Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, February 2, 2022
Social media users from Iran’s non-Persian ethnic communities have launched a campaign addressing the discrimination faced by ethnic minorities in the country.
Users from Iran’s Turkish, Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, Baloch, Gilak, Lur, and other ethnic communities are sharing their experiences of discrimination they have encountered at various stages of their lives using the hashtag #Manofarsi.
Lida Serefraz, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Utah, wrote on her Twitter page about the "racial microaggressions" she faced while studying in Tehran.
Non-Persians in Iran are raising their voices and finally speaking up about their oppression in that country. As a Turk, I can write a book about my experience of microaggressions. #منوفارسی
— LIDA SARAFRAZ (@LSarafraz) January 31, 2022
“In Iran, non-Persians are raising their voices and finally speaking about the injustices they have witnessed in this country. As a Turk, I could write a book about the microaggressions I have faced,” Serefraz wrote. “When I was a student in Tehran, our classical Persian literature professor repeatedly called Turks uncivilized invaders. There were a few Turkish students in the class, and we protested his racist remarks. He treated us even worse and reported our names as ‘nationalist Turks’ to the university security department.”
A user named Peyman, from the Gilak community, discussed the stigmas and derogatory expressions that have been spread about Gilaks in Iranian society.
He wrote, “This is the image that Persian-language media has created of us Gilaks over the last century: unworthy Rashtis, cowardly Rashtis, fish-head-eating Rashtis, and so on. Persian society continuously uses these expressions. We grew up in such an atmosphere. Don’t tell us Gilaks that ‘we are all Iranians.’”
The well-known Iranian Kurdish writer, Behrouz Boochani, who lives in Australia, considered the "Me and Farsi" campaign a significant event.مدیای فارص در صد سال اخیر تصویری که از ما گیلک ها ارائه دادن اینه:
— peymon (@peymon_gil) February 1, 2022
رشتی بی غیرت
رشتی بی بخار
رشتی کله ماهی خور و...
و مردم فارص و فارص زده مدام این عبارات را علیه ما تکرار کردند،
ما در چنین فضایی بزرگ شدیم،
با ما گیلکها از هموطن بودن و همه عیرانی هستیم صحبت نکنید.#منوفارسی
“‘Me and Farsi’ is an important event in the public cultural arena. Within hours, hundreds of bitter memories and stories about racist behavior, insults, and humiliations against Gilaks, Turks, Arabs, and others were shared through this hashtag. If you want to learn the true Iran, follow this hashtag!” Boochani wrote on his Twitter page.
#منوفارسی یکی از مهم‌ترین اتفاق ها در عرصه فرهنگ عمومی است. طی چند ساعت اخیر صدها داستان و خاطره دردناک از تحقیر,توهین و برخوردهای نژادپرستانه نسبت به انسان گیلک, ترک,عرب و دیگران به واسطه این هشتگ ثبت شد.اگر می‌خواهید بدانید که ایران واقعی کجاست این هشتگ را دنبال کنید.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) February 1, 2022
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
“Mən və Farsca” – Qeyri-fars iranlılar dil ayrı-seçkiliyinə dair təcrübələrindən yazır