31 May DIVIDED WE FALL
Today, I ran into the very charming Maryam Zar, as she almost backed into my car in Pacific Palisades and then came to my driver’s window screaming how dare I beep at her and then asked condescendingly whether I understood English since I am Asian American Pacific Islander #AAPI.
I told her I found such behavior inappropriate during AAPI Heritage Month and she responded dismissively, “Oh PLEASE, I’m Persian and my people have suffered more than you and I suffer 24 hours a day.”
It’s so shocking that a fellow immigrant would be so dismissive of other immigrants.
As a member of the AAPI community, it is bad enough that we regularly encounter such abuse, but it’s even worse when it comes from a WOMAN and a member of the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women, the Vice President of Pacific Palisades Community Council on Civil Rights and Social Action, a prominent journalist for HuffPost and Palisadian Post and a candidate for State Assembly.
As a result, my first action as part of the LA Mayor’s Advisory Council & Task Force for AAPI United with Katie Chin will be to educate leaders in power so they understand how perilous these times have been for members of the AAPI community.
#stopasianshate #stopwomenhatingwomen #AAPIUnited Mayor Eric Garcetti
Oh and Maryam Zar to answer your question YES! I do speak and understand English fluently. . . 
and I’m a USA citizen (as is my entire AAPI family)
Tag someone who needs to hear this #diversityandinclusion #karenstrikesagain
PS I love my Persian friends and the entire Persian community – the behavior of one is not a reflection of all
FYI
She currently Chairs the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils (WRAC). She is the former Chair of the PACIFIC PALISADES COMMUNITY Council (PPCC) and the Founding Chair of the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness. She is also an elected delegate for Assembly District 50 and serves on the Executive Board of the Business and Professional Caucus. She is the former President of the PTSA at Paul Revere Charter Middle School in Los Angeles and a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
You can check out my Facebook post about my encounter with Maryam Zar on my Facebook page.
If you don’t have FB – Here’s a link to my IG post re the incident.
And if you don’t use social media at all: Here are a few comments below:
I wanted to thank everyone’s support and kind words, your encouragement really helped me. As for Maryam Zar who is asking if I can have coffee with her after I called her out on the way she treated a person, here is my response:
Firstly: I sent you an email hours ago – and you didn’t respond. So there you go – you respond when someone calls you out.
Secondly: This is not how you treat your neighbors – let alone a human being.
Lastly: I’m not planning on having coffee with you — I take Maya Angelou’s words to heart: “When someone shows you who they are — believe them the first time.” — Maya Angelou
