august 18th, the fire chief promoted captain anderson to the rank of battalion chief. his family was presented with a helmet and shield. this was part of a funeral service where he was remembered for his big heart and work ethic. he was 45 years old. may they raest in peace. may their memories be a blessing. this episode of "united shades of america" is from late 2019, long before the pandemic and months before george floyd was killed by minneapolis pol e police. at the time, i was welcomed into people oes homes and i was able to have the kind of intimate conversations that have become impossible during the pandemic. you'll see handshakes, high fives and hugs. now i'm grateful to have had that opportunity and look forward to being able to do it again some day. i hope you enjoy this episode.

>> when i was a kid, all i knew about iron was hostages, hijacked planes and jimmy carter wishing he remained a peanut farmer in georgia. as i grew up, not much changed america saw iran as the enemy. >> states like these constitute an access of evil. >> no matter how close we get to things looking like thigh they finally turned a corner once and for all -- >> let it end now. >> they don't. >> the united states and lois l and loaded. >> ♪

new york city. i'm here because like so many immigrant communities, this is where many iranian-americans came when they landed in the u.s. making their way to california and suddenly in large numbers in los angeles. roughly 20% of iranian-americans live there, which has led some to adopt the nickname. but new york is the city where immigrant story is rooted. and there's still large iranian-american communities here. not that you'd be able to tell that from talking to most new yorkers. >> do you have any interaction with the persian community? >> i love persian to do. >> i had persian food in the city. >> that's the way we bet into new cultures from food. >> i don't think so. >> never came across. >> i could walk around new york city hoping to run into some iran-americanens or turn to my friend. >> iranian people get scared by this.

i like to sit in the front row of nuclear physics classes. >> you may remember her after donald trump was elected. and from everything that's happened since shs she had a point. >> cheers to the end of the world. >> she had all the points. >> how did that work out? >> so now i feel like there's this moment of checking in. it's almost exactly three years later. it was pre-muslim ban, preban of iranians. stuff you were afraid of, you were right to be afraid. >> yeah, because in iran, when re jeems would come into power that were not favoring progressive values, usually people didn't take them seriously and then they were having all these unreasonable people that you can't have a krgs with at all and what happened and wait a minute. you can't shrug it off. >> when i met you, i didn't know

people were called persian. and i didn't know that those people were also iranian. i thought persian was aladdin. not real. >> it's an ancient identity. it's an ancient culture, but the names become political. do you say persian or iranian. persian sounds exotic from the orient. >> what's that? it sounds amazing. rugs and potions. >> i get a lot of questions about who i am. this guy came up to me. what's a persian? what's an iranian? why do you have two things? i'm just one thing. >> one sounds exotic. why two names? i'm confused. everyone is against me, can i trust the cia. then he ran for president. >> i never grew up feeling like

a persian kid. i was brown kid in an affluent white school representative everyone. always in speech and debate. i was the descent. and then i think when i went to college can, i wanted to be persian. i wanted to connect. i joined the clubs and that's when i started doing comedy. my friend was like running the iranian student cultural talent show. he was like just take all your stories about your dad and string them together into a routine. i did and it totally killed. it was the first time i felt connected to my persian community. but then i got a spot opening for like big iranian comic and dead silence. scowls. the scowls i get for not white a passing. >> literally because you're not light enough? or just the way you act in the world? >> both. the darker you are, the more respectable you should behave.

i understand like we are under a lot of scrutiny. we could be going to war. so that spotlight's real and scary and the weight of presenting, but one of the things that has survived iranians is that regardless of what the politics are, regard less of what regime comes in, the culture stays. people are about celebration. you dance, you drink, you cheer, you celebrate, call the holiday whatever you want to call it, we're going to celebrate. and i really admire that about persian culture. >> so we're going to spend some time in long island. meet some new york persians. is there a difference between new york persians and california persians? >> i guess we'll find out. >> being an immigrant is hard. being an immigrant to america is

hard. and then you add immigrant in new york city, oof. moving to new york is hard even if you're moving here from other parts of america. i lived here two years before new york said this is your life take yourself back to the west coast, son. but she's tougher than me. >> by the time i got here, i was 234 years old. it was a rough place. i did pretty much what every immigrant would do. survival gear on. >> guests, hospitality, gathering. people knock your door and they bring you an offering that was made with love. i was the first one who jumped on the door. so it means a lot of thing s s me. culture, tradition and all of that, that is all about community. this is what i finally have made for myself here. that community. >> most of the persian food in

america is kebabs. there's more than just that. >> part of me was always questioning why nobody does our food in a real authentic way. we have such a rich culture from north to south of iran. and the flavors, the kind of food they remain so close to my heart. >> i was invited here by a couple friends who love this place because it connects them to their good times in iran. >> so first reaction before i left was from all my american friends, who were like you want to do what? you're going to go where? >> jason decided to move to iran and work as a reporter for "the washington post." he wrote about what life was like for everyday iranians. >> it's not a country of extremist people. >> that's not the image that the news -- >> these are people that have been through so much tumult in

the last four years and actually in the the last 100 years. never been in a place i have seen more of an aversion to physical violence than i have in iran. >> he's an iranian journalist who lived in tehran. they fell in love and got married. >> i wanted people to know that it's a beautiful land. we have good people. we have good food. and the people are not very different from anywhere else. >> there's a lot of wonderful things about it that have been intact for hundreds of years. for me, i chose to live there with a plan to report from a really ground-level point of view. if we could undo everything, we would probably still be living this. >> but they can't live there anymore. back in 2014 jason and her were living a happy life in iran when out of nowhere and no evidence, they were arrested on charges of

espionage. she spent two months in prison. jason was in prison for 544 days. the arrest happened six weeks after they filmed an episode of "parts unknown." >> can we officially butt to bed the rumor that your appearance on that show had something to do? >> 1,000%. if anything, our appearance on that show did more than anything else to help us. it was a game-changer for us in a good way. >> i decided to rewatch that episode just to put myself in the frame of mind and also to reconnect with who you were then. and just to see if this was the moment before everything changed. it must be a lot for you two to have a record of that moment. >> it's a lot some nights when you're flipping through cnn and it comes on, we can watch it for a few minutes. sometimes we can't. but even in spite of that, this was this really interesting

opening moment culturally in the country. americans pouring in. i'm glad that we're part of that record. >> part of that record is iranian television took the story and turned it into a tv show that made him a spy he never was. >> people watch that show and believe it. only we know that because we were there. to have me chain smoking and literally eating constantly like i'm putting something in my mouth constantly. >> i mean -- they shont tnt show the fact you lost 40 pounds in 40 days. >> that's what happens when you go to prison. >> the food is so good. it's like this. >> is why do you think they let

you out? the pressure, you were more trouble than you're worth? >> it was a negotiated settlement between u.s. and iran at a very precise moment. when the nuclear deal was coming to fruition, i credit my family, my employers, for raising the awareness to a level that it couldn't be ignored. >> do you think you'll be able to go back to visit? >> of course, i want to visit. my ash when is i die. i hope things change for better in a way that everyone can travel. is

. that's right. there are iranian-americans who are jewish. ul hold so you can take that in. like jewish people everywhere, friday nights are about friday dinners. it's a time to connect with your traditions and customs, eat food and make fun of the new guy. >> we have to start over because his yamaka fell off. >> my afro is not yamaka

friendly. >> time for more of that sweet, sweet iranian hospitality. the jewish edition. >> to everyone, to all family, friends and guests. >> thank you for having me. >> he was part of the 2018 democratic blue wave. she did her flipping in the new york state senate. she did it all while being the first ever jewish iranian american to be a senator. >> i was the jewish political refugee who came to the country at age 13. as jews, we never vote d. we didn't really have a say. so there isn't a day they don't feel blessed to do what i do. >> i didn't realize there was such a large population of iranian jews. >> compare that to the muslim of iran. >> at one point in history, there were an estimated 150,000 jewish people living in iran.

the revolution and the creation of the islamic state changed all that in an instant. >> my mom and my sister etscape in the trunk of a car. >> it got worse. >> knowing if they get caught, they would kill them. >> iranian jews fled in vast numbers. many ended up here in long island. >> tell me about great neck. it's an insular community. >> it's quite diverse. we have the reform jews. >> that's 12 categories within that cat gour. >> everybody moves to great neck because great neck has always been known as a community that welcomes everyone. >> i'm excited to know that america welcomed you all in. it's not the same now. >> that was really one of the reasons i ran.

i want to make sure that i can do whatever i can in my power. the opportunities that have been available to me be available to others. >> ironically, her road to the the senate was met with serious resistance from her own community. here's where it gets accompli complicated. many jewish americans are republicans. i'm talking full-on maga. >> i stand on shoulder of so many other immigrants, so many women who have done all their part for me to come in and to be able to run for office and to to win. and i need to do for the generations to come. i really tried to do right by everyone. >> what do you like about living here in great neck? >> competition. anybody needs help, everybody is here. >> he's trying to tell me the

real story. you're trying to clean it up. >> he's always trying. >> we have the politician over here. >> i take it you all have been here before. >> we come here three times a month on saturday mornings. usually 10 or 11 of us. >> oh, wow, this is the starting line up. >> it started with this guy right here. >> we were in synagogue. they told me, you know, i just went and had a cup of tea. let's go next week together. then this guy came and that guy came. >> the coffee and the cake is the best in town. >> what was it like to come here as an immigrant from iran? >> my older brother was here already. i got here at 6:00 in the morning. he wakes me up. let's go. he takes me to a pizzeria and

told me you have to clean off the tables and wash the floors. $2.75 an hour. i counted all my hours that week. the paycheck comes, it's not the amount i want. so i tell the guy, what's going on? i work ed so many hours. he says uncle sam -- i said who the hel lrl is uncle sam. >> we were saw as busboys and waiters when we came here. we worked our way up. >> america is a land of opportunity. it truly is that. >> right now in america, there's a lot of talk from the southern border, people coming in and claiming asylum and trying to find a better life. what do you think when you hear those stories? >> i think they should come legally to the united states like all of us have. look for opportunity and not just walk in. would you let somebody walk into your house? >> if somebody came to my house and said i need help, which legally you're allowed to cross

any border if you're asking for asylum. >> they came not because of life-threatening situations. they are economic koming for economic reasons. >> we cannot just let everybody. >> i think all the studies i have read say immigrants open more businesses. they create jobs. >> timing is different now. before when i came to this country, they didn't need to check that much about my background. but today i think if i come, they would have to check my background. >> when we came here, america didn't have any enemy. there was not so much terrorists. you cannot compare four years ago or 50 years ago to now. >> so before we wrap this up, i'm going to say one word and step back. trump. >> he's good. >> he's good. >> he's been good for israel. >> number one is israel. >> number two, he's not a politician. >> for sure.

>> he's a smart boy in the classroom. this is smart boy makes a lot of noise, but he's smart. and he does the job. >> unfortunately, from my point of view, the president is exactly opposite of what i have been teaching my son in most of the things i believe that every person would like to be. is he coming next week? >> me and you will have our own table. >> give us one example that something that trump did that is wrong. >> you can go dounow. >> all right, guys, glad i broke up the 20-year party. >> my job here is done. c. get an exceptional offer at your local audi dealer. try new nature's bounty stress comfort. three unique gummies for your unique needs.

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before we get too far into this, it's important to have a brief history lesson between the u.s. and iran. let's start with what many feel is the original sale. not that one. in 1953 the u.s. and britain helped restore the monarchy by ousting the country's prime minister. after he nationalized the country's oil industry. 1957 the u.s. helps start the nuclear program. yep, we did that.

199, an antirevolution is coomted and they are ousted. two weeks later, the religious leader returns from exile and the islamic republic of iran is proclaimed. meanwhile, having a hard toim finding a country that will let him stay. president carter reluctantly grants him entry into the u.s. protesters not very happy. a month later, students stormed the embassy in iran and take 66 americans captive. in boston a kid named ben gets an idea for a movie. after a failed rescue mission, they were freed in 1981 the date of reagan's inauguration. total coincidence. and things have never really changed that much. except occasionally now it gets worse. for more on thrks i turn to folks that were there. when i say there, i mean there.

>> the state department asked for volunteers to go work in oo iran. and i foolishly ignored the very good advice of my military colleagues that say never volunteer for anything. >> john lindburg was the secretary of state in iran in 1979. he was one of the 66 hostages taken when the proit'sers storm ed the embassy. >> what do you remember that first day when you were taken hostage? >> i think every prisoner goes through the same stages. the first is this is all a mistake. i'll be out of here very soon. somebody will come and fix this. the adults in the room will get there. i'm going to have some good stories to tell. that dissipates over time. >> his wife also worked in foreign service but was not at the embassy at the time. >> i was working american

embassy. i was in counsellor work. i had both children was very difficult. very difficult. but worried for him and we didn't net what is going on. >> there were mock executions designed to, who knows what, but to frighten us. people talk now about solitary as a form of mistreatment. >> it's certainly a human rights violation. >> i can testify to that. part of the worst was the uncertainty. we didn't have a sentence to ser serve. we could have lasted one more day, one more year or we just didn't know. we didn't know. >> so when i was doing research and watching interviews, i heard a phrase come up more than once. cutting off the head with cotton. talk about what that means. >> a person is full of phrases like that. doing things by indirection.

making your point in a way that doesn't confront directly that makes the point very strong. so the person whose head is cut off never knows. until it does. do i have that right? >> that's right. >> at some point you met with the identity toe la? >> i met with the current supreme leader. he was not an ayatollah at the time, but he was the friday prayer leader of tehran, which is a fair responsible position. he was a few years older than i was. he came to visit us. in iran a guest and a host had is very specific roles and very specific obligations. you don't have to like them. but you cannot mistreat them. so i took on the role of host. he took on the role of guest. almost without thinking about it. this gets back to cutting off the head with cotton because i

said, look, i know iranians are hos pill pithable people and don't want your guests to leave, but what you have done to us goes far beyond hospitality and has become annoying. we have been here long enough. it's time for us to leave. you have violated your own deepest national codes, so let me show you how it's done. >> and he walked of of the room holding his own head covered in cotton. how did that happen? >> sure, it was tempting to call him names and yell at him. but there was no point this that. i'd like to think that by doing this i'm practicing our profession, which is diplomat us is. >> during president obama, it was getting close. >> it was a nuclear deal part of

that. >> the nuclear deal was about that. >> unfortunately, that's out of favor these days. >> it's not just on their side. >> it's out of favor on both sides. >> no shout at each other, not unsubtle each other, don't say we throw bomb on the country. that's the worst thing they want to do. throw a bomb kills who, innocent people. >> and the thing that i think americans don't hear enough about is the people of iran were suffering. we're talking about sanctions against the country. we're not hurting people at the top of the country. >> the poor people, they really suffering. monitoring patients in hospitals around the world so that doctors and nurses can make sure you feel safe. as new challenges have arisen, we've grown to bring that same safety and support

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♪ >> take out your notebooks. >> pretty good. who wants to start? okay, we're going to start here and go around again. >> immigrant communities always figure out ways to stay connected to their culture. in new york city, this school is where iranian families bring their kids to learn about art, tradition and, most importantly, the persian language. >> say your name. >> meet these sisters, first generation high schoolers living the idyllic suburban life.

both are teaching here. >> it's a lot of pressure. >> can you say it? >> i have to say a joke. >> tell a joke. tell a joke. >> what do you call a cool mushroom? a fun-gi. >> kamau knows more jokes than me. >> my school started at 10:00 a.m. two and a half hour drive every saturday. my dad would pack us breakfast, lunch and dinner. >> how long was school? it was from 10:00 to 2:00 p.m. >> so the whole day is gone. >> but it was like the only time

i felt like whole. >> i agree. people that we met there still stay with us today. even if i saw them again today, they would still be all my best friends. >> talk about your teaching far see to children. >> when i was in far sit school, the 15 and 16-year-olds, it would be a school experience to give back. to benefit them. >> we all know. >> you have to it try. it gets harder in your 30s.

>> did you ever not want to come? >> yes. >> it was the same time as farsi school. we don't want to go. >> i want to go play outside. >> your hair is so soft. how does this happen? is this natural? >> this is adorable. and hilarious because every adult in the room was freaking out. >> stop touching his hair please. >> just kidding. don't be confused. when you see me in the streets, you are not allowed to do this. >> i was always happy when i leave. >> i think also it can be a really fun time to be with little kids. i walk in and they give me hugs. >> you look like somebody from a tv show. >> thank you. >> when i was growing up, there was a lot of like pressure to say i'm white, i'm white, i'm white and present that way. not distinguish myself. >> how do you identify your race

when you fill out a form? >> i'm white. >> i didn't want to judge. >> i'm definitely white. super pale. but identifying as white doesn't take into account the rich culture that we have. >> how do you put like western european -- >> it's a very specific style of whiteness. >> people think white, they think of those that moved here hundreds of years ago. they are like the history is different. the culture is different. the language is different. the values are different. characterizing one self-as white and having many, many countries being in that one place, i don't think that's right. >> it just doesn't seem to represent me as a person or even just a facet.

>> america's racial cat gorization is nonsense. the line moves. . >> i us didn't know i wasn't white until you told me. >> i think i was surprised when you identified. really? okay. >> all these instances where people were horrible to me, that i just thought it was me. i was like, that was racist. it's not just me. as iranian-americans, we're thot the traditional american kids at school. we're not traditional iran b parents. to have people that also went through that with you, it kind of makes you stronger and feel like you have support. ♪

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there's always like this policeman in your head that you shouldn't say everything. there are these boundaries. behind literature and poetry, the symbolism and use of metaphor and things like that is a good set of tools that you express yourself with that boundary. sometimes boundaries are

necessary, but at the service of whom or what's the purpose? i don't want to admire censorship and things like that, but if you're an artist and you're creating, you always find a way. i want the audience to spend more time with each work and try to find out what's going on. >> an artist from tehran came to the u.s. five years ago for grad school with dreams of becoming a painter. now is a neutral opening in a art gallery. >> is that a bullet? >> they did not see the bullet. you go what a pretty picture.

but it's like, wait, i think this pictures me to think about things. >> it features a lot of women or girls. >> yeah, almost in every painting because i'm thinking about myself and people from my generation in iran. i'm thinking about women issues. but i don't want to be too direct or loud. i want to have a subtlerer approach. >> why is that? >> when you're born under a system that dictates some bou boundaries, then you find a symbolic way to express your ideas. so to say i didn't mean that. >> it's similar to black americans wrote negro spirituals about escaping slavery, but they sounded like you were talking about a chariot. just thinking about a chariot. >> but now that i'm here, i

decided to have this sort of approach. not that i have to. >> i talked to a lot of iranian gram immigrants this week and still hold fast to the culture and the values but dent have the same relation with the country. the country sort of exists far away. you don't want >> i don't want to be an artist in exile. i don't want to get disconnected from that. i want to visit my family. >> yes. as we all want to. we all want the right to. >> being disconnected from the ones they love has become real life for so many iranian americans. take it from our friends who are living it. >> people can see, can't see their grand parents. or siblings. no one deserved to be banned from going to where he or she

belongs. it is so heart breaking. iranians don't want to be through hardships. no one wants to go through that. >> i sat down with iranian american businessmen. most are immigrants after the revolution but some even before, who are hard core trump supporters. >> oh, wow. >> one said in america it's the handle of opportunity. if you work hard, you can get everything you want. >> i think these people who are supportive of trump, supportive of sanctions in general, more than likely they don't have a lot of loved ones in iran. it is an interesting dichotomy. they want to maintain their culture and at the same time they want to be seen as asimulated in this culture. it is hard to have both. iranians, especially when the biggest wave change in 1979, it wasn't like there was not a back lash against iranians. there was a big one. even in spite of that, people got educated, started a

business, they went into the sciences, law, accounting. one thing they didn't do is get into politics. >> because of the revolution, everyone was somehow hurt by the revolution. especially those you loved. so they didn't want their children to get involved in politics. >> but as we found out quickly, they'll come knocking on your door whether you like it or not. tums versus mozzarella stick (bell rings) when heartburn hits fight back fast... ...with tums chewy bites... beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites monitoring patients in hospitals around the world so that doctors and nurses can make sure you feel safe. as new challenges have arisen,

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♪ >> it started in my kitchen over

this stew. when i moved to the united states, i kind of lost interest in my own culture that i stopped cooke iranian food. i stopped celebrating. i had just completely stopped. >> why? >> because i lived by myself and i didn't have anybody else. i didn't have a community of sorts. the notion of cooking for each other, and showing love in that way, celebrating this essence of being together. especially with music. this is like therapy sessions for me, you know. >> arya fled iran ten years ago. after three years in new york he started disco tehran with his friend. more than a party, disco tehran is a celebration of the free and open spirit of pre revolution iran. >> this is a very specific style that you're trying to conjure up. it's not like what's going on in

2019 in iran. >> our parents had a night life in the '60s and '70s that we keep hearing about. we've seen artifacts. what if you take that with the understanding that it is happening in contemporary new york city. >> we started i nviting friends over that you would meet on the street. >> not just musicians. >> no, no. iran is in the middle of the silk road. so since the beginning, a melting pot of everything. toward the end of the night, we would throw in iranian pop music. like really romantic lush pop songs. and i saw this one couple who are like super into it. they were not iranian. and that was so amazing. i fell so high. it just resonates with people. >> it stood up. >> very much so. so that's like, kind of saved my

life. >> i think that's an important moment. even people born and raised in this country don't feel seen by this country. it is one thing for your culture to support it. to see people outside your culture, that's a big deal. that's a big deal. >> we experience each other in the mirror of the other, right? that mirror did not exist. this is that mirror for to us experience each other. >> we always say, we are proud of the past. we have to make our present, our current days more important to be proud of. >> persians grow up thinking america is like this lands of opportunity and a place to succeed. there is a connection that most people don't realize. iranians actually like america as a people, and idealize america. >> well, look at the iranian-american community here. doctors, computer engineers, musicians, filmmakers,

entrepreneurs. >> we sit down and enjoy the persian music. we'll tell to our kids, don't forget it. try to keep alive. but you pass that. we are american. >> we don't have to be in a certain box. we have a choice. >> my dad would say, first i'm iranian by birth. by choice i'm american. and i'll proud of both. 10/10ps10p 10pm on this episode of united shades of manager, we look at the homeless crisis in the united states. los angeles has one of the largest and busiest home communities in the country. we filmed this episode in late august 2019 well before the coronavirus pandemic hit. when the cou