This is a question for those people born or raised in the West, whose parents/grandparents are from Pakistan or perhaps some other Muslim country (if we have such members here).
Do you consider yourself an American/Canadian etc..or do you identify more with Pakistan?
For me I didn’t realize how American I was until I actually visited Pakistan for the first time at age 25, I have never felt more out of place and more like a foreigner in my life. Even though I had cousins and uncles there, I surely didn’t share their way of thinking and doing things. I just felt totally lost and out of place.
Now I deeply feel like an American, I feel like a person who is Muslim but in terms of identifying with a nation I would identify more with America than Pakistan, in essence my loyalties are with America.
What about the rest of you, do other Pakistanis/Muslims feel that way?
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I feel like I'm really "American" when I'm in Pakistan but amongst Pakistanis here, I feel very very Pakistani. My morals/values/behavior are fairly moderate and I seem to be unable to identify well with a majority of Pakistanis at home and abroad.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I feel like I'm really "American" when I'm in Pakistan but amongst Pakistanis here, I feel very very Pakistani. My morals/values/behavior are fairly moderate and I seem to be unable to identify well with a majority of Pakistanis at home and abroad.
Yeah good point!
I know some guys who were also born here but their parents came from Pakistan, their not that different from your typical American person in their age group, the only difference is they are Muslim and go to a mosque instead of a church or Synagogue. Some are religious, some are not religious, some are in the middle etc..but I would say their overall behavior and way of talking is pretty much American.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I feel like I'm really "American" when I'm in Pakistan but amongst Pakistanis here, I feel very very Pakistani. My morals/values/behavior are fairly moderate and I seem to be unable to identify well with a majority of Pakistanis at home and abroad.
So like if someone were to ask you if you were an American, would you say Yes? I would.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Yeah, definitely. I identify with the US more.
Pakistanis are far more conservative, in matters that are rather trivial. So every time I've been to Pakistan, I tend to get into arguments with my cousins/uncles etc and they all rag me for siding with the "devil" (America) lol. But in the end, my education/healthcare/values etc are all things I learned while living here, not in Pakistan. So, yeah. I'm a Muslim-American with Pakistani parents. Not Pakistani-American.
Another thing I feel is, that if I identify with America as a nation my Pakistani relatives feel as if I'm betraying them. It makes no sense to me that they can't see why I would feel closer ties with the country that provided me with everything. It's odd.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
I feel like I'm really "American" when I'm in Pakistan but amongst Pakistanis here, I feel very very Pakistani. My morals/values/behavior are fairly moderate and I seem to be unable to identify well with a majority of Pakistanis at home and abroad.
Exactly.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Yeah, definitely. I identify with the US more.
Pakistanis are far more conservative, in matters that are rather trivial. So every time I've been to Pakistan, I tend to get into arguments with my cousins/uncles etc and they all rag me for siding with the "devil" (America) lol. But in the end, my education/healthcare/values etc are all things I learned while living here, not in Pakistan. So, yeah. I'm a Muslim-American with Pakistani parents. Not Pakistani-American.
Another thing I feel is, that if I identify with America as a nation my Pakistani relatives feel as if I'm betraying them. It makes no sense to me that they can't see why I would feel closer ties with the country that provided me with everything. It's odd.
Ok I gotta ask you this
Do you think its possible to be a good Muslim ie follow the 5 pillars of Islam, shun immorality etc..but at the same time be a patriotic American?
I think you can, because the beauty of America is that it's a free society, you can disagree with the government, disagree with their policies but you can still be a patriotic American.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Ok I gotta ask you this
Do you think its possible to be a good Muslim ie follow the 5 pillars of Islam, shun immorality etc..but at the same time be a patriotic American?
I think you can, because the beauty of America is that it's a free society, you can disagree with the government, disagree with their policies but you can still be a patriotic American.
Of course, that's why I defend where I live. It's a free society, not all of America agrees with it's foreign policy... but hey, when it comes to helping it's own people, it's great (in the sense of majority of the people have their basic needs met very well).
When I'm in Pakistan, despite covering my head/avoiding people's eyes/being in a car with tinted windows... people stare. =/ I can wear whatever I want down the street in the US and not feel awkward or as if everyone's staring. Just something that makes me feel the difference even more.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Are you assuming that the pakistanis here will be the same as the pakistanis back home? Coming to think of it, I don't think I would identify more with the abcd / us born crowd, so perhaps the crowd you are hanging with americanized back when they were in Pakistan already.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
Amongst pakistanis here in the UK i feel very pakistani and somewhat traditional, in pakistan i feel very british and almost lost as you have described!
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
What I am confused by is why do you care if you are Pakistani or not? In reality if you don't hold that green little booklet or the green really thin plastic card you aren't Pakistani.
Pakistani is not an ethnicity. It is a country made out of no where with various different ethnicities in it. I get being Muslim Americans of Pakistani Origin. But unless you have those two documents you aren't really Pakistani.
Re: Perception of identity changed when I visited Pakistan.
So what about Pakistani born people who have left to live somewhere else like the UK or USA (or anywhere else really), and then haven't come back for a good few years? I'm sure they'll still 'feel' Pakistani but they may feel as if their cultural identity has changed