Blind state lawmaker 1st Iranian-American elected in U.S.
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SEATTLE -- One of the newest members of the state Legislature has a unique view on immigrant issues.
Rep. Cyrus Habib's parents were born in Iran, and moved to the U.S. in the 70s. He is the first Iranian-American elected to state office in the entire country, and that's not his most distinguishing trait.
Like every freshman representative, Habib is learning his way around the Capitol, getting acquainted with the many staircases and the shortcuts. But there is a twist in his learning curve.
"I lost my eyesight to a fairly rare form of childhood cancer, so I was totally blind by the time I was 8 years old," said Habib, the first blind legislator in Washington state for perhaps a century.
He represents the technology-driven Eastside -- including Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland, where he campaigned on a platform of funding higher education and growing small business -- by door-knocking, personally walking up to seven thousand homes.
"A lot of times, they thought I was coming for community services for the blind when I knocked on the door. I had one person say they were about to go and collect all their clothes to contribute. So it was funny when I had to tell them, 'No, I'm here for another reason,'" he said.
Habib is used to the confusion his blindness can cause, and says he enjoys teaching people how he emails, sends text messages, and reads house bills.
His ears are tuned to understand what sounds like speed-reading on steroids to the rest of us. It is one of many advances in technology that help Habib achieve a belief his parents instilled in him -- that losing his eyesight would never hold him back.
"My story is of a person who was given opportunity despite a very challenging set of life circumstances. I was given the opportunity to work hard. I did work hard. And I want every Washingtonian to get that same opportunity," he said.
Habib says another blind lawmaker represented the state of Washington exactly 100 years ago, in 1913.
Rep. Cyrus Habib's parents were born in Iran, and moved to the U.S. in the 70s. He is the first Iranian-American elected to state office in the entire country, and that's not his most distinguishing trait.
Like every freshman representative, Habib is learning his way around the Capitol, getting acquainted with the many staircases and the shortcuts. But there is a twist in his learning curve.
"I lost my eyesight to a fairly rare form of childhood cancer, so I was totally blind by the time I was 8 years old," said Habib, the first blind legislator in Washington state for perhaps a century.
He represents the technology-driven Eastside -- including Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland, where he campaigned on a platform of funding higher education and growing small business -- by door-knocking, personally walking up to seven thousand homes.
"A lot of times, they thought I was coming for community services for the blind when I knocked on the door. I had one person say they were about to go and collect all their clothes to contribute. So it was funny when I had to tell them, 'No, I'm here for another reason,'" he said.
Habib is used to the confusion his blindness can cause, and says he enjoys teaching people how he emails, sends text messages, and reads house bills.
His ears are tuned to understand what sounds like speed-reading on steroids to the rest of us. It is one of many advances in technology that help Habib achieve a belief his parents instilled in him -- that losing his eyesight would never hold him back.
"My story is of a person who was given opportunity despite a very challenging set of life circumstances. I was given the opportunity to work hard. I did work hard. And I want every Washingtonian to get that same opportunity," he said.
Habib says another blind lawmaker represented the state of Washington exactly 100 years ago, in 1913.
The big difference is that he is blind and not deaf like most of the rest of the so called Lawmakers. Â
Boom!!! Get rid of the as#$%^&*)(sssss!
Is he Iranian, or is he American?
As Teddy Roosevelt said: There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts ânativeâ before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance.  But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.  The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.  1915
The point is that our nation has always been a well spring of diversity and the most unique thing about our nation is that no matter where a person hails from, they BECOME American when they decide to shed their roots and embrace our country as their new home. With more than 250 languages of heritage spoken here, the decision to make English the national Language also has great merit. Accepting your Americanism is monumental step and I wish that people would stop marginalizing a person's accomplishments by making it sound like they succeeded in spite of their heritage. Cyrus Habib is 100% American, his parents came here in the 70s. Why make it sound like he hasn't been given the same opportunities? If anything, overcoming the adversity of his lack of sight has far greater impact than his hyphenated heritage!
 @takncarabizniz takncarabizniz wrote: "Why make it sound like he hasn't been given the same opportunities?"
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Excuse me, but how the frick would you know whether Mr. Habib has been given the "same opportunities?"Â I guarantee you that a large number of people on this comment board would refuse to vote for him because of his ethnic background.
I'm soooooooooooooooooo tired of hyphenated americans. He's an AMERICAN!
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 @Alikelystorey I, too am sick to death of hyphenated Americans. I am a second generation AMERICAN, I am NOT a German-American. A large percentage of so-called African-Americans have family histories that go back far many more generations in AMERICA than my history yet they still desire to connect to the land of their ancestors.Â
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Having pride in you family history is a good thing but there comes a time to acknowledge that you are no longer a citizen of the "old country" and to join society as a citizen of the country of your birth or naturalization.
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In my opinion the ONLY people that can honestly claim to be a hyphenated American are those that WERE born in a different country and now have US citizenship. My friend, Gordon, was born in South Africa and came to the US when he was about eight years old. He took his US citizenship while serving in the US Navy. He IS a true African-American yet his skin color is lighter than mine.
 @Alikelystorey I agree. If that is now the norm then I am European American. Never thought as my self that way. Just American. If the story is correct his parents were born in Iran and he was born in the U.S. So how would that make him an Iraninan-American?
Good for him. People who do well for themselves through their own determination and work, and especially when they adapt so readily, ought to be respected at least. Let's admit it, far too many people are suddenly unable to cope with work and the real world if they have a backache.
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Actually what makes him different must be pointed out, because it clearly shoes how the system was created to benefit basically one group "the good ol' boys" and you can define them as you wish, but clearly that group excluded women, minorities, LGBT and people with disabilities. But change is happening and I hope some day we won't need to point out the differences, but we ain't there yet.
This is great, but what would be even better is if someone could get elected without the media pointing out what it is about that person that makes them "different". Enough already!
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