From: Siamak Sani ssani@smtpgate.xicor.com via Siamak Farah siamak@InfoStreet.com

Date: December 12, 1996

Hello all

This information was recently forwarded to me and I thought I'd share this with you :

Greetings,

This weekend it was brought to my attention that the governors of the states of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware have officially declared March 21st the Day of Iranian-Americans.

This effort was lead by a group of prominent Iranian doctors in that tristate area. Dr. Manucher Shahidi of Long Island, NY, was the one of the organizers behind this movement.

Dr. Shahidi is continuing to pursue the declaration of the observation of this day as an official day for Iranian-Americans in other states as well, and hopes to have more than 25 states recognizing this day. At that point he and his collaborators plan to appeal to the President to declare the observance of the day at the national level.

So what, you ask? Well the benefits that we get from this is more than not having to go to work and school on Noruz... it involves being recognized as an official ethnic minority group in the United States. This gives us lobbying power in Congress, gives us the right to institute our culture and history into that of America, and most importantly, it guarantees that the United States government will protect our cultural and historical integrity.

For instance, it would be nice that when our children go to school they learn about how their parents and grandparents struggled and lost to come to the United States after the revolution, and then how they brilliantly assimilated with the society and eventually became one of the prominent ethnic groups in this country.

We as Iranians and Iranian-Americans have achieved great things in this country. From individuals like Dr. Khodadoust (the dean of Yale Medical School) to Shar Pourdanesh (Redskins offensive lineman), we have shown that we can succeed in any area against any odds.

In conclusion, I praise the group of Iranian doctors and Dr. Shahidi in their efforts in propounding our identity and culture in this great melting pot in which we live. March 21st will soon be more than the beginning of a new year, but it will be a day to mark the beginning of a new people, the Iranian-Americans.... us.

Pourya Dehnadi