By Jeannie Marie Hunter-Cal, via e-mail
I was very impressed with the writing style of Mr. Hussaini and his comments about the United States as well as California. However, I would like to add my two cents.
Not all of us are decadent and corrupt. We are facing the issues of modernization just as all of you face it. My grandmother on my mother’s side, who was born in 1876, was raised in a house without plumbing, had no car, but a horse instead, could not imagine the air plane could possibly be invented as a kid, or the car either, found washing machines somewhat decadent, did not want a dryer and resented it being bought for her. She came from a family whose members were idealists, who worked hard, but put their dreams first, and they worked hard to stop slavery in this country. On my grandfather’s side, there were inventors and scholars who contributed to modernization of the world, but they were first driven by curiosity and love for humanity. I have a picture of an ancestor dressed in clothing as if he was from Iraq! They traveled and respected other cultures, and worked there.
The story that I remember most was told to me by my mother. The maternal line goes back to Norway, and that country was cold, and often suffered poverty before this century. “We came for those yet unborn” were her grandmother’s words. They came here to build a future with their own hands. They had no expectation of machinery. They were drawn by hopes of a garden, and open land, and freedom from class systems.
Tolerance was the core of the values that brought people to California. And, there were mosques there in the very early days of California, as well as those who believed in reincarnation as much as any Hindu. All beliefs were respected. This is why people came to California in its early years.
Sometimes I have spoken to American Indians who feel that the white man has invaded their life, because they used to be able to trap, and fish, and garden without interference of expectation of taxes, routines, and order of modern life. What I have to tell them is not to hate me. We who are in civilization represent many forces, and I am even part Indian myself. Second, my grandparents also were able to trap, fish, and garden without interference or expectation of taxes, routines, and order of modern life. They also have a simple faith, and simple life. What has happened is that we have entered a modern world.
My great grandmother’s name was Lucy Wright, and she was part of the clan of Quaker Wrights that produced Wilbur and Orville Wright. They did not get rich on their invention. They were drawn to the study by a love of knowledge, and brought a discipline and high morality to the task. We are dealing with good people. The Quakers are a group of people who have very moral beliefs, and were part of the movement against slavery.
We have good and bad in all camps and in all religions. It is the person and the heart of the person that is the issue.
I do not mind that California is a symbol of the future or what is modern, but what I hope people realize is that we all face this together. We all face the future. We all struggle and want the same things. We also want community. One reason we do not have community in California in the Southern part is that there are so many people coming in who stay temporarily that there is not the time to develop charities and conventions that exist in the North of California where it is nothing as you imagine at all. Here in Southern California, where there are more Asians, including Pakistanis, Indians, Japanese, and Chinese, than White Anglos, we have to deal with melding and TOLERANCE.
We all want the same thing, and here in California it is important to strive for tolerance. The smile I get from a wonderful Pakistani woman cheers me as much as if she were Norwegian. The haircut I get from my Islamic beautician is the best I have ever had, and her spunk and delightful personality cheers me endlessly. We need all of whom we are and whom we have here.
I love the writing of your journal, but want to reach out with a spirit of warm thinking and hopes. I am working in films, and want to see cooperation and trust and respect so that people in your part of the country do not see us here as some sort of barbarians. WE are not. We want the same things you do, and we want lives to be good in your part of the world. We really do.
Thank you for your brilliance and allowing me to express myself.