[Originally published on Yahoo! News, March 2012]Ross Mirkarimi gave me hope in ways that others will overlook.
As a Middle Eastern person living in America, I hear it all the time. People feel that Middle Easterners still live in the dark ages. However, there are a few public figures that are of Middle Eastern descent that shine as some of the best minds in modern America. In other words, if you are looking for a page about how awful Ross Mirkarimi is, you will not find it here.
Although I spent five years moving toward a political career, the events of September 11, 2001, made me give up on those dreams for a while. I thought to myself, "How can a liberal person like me have a political career when everyone in America seems to hate Middle Eastern people?" From the fog of that depression, one person was ahead of me and making all the right moves. That person was Ross Mirkarimi, now a sheriff of San Francisco.
Mirkarimi helped me believe after 9/11
As a liberal woman who moved from a conservative Christian and hippy Muslim background, I had a difficult time throughout my life finding someone of my ethnicity who also shared my beliefs. For this reason, I was stunned that Mirkarimi and I had a lot in common. We both have family from different religions, we have recent Iranian heritage, and we are both extremely liberal.
I was given a heads-up by Mirkarimi's role modeling that you can stay true to your ethnic background and excel in a political landscape that looks down on people of your heritage. These are things I needed to see and hear.
Why Mirkarimi makes this liberal Middle Eastern-American proud
There are three main events that gave me hope as a Middle Eastern person. First of all, Mirkarimi was one of the many co-founders of the Green Party, along with my other Middle Eastern-American hero, Ralph Nader. Secondly, he was one of the supervisors that stopped the FBI from paying the SFPD to illegally spy on Muslim and Arab San Francisco citizens. Finally, he was elected to be San Francisco's sheriff, a crowning achievement in and of itself.
Now, we have confirmation that he has plead guilty to charges of "false imprisonment." While I am sad to see that this is the case, I expect for this to become an opportunity for Mirkarimi to show others how you can handle being professional and sincere at the same time.
Instead of denying the problem, perhaps he will act like all good role models around the world do and take responsibility. In the future, we might remember Mirkarimi as the person who taught other men how to get a handle on their anger. I never expect anyone to be perfect, but I do have a lot of faith in Mirkarimi to do what he has always taught me to do, which is rise against the odds.
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