This a photo of me, an Iranian/Persian woman. In term of race parlance am I white or black? The current preoccupation with ethnicity is a conundrum for Iranians. We are ethnically Aryan (from which the name ‘Iran’ actually derives), we are also Caucasian and Indo-European. Some of my cousins have much browner complexions than me, but however brown we are, we’re definitely NOT “mixed”.
Every year I worked as nurse and midwife I was obliged to fill in an NHS ETHNICITY QUESTIONNAIRE (above) as part of their ‘good practice’ requirements. And every year I would be frustrated by the listed categories, because other than the penultimate one “White – Other White Background” I didn’t fit into any of the others, and if you tick that one you are asked to explain. Should I describe myself as “Aryan” (it’s most accurate answer)? Or should I say “Caucasian” (same as all the other Whites)? Occasionally I would write “Persian”. Every single year I chewed the end of my pen and noted something different.
B.A.M.E (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) was an acronym first used in the UK in the wake of the pandemic as a proxy for non-white ethnic minority groups. The term has now been discontinued in the UK as it was seen to be unintentionally divisive. At the time it generated a nationwide celebration of minority cultures and the successful integration of first and second generation immigrants in Britain. An Iranian acquaintance of mine was invited to give a public talk about his experience as a successful BAME immigrant under the banner of BAME – Our Stories. He justified his qualification by stating that he identified as “Black – Other” rather than “White – Other, because in his view the term “non-white” means “Non- British”!
For me that’s taking ethnicity a step too far! Without intending any disrespect, I’m racially Caucasian and can’t class myself as Black. But if the public perception of brown people of pure descent (i.e. not mixed) is neither white nor black, then what is the tick box designation?
