Amarra Ghani is a 24-year-old woman of Pakistani background who is interning at National Public Radio. She was born in Brooklyn, and remembers suffering greatly as a child from the intolerance expressed towards her family by non-Muslim Americans in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Before she joined the cadres at NPR, she was a student at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and a member of the Muslim Students’ Association on campus. While she was at UNC in 2012, she guest-blogged at “Breakfast at Night: A Ramadan Photo Project” about her fellowship with the other two “Abrahamic faiths”.
In March 2012 she took part in a UNC event to commemorate Trayvon Martin:
Members of the Black Student Association (BSA) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at the University of North Carolina at Asheville have joined forces to call attention to the murders of Shaima Alawadi and Trayvon Martin in their community.
The groups are asking school mates and community members to attend a rally on Thursday wearing black hoodies and black scarfs.
“This is a rally in solidarity for both Trayvon and Shaima,” Amarra Ghani, president of the MSA says in a YouTube promoting the rally. “Your headgear should not be a threat.”
“This is not a weapon of mass destruction,” Ghani says in the video as she points to the hijab around her head.
Last December, in one of her posts on the NPR blog, she talked about the hijab:
The hijab is a physical symbol of God-consciousness for everyday life. The women in the video all wear hijab, but they embrace their own unique style. And the video was meant to spark an important conversation: Muslims are not monolithic.
Ms. Ghani also has a YouTube channel. As far as I can determine, it contains only two videos, one about Occupy Asheville, and the other about Martin Luther King Day at UNC.
As you can see from the above examples, Amarra Ghani is a sterling example of openness, inclusiveness, tolerance, and interfaith understanding… in English. In Urdu — the language of her ancestors from the Indian subcontinent — it’s another matter entirely.
On Twitter yesterday, Amarra Ghani posted a tweet that included a snippet of Urdu. A reader and Twitter user named Rashid Saif understands the language, and sent us a note this morning about Ms. Ghani’s tweet:
Amarra Ghani puts up a face of inclusiveness and Muslim integration when writing for NPR (one example) .
However, when she switches to Urdu on twitter, she is a racist:
thankin the Good Lord like 90x a day that main nahin gori. ~praiSes~
“Main nahin gori” means “that I’m not a white woman”.
So her tweet is really: I thank god 90x a day that I’m not a white woman.
It’s an incredibly racist sentiment that would have any non-Muslim NPR employee fired instantly.
It’s like you always say: they have one image of tolerance when speaking in English and another message of intolerance in Arabic/Urdu etc. It just happens that this isn’t a Muslim Brotherhood politician; she is supposedly an up-and-coming millennial NPR writer.
If you feel that Ms. Ghani’s behavior on Twitter has in any way violated the taxpayer-supported public broadcaster’s stated policies of tolerance and inclusiveness, there are a couple of different ways you may express your dissatisfaction.
NPR has an ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, who runs an open forum.
You may also use NPR’s contact page (where you may specify the ombudsman as a recipient).
If you use the latter method of communication, however, be aware of this policy:
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. By sending us a letter or e-mail, you agree to these terms.
So choose your words carefully, remembering that any single intemperate sentence may be excerpted by NPR and used out of context on one of their public broadcasts.
Whew…I’m not white, either. I’m Irish.
Oh yeah, and American. That’s double nonwhite.
Whatever you yanks do, do not call her a Paki. That’s become a slur in British English.
The producers on NPR are hip to that wrinkle in language.
I doubt any ‘yank’ would use that term, nor are we likely to call her “asian”. Both those terms are y’all’s, not ours. We’d just call her a Muslim.
It’s a common abbreviation in my experience of American discussions about Pakistanis.
The assumption is that it’s no more insulting than saying Brit for a Briton.
Probably [reacted] or “towelhead” in my case. Maybe even Hajji or quran-thumper.
Can ya’ll frogs say “hajji” over there in England?
Aren’t you clever, Mr. Scott. You well know where the
“frogs” are – swimming in a great big pot which has the heat turned down for the moment.
I may be a thick mick, boyo, but I getchyer drift.
My dad went to Burma in 194 something to repair Catalinas for some Americans, when he arrived at the dock, a bloke held out his hand, me dad says, good to see you yanks, the Georgian left me dad in the drink.
oh my. In many parts of the the American South the Civil War is referred to as “The Recent Unpleasantness”. However, I doubt Georgia could be considered one of those places. Sherman’s March Through Georgia, a deliberate and exceedingly brutal swath of rape and rapine – think Russians – left its indelible stain. Google Sherman and Georgia…if you have a strong stomach.
I doubt if he is a Mick, not with aname like that.
Why is anybody surprised that this woman says one thing in English and another in Urdu? It would be astonishing if it were otherwise.
I’m for sure not surprised. I know it’s common practice for these people to be 2-faced [individuals of reduced intellectual capacity]. I take their racism as a compliment because for sure I would not wanna be a Pakistani (terrorist-sponsor and activator nation) or African (civil war, sectarian war, tribal war nations). They will take over and rule then we will see the tears flowing like the mississippi.
And that is why I started my blog in the first place. To stress the importance of knowing “unusual”, i.e. non-Western languages.
The upside of this is that the West can brag about simply not being able to systematically lie, like people from other culture are able to. Everybody knows English, the West is transparent.
Look up the terms “taqqiya” and “kitman.”
Prince Harry refers to his Paki friend as “My Paki friend” so it must be O.K.
“The hijab is a physical symbol of God-consciousness for everyday life.”
The hijab is a physical symbol of an odious, wicked cult of war. When I see one I inwardly react as though I were seeing a Nazi Party armband.
Worn proudly, as in this case of the NPR girl, it’s a symbol of delusional thinking. Very sad.
Boy Phyllis Chesler would have a few things to say to her. But I’ll bet NPR never gets around to interviewing Ms. Chesler about her book…
An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir
Too many inconvenient truths in that one for them to visit.
If she is indeed happy she isn’t white, then so am I. I’m white, and we already have enough idiots.
Well, okay, I’m glad I’m a Slav and an Orthodox Christian and I’m especially glad I wasn’t raised as a Muslim. And I don’t care what anybody thinks of that!
A few days ago, some (white!) MSM celebritard grumbled about so many white people, and so few black people, competing in, working at, and attending, the Sochi Olympics. *facepalm*
News flash to the MSM: If a sports event is held in the Caucasus Mountains, don’t be surprised if numerous Caucasians are on the scene as staff members and as spectators. Furthermore, many competitors are Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean. Light skinned, to be sure, but not officially “white.” Finally, dark skinned people come from places where there is no ice and snow to practice on, so they specialize in other sports… *facepalm*
I was expecting this story on Sochi’s lack of colour to appear as a satire, but no it has come as a serious complaint. Your celebritard could organise a bunch of like minded friends to develop the snowy mountains of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran with ski resorts. Oh wait they actually had them in Iran pre 1979 ( women skied in normal ski clothes with men but the whole having fun thing developed a stigma. Don’t expect to see any Iranian women competing in the snowboard cross any time soon.
Proud to be white .
Regardless of color, she’s a racist bigot. Her comment reminds me of that Muslim ‘moderate’ Mehdi Hasan who characterised westerners as “living like animals”.
Is it not disgraceful that these bigots get excused precisely because they’re muslims and we mustn’t exhibit “Islamophobia”??
I guess white women are monolithic
Sorry, that Paki looks pretty light skinned to me.
Andy 5759- Not sure I understand your point, but my Dad was with the RAF in Burma 1942-5, latterly on an air-sea rescue launch, and they pulled Yanks and Brits out of the drink.
He did once accidentally put a boat through the perspex blister on a Catalina- whether RAF or US Navy, he didn’t say!
Not surprising. While non-whites are always quick to point out how racist whites are, in many cases it is the non-whites who are just as racist, if even more so. As a white woman I have faced descrimination from non-whites and some of my close personal friends who are very open minded Pakistanis have cut themselves off from their community because they were tired of the narrow-mindedness and blatant racism against the “gora log” (white people) that they exhibited.
I have travelled to Pakistan and found the people there to be very warm, friendly, and welcoming. It seems that once they make the jump from the 3rd world to being immigrants in Europe or the US they go through a personality shift and become different people.
“I have travelled to Pakistan and found the people there to be very warm, friendly, and welcoming.”
As long as you self-censor. To wit, wear a large cross around your neck, carry a Bible around in your hands, and politely ask who would like to go to a Christian worship service with you – and then report back….
Oh, and be sure to avoid taking a taxi. An American born and bred lady acquaintance with Pakistani ancestry went back to Pakistan to visit family in the old country – and the taxi driver at the airport took her off route with the intent to rape her. He scared her to death, and she came right back to civilization….
Claire also likely never thinks to ask tough questions (politely, but firmly and not accepting the disrespect of prevarication, equivocation, and obfuscation as responses) of all these lovely Pakis she has encountered. Or if ever such a thought crossed her mind, her Guilty White Subconscious deftly repressed it, for fear of committing that most Capital Thought Crime of all to the White Man’s Burden: Bigotry.
Were she to have asked those tough questions of all those lovely Pakis, she would have begun the process of scratching beneath the pleasant surface and finding the Inner Jihadist that abides in every Muslim, no matter how white their smiling teeth are, no matter how friendly their hospitality seems.
Hi Hesp, I thought about you when Claire made her initial realistic comment, and then IMMEDIATELY added a disclaimer that complimented Pakistanis.
Just to start, Claire might ask the Pakistanis (here or there) if they would like to impose Sharia Law on the entire world – Sharia Law that legalizes all sorts of repugnant (a)moral behavior against infidels and Muslims.
Survey says: “Yes!”
“Support for making sharia the official law of the land tends to be higher in countries like Pakistan (84%) and Morocco (83%) where the constitution or basic laws favor Islam over other religions.”
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-exec/
Andrew McCarthy elaborates, “It is intimated that Pew’s study is exhaustive, involving interviews with 38,000 Muslims across 39 countries. But, as my friend Andy Bostom pointed out to me this morning, guess which countries are not included in the survey? That would be Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan — perhaps the three most sharia compliant countries in the world, home cumatively (sic) to nearly 150 million Muslims.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/347095/huge-flaw-pew-survey-muslim-views-about-sharia
Say just once: Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Or: I believe in the Incarnation and the Blessed Trinity. I do not honor the revelation of Mohammed.
Then see what these “welcoming” people do.
Original Pakistanis were Hindi. Then muhammad and his animal loving Infidels rolled in and killed, raped, plundered, and had sex w/ little children and animals. What the heck? There are over one billion Idiots on this planet who pray to allah, the Moon god of the polytheistic people of Mecca. This Brooklyn Queen is [personal references redacted]. How did she get into college? Read your Qur’an. It’s full of crap. I love the story of muhammad in the cave with a jinn. The jinn who muhammad, may [urine] be upon him, received the holey qur’an referred to as the angel Gabriel, a Jewish angel. What a stupid child molester. No wonder he won’t show his face. TSA: Thinking Student Association. We’re not racists like the BSA and the MSA. Go to Pakistan if you dare. And bring a rape kit.
Well, I went to npr and said my piece. I wrote what I think liberals all think of America and the world, and where the liberals will end up.But, when I hit the post, my screen went white-ish, and stayed that way.
Ah, the NPR white kiss of death.
Nice to see that multiculturalism is working. So they commemorate the deaths of an African American would-be robber and an Iraqi immigrant who was killed by her Iraqi husband but NOTHING said about the terrorist attacks on U.S soil or the pistol-armed, gangsters of African origin who have have murdered white people. For every time this [deprecated person] prays she is not white I will pray 3 times I am white.
America is a christian based society, and our heritage still means something, at least to many of us. It is aweful to think people come here, gain all they can, and still think it’s all right to trash America. I am tired of it. Besides, you CANNOT have two masters (ethnicity). I am Italian – America, but my alliegance is ONLY to America, I fought for America, and gave blood for our freedoms and liberty, including the First Amendment. Wish others would either get that dictum, or go back whence they came.
I agree with Doc… I think we the people have tolerated plenty from foreigners who feel like it’s OK to trash Americans or America.
Here some plain simple language…If you don’t like it here, please leave.
Pingback: NPR Intern Happy She’s Not White – That Must Mean She’s Up for a Promotion! | freedomisfabulous – from freefabulousgirl
America is a Judeo-Christian based society. Our heritage still means something, at least to many of us. It is awful to think people come here, gain all they can, and still think it’s all right to trash America. Sickening. My allegiance is ONLY to America, I fought for America, and gave blood for our freedoms and liberty, including the First Amendment. Wish others would either show allegiance to America, or go back whence they came.
The marriage of the BSA and MSA, a match made in heaven.
Blacks and Muslims:
Both support democrats.
-Council on American Islamic Relations, cair.com. In the 2008 elections Muslims voted 89% voted for Obama, 2% for McCain.
-The Black vote for Obama in was 95% in 2008 and 2012.
Both commit a greater degree of aggression and violence:
-http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists 27 of the FBI’s 29 most wanted terrorists are Muslim.
-Bing/Google search “civil wars in the world” and determine who the combatants are. The results show that Muslims are involved in 75% to nearly 90% of them, depending on the study. Muslims fight against all religions and cultures, worldwide.
-http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-43 Crime in the United States, 2011: The Black crime rate for murder is five times more than Whites and 45 times more than Asians; four times more for rape than Whites and 27 times more than Asians; five times more for robbery than Whites and 57 times more than Asians; four times more for burglary than Whites and 34 times more than Asians.
5/22/07 Pew Research poll: 59% of converts to Islam are Black.
[“According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnicity discrimination.” wikipedia]
Islam means “submit”. Don’t forget that the Three Demands that Islam makes on those who have not yet submitted to it: convert, submit or die.
In our country, we long ago attempted to settle the disputes between various various Christian sects by forbidding government to be neutral towards religion, but this neutrality is challenged by a religion that has no intention to do anything except suppress other religions and indeed to force everyone else to submit to it.
For reasons that I cannot yet understand, leftists (er, “progressives”) seen to see a friend in Islam. They are being useful idiots, yet again.
The marriage of the MSA and BSA — Muslim and Black — a match made in heaven, representing the sources of the most aggressive, violent behavior on earth:
Muslim:
-http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists 27 of the FBI’s 29 most wanted terrorists are Muslim.
-Bing/Google search “civil wars in the world” and determine who the combatants are. The results show that Muslims are involved in 75% to nearly 90% of them, depending on the study. Muslims fight against all religions and cultures, worldwide.
Blacks:
-http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-43 Crime in the United States, 2011: The Black crime rate for murder is five times more than Whites and 45 times more than Asians; four times more for rape than Whites and 27 times more than Asians; five times more for robbery than Whites and 57 times more than Asians; four times more for burglary than Whites and 34 times more than Asians.
Incarceration rates.
Muslims:
-2/10/14 http://www.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/nations/italy/2014/02/10/Italy-13-000-prison-inmates-Muslim-countries_10050080.html Muslims in Italy have an incarceration rate 13 times greater than it should be.
-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802560.html 60% to 70% of all inmates in France are Muslims even though they are only 12% of the population.
-http://islam.ru/en/content/story/high-prison-rate-uk-muslim-youth-blamed-out-touch-imams-0 Muslims in the UK have an incarceration rate of over four times what it should be.
Blacks:
Almost half the prisoners in the U. S. are Black even though they comprise only 12% of the population.
5/22/07 Pew Research poll: 59% of converts to Islam are Black.
[“According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnicity discrimination.” wikipedia]
God bless the Internet, where we have access to facts, free of modern liberalism’s politically correct dogma.
It’s ok. I thank God that I’m white and not Muslim. It goes both ways.
What a horrible racist bigoted woman. She should be giving thanks she is in America and not in her homeland. There’s freedom and free stuff here for her here, none over there.
I see nothing offensive in what she says! In USA, to be white is a great thing based on the US Constitution and it has priviledges associated with it.
Here is what I see as I know facts are stubborn things.
a. She is polite and decent
b. She is proud of her heritage
c. She is not from Europe therefore obviously not European! Duhhh
d. ergo she cannot be white in the US American use of the term
e. Her stating that she is not white is like saying Jesse Jackson is not European. That is self evident. I see nothing mysterious in stating the obvious.
f. Freedom to speak is the US Constitution.
g. Facts are stubborn things so I see no problem!
h. White is a good thing and she stated nothing bad in her statement. I admire good white people who love their heritage. Like any group, it is bad behavior and actions that are the clues to the type of person one deals with!
She praises God that she is not white, all day long, according to her. Your descriptive adumbration is [a useless and unpleasant substance] and [the excrement of dromedaries].
Muslims whine about the “intolerance” they suffer. You ask them the significance of Sept 11, 2001, and all they will say is “that’s the day Islamophobia surged in America!” It’s time that NPR studied the history of the Dhimmi, and the Muslim treatment of Jews and Christians in Muslim countries, or the Muslim history of conquest in Hindustan where they butchered millions of Hindus for the crime of ……being Hindu! Pardon me if I give this young woman the extended middle finger.
I think it’s great that she is bringing attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin. Just think, without her brave work, we never would have heard anything about this troubling incident. Kudos to Madame Ghani!
Don’t expect this taqqiya tootsie to be saying what she actually thinks to ANYONE; dissimulation and mendacity are at the heart of the Religion of Permanent Psychosis.
Besides, she’s just parroting the phrases that she has learned gets a Person of Choler attention from the lib/prog Establishment. That leads to all sorts of opportunities in our free society. Money, air time, prestige, degree programs, speaking engagements, open communication channels.
I will happily take a Muslims view over a born again Christian view any day of the week. Thease are the scary two faced closet racists we should be worried about.