Erasing Names, not Identity

My father’s name is Bassam, but almost every American calls him Sam. However, unlike the text, The F Word, by Dumas which we read this week, my father never complained about the change or felt that it removed an important aspect of his life. For him, it was just something more simple for Americans to say, something flippant.

Although the F Word highlights that someone’s name can carry heavy weight in terms of their personal identity, my father’s experience clearly demonstrates that not everyone views it that way. Some view their name as more practical. Especially when some refugees and immigrants are working incredibly hard just to get by, a name is the absolute last thing anyone could worry about. Now, I’m absolutely not saying that Dumas’s experience is wrong, but I’m aware of the fact that this obviously doesn’t represent all people trying to settle in the US. But this difference highlights something important; sometimes a person’s identity isn’t as fragile as we think. To my dad, his identity is kept in family, culture, language, and religion. These don’t change based on what others think or how they decide to act.

In this way, his experience, along with many others, shows that adapting to a new culture doesn’t always mean that you have to lose your previous identity. It might just mean that you make some minor tweaks to make life easier. Of course, Dumas gives everyone a completely valid perspective, but it’s just one of millions.

So, whether someone holds on tightly to their name or lets others change it comes down to a personal choice. But people like my father never felt like Sam was replacing Bassam, because the parts of his life that made up his identity were never tied to a single word that was so easy to break through.