The Anatomy of Iranian Racism: Reflections on the Root Causes of South
Azerbaijan's Resistance Movement



Azerbaijan by Dr Alireza Asgharzadeh



In recent days many Azeri towns and cities in Iran have, once again,
become the revolutionary scene of anti-racist and anti-colonial
struggle against Iran's racist and colonial order. The current
movement of South Azerbaijan must be situated right at the heart of
issues of racial/ethnic oppression and internal colonialism in an
Iranian context. By avoiding any mention of the terms 'racism' and
'internal colonialism,' the dominant Persian discourse has provided
a completely upside-down picture of social and ethnic inequality in the
country, masterfully managing to deceive the international media and
progressive anti-racist forces throughout the world. The fact of the
matter is that without taking note of 'racism' and
'colonialism' as important social facts that do exist in Iranian
society, it would be impossible to provide a comprehensive analysis
regarding the current Azeri movement, along with other similar
movements in Kurdistan, Khuzistan, Baluchistan, Turkman-Sahra, and
other regions of the country.

Ethnic pluralism, difference and diversity have always been a defining
characteristic of what is today called 'Iran.' Peoples of various
ethnic origins, such as the ancestors of contemporary Azeri-Turks,
Kurds, Baluchs, Turkomans, Arabs, Lurs, Gilaks, Mazandaranis and others
have lived in Iran for centuries. The history of civilization in what
is known today as Iran goes back over six-thousand years. The available
archaeological/linguistic record indicates that from the very beginning
the region was characterized with extreme ethnic, linguistic, and
cultural diversity. No single ethnic group has ever constituted a
definite numerical majority in the country, although the Azeri-Turks
now have a relatively slight majority with a population of over 30
million.

Up until 1925, the country had been run in accordance with what one may
call a traditional confederative system within which all ethnic groups
enjoyed the freedom to use and develop their languages, customs,
cultures, and identities. With the beginning of the Pahlavi regime in
1925, the natural trend of ethnic and linguistic plurality was abruptly
stopped, and a process of monoculturalism and monolingualism started,
which continues to date. The aim of this chauvinistic process has been
to present the language, history, culture, and identity of the Persian
minority as the only authentic language, history, culture, and identity
of all Iranians.

For over 80 years, the role of the central government in Iran has been
one of denying and dismissing ethnic and linguistic diversity in the
country. Just as the Pahlavi regime focused on annihilation of
cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences in the country, so too the
current Islamic Republic has continued with the politics of
assimilation, exclusion, and racism. Under the current establishment,
gender-based and religion-based oppressions have also been added to a
host of exclusionary and racist practices left over from the previous
regime. The racist politics of the governing apparatuses have always
been accompanied by ideological and discursive support of the majority
of Persian writers, intellectuals and thinkers who, due to their
belonging to the dominant group, have enjoyed the privileges of
monolingualism, monoculturalism, and racism in the country. To this
group must be added the assimilated segment of non-Persian writers and
intellectuals whose passionate support for Persian racism has even
surprised the Persians themselves. In fact, such individuals of Turkic
origin as Mahmood Afshar, Iraj Afshar, Ahmad Kasravi and others have
been among the founding fathers of this ugly racist system.

The governing apparatuses, the dominant elite, and the farstoxicated
intelligentsia have come together and sustained the structural bases of
one of the most racist systems in the contemporary world. This naked
racism which feeds on outdated and discredited Arayanist paradigms and
racist theories of the 18-20th centuries Europe has outlived the Jim
Crow segregationist system in America; it has survived Nazism, European
fascism, and the Apartheid regime in South Africa. In effect, compared
to its kind in Germany, Europe, the US, and South Africa, the Persian
racism in Iran represents an amazing success story in terms of its
durability, normalcy, and assimilatory capacity. Below are some salient
characteristics of this dominant racist discourse and praxis:

1. The Belief in the Superiority of 'Aryan' Race

Persian racism in Iran advocates a racist and racialized view of the
world where the so-called 'Aryan' race is seen as a superior race.
Using the racist ideas of 18-20th centuries Europe as its
theoretical/ideological bases, the dominant group exploits the
country's resources to promote lavishly funded research and
exploration regarding the history and existence of this 'superior
Aryan race' in Iran. On the other hand, serious works challenging the
supremacy of Aryanist historiography not only do not receive any
assistance but are not even allowed publication in Iran. A glaring case
in point is the historian Naser Poorpirar whose recent work on the
history of Sasanid dynasty was not permitted to be published in Iran.
According to his personal website (http://naria.persianblog.com/), the
author self-published the book in Singapore and shipped it back to Iran
for distribution. Ordinarily one would expect that a study critically
examining the Orientalist construction of pre-Islamic history of Iran
would not encounter any kind of government censorship in the Islamic
Republic. Not so. Works like Poorpirar's are not allowed publication
simply because they interrogate the Aryan/Fars-centric history of Iran,
powerfully exposing its fictional, disingenuous, and dishonest
character.

2. The Belief that Iran Is the Land of Aryans

Persian racism openly defines Iran as the land of these so-called
Aryans who are in turn identified with the dominant Persian group, its
language, culture, and identity. Through this racist process, Farsi
becomes the only national/official language and the Persian culture
gets identified as the national culture of all Iranians; just as
Iran's history gets appropriated to the advantage of this so-called
'Aryan' race by excluding, distorting, and erasing the histories,
stories, and narratives of other ethnic groups. This exclusion takes
place in government-sponsored research projects, schoolbooks,
university texts, curriculum, allocation of research funding, etc. In
short, under the racist order in Iran, to be Iranian becomes equated
with being Persian. This kind of racist identification serves to
foreignize and otherize those communities who are not Persian and who
do not speak Farsi as their natural mother tongue.

3. The Belief in the Purification of Aryan Race of Iran through
Language

Drawing on discredited European racist views, the dominant discourse in
Iran equates language with race and tries to fabricate Indo-European
language ties for non-Farsi speaking peoples such as the Azeri-Turks in
an attempt to show that over a thousand years ago they spoke an
Indo-European language and are therefore Aryan. As such, they should
cleanse themselves of their inferior linguistic/ethnic/cultural
identity and become one with 'the superior Aryan race' by speaking
the language of this race: Farsi. This kind of racist reconstruction of
prehistoric (imaginary) languages essentializes race-based and
language-based identities and prioritizes them based on a fabricated
history of origins, arrivals, etc., giving rise to the absurd idea
about who has come earlier than whom, who has come first, who has come
second, who has come last, whose language was spoken earlier than the
others; and who, as a result, should have mastery over others. These
kinds of non-sensical absurdities serve to create unnecessary
competitions among various ethnic/national groups which lead to
animosity, mistrust and lack of cooperation among them, while leaving
them vulnerable to be colonized and assimilated by the dominant racist
order.

The Iranian racist order openly proscribes non-Farsi languages in the
country, banning them from becoming languages of education,
instruction, learning, correspondence, and governance. By banning
non-Farsi languages, the dominant group violates minoritized
communities' identities; subjugates their minds, and brutalizes their
spirits. It supplants the indigenous names of geographical landmarks,
cities, towns, villages, and streets; appropriates ancient heroes,
historical figures, literary figures, scientists, movie stars, popular
singers, dancers, and artists belonging to the marginalized
communities. It prevents non-Farsi speaking communities from naming
their children as they wish, using their own indigenous languages,
cultures, names, words, signs, and symbols, forcing them instead to use
names and symbols approved by the dominant discourse and praxis.

4. The Practice of Anachronism in Interpreting Works of History,
Religion, and Literature

Using an anachronistic method of analysis, the hegemonic discourse in
Iran offers purely racist and racialized interpretations of history,
historical events, and classical texts such as the Avesta and the
Shahnameh of Ferdowsi. It interprets these ancient texts in accordance
with modern racist theories and notions which were not in existence at
the time these texts were written. The anachronistic reading of these
texts becomes central to the maintenance of racist order in Iran in
that such a reading legitimates the ownership of the country by a
single race, just as it privileges a single language, history, culture,
and identity. Anachronism gives a historical justification for
contemporary oppressions, exclusions, and annihilations in Iran.

5. The Belief in Essentialism and an Essentialist notion of
Iranian-ness

The dominant order in Iran promotes an essentialist notion of identity
based on race and language. Instead of viewing identities as shifting,
non-fixed and fluid categories, the Iranian racist order assigns fixed
identities to individuals and communities based on their degree of
'Iranian-ness' (Iraniyyat). Under this essentialist and
essentializing mentality, those speaking an Indo-European language are
considered to be in possession of authentic Iranic identity and hence
'more Iranian' than those speaking a Semite or Turkic language.

The dominant order plays the race card to create hostilities among
marginalized communities, seeking to prevent the formation of any
semblance of solidarity among them. By identifying some of them as
'true Iranians,' 'real Aryans,' and 'the authentic owners of
Iran,' it engenders a policy of divide and conquer, while sowing the
seeds of mistrust and animosity among different ethnic groups. At the
same time, it prevents a sensible census from taking place based on
ethnicity and language, fearing that an ethnic-based and language-based
census would reveal the true size and number of both Persian and
non-Persian communities in the country. Just as such racist notions as
'the true owners of Iran,' 'the real Aryans,' and similar
mumbo-jumbo are emphasized to an inflated and inflammatory degree; so
too the real issues and concerns such as the need for 'conducting of
an ethnicity/language based national census,' 'opening of ethnic
studies departments in the universities,' and 'researching ethnic
groups and ethnic relations in the country' are de-emphasized,
degraded, and dismissed.

6. The Belief in the Systematic Practice of Racism

The Iranian racist order uses the coercive force of governing organs to
marginalize, criminalize, and punish the activists advocating the cause
of minoritized communities, labeling them as traitors, secessionists,
agents of foreign governments, etc. During the cold war period, it was
customary to label anti-racist activists as communists and KGB agents.
Nowadays such activists are labeled as agents of CIA, Israel, Zionism,
Turkey, and even the Republic of Azerbaijan. Through such practices,
the dominant order refuses the legitimate demands of minoritized
communities for equal treatment, justice, and fairness. It brutally
suppresses any ethnic-based and language-based activity, forcefully
denying and condemning the right for self-determination of various
nationalities. On the economic front, the government channels the
country's resources to building infrastructure, factories, and
development projects in Persian populated cities such as Isfahan,
Shirza, Yazd, and Kerman, while the non-Persian regions of Kurdistan,
Baluchistan, Azerbaijan, and other areas more and more plunge in
poverty and deprivation.


Resistance to the Racist Order

Thus, it is in this anti-racist, anti-colonial context that the current
South Azerbaijani movement and the movement of other minoritized
communities must be approached. It is under a racist and colonial
condition that sites such as history, historiography, language,
literature, and the education system have become main arenas where the
battle for domination and subjugation of the marginalized Other is
waged. The dominant group uses these privileged sites to maintain its
oppressive power base; to legitimate its dominance and privileged
status, and to justify its oppression. Simultaneously, the marginalized
uses these very sites to question, challenge, combat, and eventually
subvert the oppressive dominant order. For instance, in the linguistic
battleground, the dominant bans the minoritized languages and uses its
language to supplant them. The marginalized, on the other hand, seeks
to reclaim and revitalize her/his excluded indigenous language so that
s/he is empowered to self-express, self-identify, and self-determine.
Just as the dominant uses history to deny a historical legitimacy to
the marginalized Other, so too the marginalized uses her/his own
version of history to reject and repudiate the history which is
constructed for her/him by the dominant. The dominant uses the
education system to enforce its assimilatory and racist policies. The
marginalized redefines the purpose of education and schooling to bring
about inclusivity, equity, equality and fairness for all.

While the marginalized uses all in its power to fight racism and
oppression, it is important to realize that her/his battle is an uphill
struggle in which s/he has very little access to strategic sites such
as history, literature, language, and the education system. These are
the sites that have detrimental impacts on the outcome of the battle
between the colonizer and the colonized. And these sites are controlled
for the most part by the dominant. If the dominant is left to its
devices, there is little chance that the marginalized will eventually
eliminate the bases of colonialism, oppression, and racism. As such, it
is imperative that progressive forces everywhere take note of these
anti-colonial, antiracist struggles and support them in any way they
can.