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My good friend Ali is an immigrant from Pakistan, I've talked to him deeply already about his past. We met when we worked for the same dealership as mechanics. There are many situations where people of a darker skin are labeled as "terrorists" or "foreigners" especially from his area of the world. He and I both know these stigmas aren't generally accurate but it certainly shaped his experiences in integrating into the American society.
We met for the interview at a bar in Centennial Colorado that we're both rather fond of. His firm handshake was welcome when I met him there, first time I'd seen him in a few months. We talked of our lives; his wife, daughter and parents as we waited to be seated. Ali is a lesson in adversity, and his story is very compelling for me.
The bar was fairly quiet due to the time of day so we were able to talk easily. We both ordered a beer before getting down to the interview. I started by asking him about his life before he moved America. He rambled on about the village he was born in before our drinks arrived. "Feathers in our hair!" Was a statement he mentioned often, Ali grew up in a tribal village and bird feathers were important to his culture. I asked him about the most obvious American image of his area of the world: "How do you feel about the Taliban or Al Qadea?" I know Ali doesn't like this question, it's a very sensitive topic for him. But as he responded slowly he still had his normal warmth and friendly smile. To his village and many others like his terrorist groups were infact probably worse then for born and raised Americans. Our Coors Lights were brought by the waitress as he told me about radical groups coming and taking boys and men to conscript. His village was not Islamic, Muslim, Christian or Hindu...
I had to interupt his monologue to continue my interview despite how interested I was about his home. To my next question of his first experiences in Amercia he had many...