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I'm Iranian-American, And This Is Why The Executive Ban Is Personal

by Samira Behrouzan

First of all, let me start off by saying I was a political science major, yet I dislike politics very much.

Why? Because it's not like science or math, and ultimately there is no right or wrong answer. At the end of the day, some people will agree with you while others will disagree, but I am an American.

Although I was born on this soil, have studied its history and allowed the culture to become my own by all means, I am an Iranian, which is why the news that executive orders barring visas from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen deeply bothered me.

It's not the act of blocking visas or the fact that a small group of countries was targeted; it's the fact that we live in a world so divided, we cannot see that it's the little jabs we take that sets the stage for unfortunate events to follow.

We are a world divided.

Every race has been fighting independently for its freedom, for its rights to be heard. What we have failed to do time and time again is come together.

We allow skin color, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, wealth, gender, sexual preference, social status and everything else stand between us, yet expect to come together and rise above it as one.

I do not have any hostility toward our current president.

Quite frankly, I don't have hatred toward anyone. But my heart hurts for every single soul who cannot see that we are the problem.

In our day-to-day lives, we discriminate on a smaller scale and choose to overlook our actions brushing it off and acting as if in the grand scheme of things it doesn't make a difference. But it is our collective energy and all of those moments that have brought us here today.

On paper, I am a Muslim. Do I practice? No. But being denied access to a country where my family resides or not having the opportunity to visit friends or loved ones due to my background or religion would be deeply painful.

It makes me think of my cousin who studied for years at such a high level, so he could one day attend an American university. Does that mean that all his years of hard work and all his dreams would have been shattered if this had been signed and put into order before his arrival?

I now find myself sitting at my desk imagining how the people who would be affected by this would feel.

I have already seen the Facebook statuses that express anger and dismay at the idea of it all. Yet, I wonder if for once in our lives if we took a step back and took a moment to express ourselves and share our thoughts without aggression, without hostility, without anger what would come of it.

Some will argue it's an act of discrimination, while others will state it is necessary in order to fight terrorism. But in my eyes, if we ever want to reach a place where not only America is great again, but the world is, we have to learn how to let go of hatred and resentment on all levels.

We have to avoid passing labels or judgments in any way, shape or form. With that being said, it is unjust for any of us to be defined by our race, our ethnicity, our religion or any of the other things I mentioned above.

The sooner we choose to remove the veil from in front of our eyes and can acknowledge and accept that we are allowing people to be born into discrimination, the sooner we can begin our real descent toward a path of change.

Whatever your race, whatever your nationality, we're a country that was founded on the belief that with hard work you can achieve your dreams.

America encouraged us to to be different and use our voices to empower and uplift one another.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was not granted to a particular subset, but to all human beings by their Creator and it is our job to protect the principals our country was founded on and the American Dream.

As Obama once said, "Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity."