In response to Senator Lindsey Graham's offensive comment on Fox & Friends, PAAIA has written a letter requesting to meet with the Senator.
For Immediate Release: Contact: Morad Ghorban Email: mo...@paaia.org Phone: 202-828-8370 View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/paaia.org/cmspaaia-statement-on-recent-us-iran-relationsaspx-219949?e=70eba44e2f) October 17, 2018 Washington, DC – Today, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) sent a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham requesting a meeting and urging him to refrain from broad generalizations about the Iranian people. The letter was prompted by Senator Graham’s clarification over his recent offensive comment on Fox & Friends, when he said that if he took a DNA test, it would probably show that he was “Iranian” and “that’d be, like, terrible.” Senator Graham later apologized for his comment and insisted that his joke was directed towards the rulers of Iran and not the Iranian people. “While we are appreciative of your clarification about the comment, it is important for you to understand that your insensitive joke came across as bigoted and deeply offensive to the Iranian American community,” Dr. Leila Austin, Executive Director of PAAIA, explains in the letter. The letter also notes the significant contributions Iranian Americans have made to all sectors of U.S. society. It explains that the Senator's constituents of Iranian descent are hard-working Americans who deserve his respect and should be praised rather than casually derided. “We hope that you will take the concerns of the Iranian American community seriously and in the future refrain from broad generalizations that are likely to mischaracterize an entire group of Americans and run counter to U.S. foreign policy objectives,” said Austin. PAAIA is committed to educating Members of Congress about the Iranian American community. Read the Letter (https://paaia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GrahamLetter.final_.pdf) ABOUT PAAIA: The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, PAAIA, Inc., is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonreligious 501(c)(4) organization that serves the interests of Iranian Americans and represents the community before U.S. policymakers and the American public at large Make a Contribution (https://paaia.org/get-involved/donate) | Become a Member (https://paaia.org/get-involved/members) http://www.twitter.com/paaia http://www.facebook.com/PublicAffairsAllianceofIranianAmericans http://paaia.org DONATE (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=qy3WdU2i0R2MEsS2wTKZwKGra5ecX57iECwJYUgfG5XcqOAcP8Pwo2Af8dOrIsXd64rn9G&country.x=US&locale.x=US) ============================================================ Share this E-mail: ** (http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fpaaia.org%2Fcmspaaia-statement-on-recent-us-iran-relationsaspx-219949) ** Share (http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Fpaaia.org%2Fcmspaaia-statement-on-recent-us-iran-relationsaspx-219949) ** (http://us12.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=815031feb2c3d0f64af28ce90&id=4c4895ab8b&e=70eba44e2f) ** Forward (http://us12.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=815031feb2c3d0f64af28ce90&id=4c4895ab8b&e=70eba44e2f) Educate ∣ Advocate ∣ Lead _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 2018 Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20015 Suite 440 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can ** update your preferences (https://paaia.us12.list-manage.com/profile?u=815031feb2c3d0f64af28ce90&id=0c8cf993f9&e=70eba44e2f) or ** unsubscribe from this list (https://paaia.us12.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=815031feb2c3d0f64af28ce90&id=0c8cf993f9&e=70eba44e2f&c=4c4895ab8b)
