was a by-product and secondary to the general agenda (of the US and the world.) There are obvious 'taboos' associated with this proposition and I will address them tomorrow.
Now I am sure I will receive emails from those Turks in one of the aforementioned groupings I've already identified of the validity of such an argument, or possibly even harsh criticism directed at such an irrational and 'un-Turk' like stance . . . or some individual who will disagree simply because he/she does not fit the description or embraces the 'how can you' attitude. I must remind them that I am referring to generalities and do admit the superpower ability of certain people specifically to be able to offer better results using methods criticized or critiqued by my theory.
The same is true in every ethnicity. In fact, whenever I visit Turkey, and while everyone is astonished that I have kept up with the current affairs of Turkey, both from the internal microscopic angle, as well as the observations of the international scene, the natives quickly dismiss my 'resolutions' as too simplistic and unrealistic given the fact that I have lived abroad for quite some time (and therefore 'assimilated') and am too removed from the situation.
My advantage of having spent my childhood years in Turkey, having kept up with Turkish political scene throughout the years in the US, as well as watching closely the transformation of the current society to the present day integrated with the force-fed historical facts of our great nation and people, along with all of the knowledge derived from the information available to me as a 'tele-national,' (one who does not need to reside or 'live' in Turkey to qualify for an opinion - and boy, do we have some,) does not seem to phase the native Turks as they downplay my remarks of wisdom. whew . . . looong sentence.
"It'll never fly here" or "you don't really know or appreciate what's really going on" or "you can't understand" are the usual comments followed by offering me a cigarette to somehow accept me as one of their own and elongate the discussion process more for their benefit, and politely rejecting my assistance toward my observation of their take on the world and issues surrounding it. They then go on hoping to convince me that most of the world's problem-solving by their well thought-out solutions will usually revolve around Turkey.
Anyway, since I cannot really understand their pain, by their admission, and because I'd have to 're-assimilate' back into my Turkish nativity, in the interest of dismissing the double-standard rule, I simply cannot accept a, excuse the expression, 'fresh-off-the-boat' way of looking at the whole assimilation process when it comes to Turks in the US, as well as what America is really about or how it really works.
The simple definition of whether America (or the US of A) is a 'Republic' or a 'Democracy' usually breaks the ice as far as perception vs. reality. The same problem that 'Islam-the religion' is encountering today (probably mostly due to the same people who are 'practicing' it.)
So finally, in my next post, I will wrap up the whole 'assimilationism' evolution that Turks in the US, consciously or subconsciously, adhere to or should practice. Hope you will stick around!
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