"Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always make a trip to America. The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom. They always ask me how tall I am and I always lie and say 5 feet 10 inches. Next time, I am going to get more adventurous. If they ask me ‘what color are you?’ I am going to say white."
—
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on being detained at the U.S. Airport—twice. (Once, he was detained while promoting a film called “My Name is Khan” which was ironically about a person with the last name Khan suffering from repeated racial profiling.)
Multiple actors and other prominent individuals in the film industry with the last name “Khan” have been detained when entering the country. Irrfan Khan (The Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, Spider-man) described the three times he was stopped—while on the way to receive honors for his roles in films such as The Namesake—as “humiliating.” Actor Aamir Khan was stopped and stripped searched in 2002. Director Kabir Khan, was reportedly detained at least three times in 2008 while filming in the United States. The New York Times ended up remarking on The Dangers of Fying While Khan
This much is clear:
- Despite being an incredibly common surname, in the United States, Khan is a racialized last name and those who carry it suffer from additional, insulting, stigma and scrutiny.
- There is no shortage of talented actors of South Asian descent whether from within the United States, from the UK, or Bollywood—and many of them even have the last name of Khan.
- With Star Trek Into Darkness the name “Khan” is once again stigmatized as antagonistic, but the actors named Khan, the Khans of the world, and those who look like Khans once again have no voice about how they are represented in American media.
If you’re an award winning actor named Khan, you will still get stopped and humiliated at the airport. When that rare character in American media finally shows up sharing your name, he will be played by a white British man. That actor will wear your name for one movie and sneer and strut to great critical acclaim. You will wear your racialized name, your skin color, and hope you don’t get detained another time.
(via racebending)
U.S. domestic security forces can do in just a few minutes what some people pay thousands of dollars every year for therapy to accomplish: keep non-white superstars humble and grounded. Thanks, TSA.
(via mohandasgandhi)
Half of my family clan has the surname Khan.
(via deafmuslimpunx)
Sylvia Plath in Popular Culture
Easy shortcut to establishing that a character is awesome.
-AA
(via yahighway)
"Chris Brown can publicly beat the hell out of his girlfriend but still be played on the radio and win Grammys. However, if you ever cheat on your boyfriend, your life is over and no one will ever want to be associated with you. Almost no one will blame the much-older guy you cheated with, and it might actually make him more famous and help his career. Few will care that he was your boss and in a position of authority or that he may have have taken advantage of your youth and relative inexperience. Everything is your fault, and your life will be threatened over it. If you are a trampire, you will be publicly staked for it, even though cheater Ashton Kutcher recently emerged relatively unscathed by the media. No one asked for him to be fired from Two and a Half Men."
— “Trampire:” Why the Public Slut Shaming of Kristen Stewart Matters for Young Women (via uni-tea)
(Source: souleeater, via 50shadesofbrilliance-deactivate)
Pakistani children light candles to pay tribute to Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Dec. 15, 2012.
This will never be on the news. But how awesome of this picture to see some light.
omg angels.
@mystiquetoile show this to the dude whining on your fb page
yoooooooooooooooo
this breaks my heart
not because of the extraordinary show of humanity
but because these kids are showing empathy for people who never stop to think about them
^^^^^
(Source: wordsandbirdcages, via honeymanifesto)
by George R.R. Martin
Because chemicals hurt you (and your pets) insides.
Add orange peels (or any citrus peel) to a quart of white vinegar in a closed container and let it set for two weeks. Then you just strain it, add water to the solution until it’s about 50/50 and put it a seal-able bottle. It works great on floors, tiles, fixtures, kitchen and bath, etc. It’s antibacterial, smells good and it’s tough on dirt and grease. Best of all, there are no harmful chemicals
(via occupiedmuslim)
You don’t needa explain yourself to ignorant bastards Michael, I love you beautiful!“Nobody says anything about that”
:((
(Source: -intheround, via honeymanifesto)
