FBU-2018-03-31
Date of Interview
Fall 3-31-2018
Interview Location
St. Louis, MO
Length of Interview
1900-01-02
Date of Birth
1997
Gender
Male
Religion and/or Ethnicity
Muslim
Description
Born to Bosnian parents in St.Louis from Bosanski Petrovac on his father’s side and Tešanj on his mother’s side, grew up in the area of Affton where he attended school from PreK to graduating from Affton High School, Growing up had a sense of not belonging to any community or country, had more American friends then Bosnian, mother passed away to cancer while still young leaving his father as a single parent, Visited Bosnian periodical were he always felt welcome but did not fit in 100 percent, labeled as an American when in Bosnia, felt a pressure from father to succeed academically as his father and mother had sacrificed so much to bring him to the place he was now, Attended stem and eventually premed at Washington University in St. Louis until changing to archeology as it was more his passion, Experienced the struggle of growing up with a father who was traumatized, feels that same trauma has been transferred to him personal as he grow up with a father who was not always there but still in Bosnia and in the war in his mind, connected with Bosnian friends in experiences their parents shared and talking about it more real and more relevant, Experiences that he is not part of American or European culture 100 percent or that he is not equal but some sort of subhuman, experienced this when going to visit his girlfriend in Dublin there was a big conversation as to him being Muslim, girlfriends grandmother started having nightmares about how he was forcing her to wear the hijab against her will, Can see a reaction from people if he tells them he is Muslim and the reaction is not always positive, Struggles to find a community where he belongs and cannot say that he feels he has a homeland not even in Bosnia, Cannot see a way for Bosnia to come back until the perpetrators of genocide living in the country admit their crimes, future generations need to know that any type of discrimination based on religion, sex ,race or creed is wrong and should be outlawed
Keywords
Bosanski Petrovac, Affton, Identify, Islamophobia, Tešanj
Document Type
Oral History
Collection
Fontbonne University
Digital Format
MP3,MP4
Digital Publisher
Center for Bosnian Studies
City
St. Louis, MO
Copyright Note
These oral histories are made available by the Center for Bosnian Studies for research, educational, scholarly, and/or creative purposes only. All uses should adhere to the principle of fair use established under Section 107 of Title 17 the 1976 Copyright Act. More on fair use is available here: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/.
Rights Statement
