A Conversation with Reza Aslan
Last week, Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American historian, theologian, writer, and Poly parent, visited Poly as a keynote speaker. With an audience of high school and middle school students from both Poly, Westridge, and other neighboring schools, parents, faculty, and other members of the community, Aslan described some of the history of Iran’s three major revolutions. He then transitioned into the role Howard Baskerville, a Nebraskan Christian Missionary, had in the Persian Constitutional Revolution, or the Iranian revolution from 1905 to 1911.
He wrote in detail about Baskerville’s story in his book An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville. In the Q&A portion of the event, Aslan said he wrote this book partly to preserve the Baskerville name, as today in Iran despite a coffee shop and a street name, many people don’t recognize him.
Aslan not only believes Iran’s current, incredible three-month uprising will become Iran’s fourth major revolution, but also that this one is different. The Iranian government’s recent abolition of the morality police, regardless of its plausibility, is a sign of their worry that they won’t be able to resolve this issue without the complete end of the Iranian government as it stands today.
For those of you who are unaware, in recent years Aslan has been consistently featured in news articles, social media posts, and conversations. Students brought their concerns to the attention of Global Initiative Program leaders weeks before this event. The Global Scholars cohort then hosted a 2 hour conversation between community members and Reza Aslan to fully understand differing perspectives. Global scholars, including myself, GIP leaders, and leaders in Poly’s faculty, including the high school director, director of DEI, and members of the history department, joined to speak with Aslan. This conversation initially began with Aslan giving a brief historical context of Iran, then transitioned into a Q&A.
The questions students asked eventually shifted into asking Aslan about some of his controversial actions and viewpoints, including serving as an advisor to the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). Many members of this conversation were Iranian or had connections to people directly affected by the events Aslan described, which led to everyone having an emotional stake. This led to tensions building and eventually students leaving the conversation halfway through.
Aslan’s keynote speech took place a few weeks later. After his introduction, a community member raised a few questions and concerns about Aslan’s story and beliefs. But after just a minute or two, leaders asked this person to stop asking questions so we could continue with the Q&A. The next question asked, “Why do you not use footnotes?” Not only did this question completely invalidate the weight of this person’s inquiry, but also it shifted the entire point of this speech. I entered the auditorium ready to hear a conversation between an incredibly intelligent scholar and curious community members, and I left with a pit in my stomach.
Personally, I am unsure of what I believe. I can see truths and faults from both perspectives. I have yet to encounter a space where I feel both sides can truly speak their truths, and therefore cannot express an opinion of my own. This is why I am most disappointed. Being a global citizen means understanding everyone’s beliefs are the consequence of a lifetime of stories, and you cannot make judgements or decisions without understanding how that affects their thinking. I hoped these two events would serve as a space for everyone to learn from differing perspectives. Instead, many of my peers and I were left with answers to trivial questions nobody was asking.
This experience of witnessing two groups of people with strong oppositions has taught me about communication with those you disagree with. I really don’t think anyone changed their views after listening to these two events. They have only polarized our community.
In the future, I hope our community can carry out our mission of bringing inclusion and diverse perspectives to every conversation, and that starts with not silencing community member’s voices.
