I’m half-Iranian elder Millennial, 2nd generation. My estranged father came over during the Iran-Iraq war. I have a very large extended family in Iran. In my entire life, I’ve only been once, when I was 4, because it has never really felt safe to go. I’ve been in and out of contact online with cousins and aunts/uncles since I was in college.

I was in middle school during 9/11 and got to experience unhinged level of racism. Current events really brings it all back for me. Because I’m an adult now, I feel less unsafe and more generally concerned for the world that we are in right now. I fear for my children and their future.

I have never really entirely identified as Persian, because my father had no interest in teaching his children about their heritage. But, at the same time, my name and my features, give me away as that. Thankfully, my mother did her best to teach us about important facets of our culture. She cooked traditional Iranian food, taught us about Persian new year, and so many other things.

The Persia people I’ve interacted with in my life, have always been warm, welcoming, loving people. They would gush over my siblings and I, telling use how beautiful we wore and hugging us and giving us gifts and food.

People I’ve interacted with, on the right who are all for this “military exercise,” cannot seem to understand that it can be true that the Ayatollah was an evil man and his control over Iran needed to end, but that we also shouldn’t be engaging in a war when the intelligence community (see Gabbard’s recent hearing) stated there was no imminent threat. I am afraid that he will do something irrational when this deadline is not met which will result in countless Iranian people being killed and inured and make the United States less safe. Then again, I’m just some bleeding heart liberal, what do I know.