pakistani-american

I am never too far from the issue of identity.
Who am I? What am I? etc.

my biology based personal, family, and ethnic identity:
i am the father of Maha, the man named Asad, the son of Hamid, from the clan of Siddiquis, of North Indian Arabs.

my value based religious and sectarian identity:
i am Asad the anarcho-Sufi wannabe, Traditionally Sunni raised, Reform minded Muslim.

my professional and educational identity:
i am Asad the Associate Architect, Chairman of the Board, and Teacher

political and geographic identity:
Asad the...

this is an important one because our geo-political environment has a big impact on our culture. it goes far beyond just issues of citizenship and civic rights and social responsibilities. it is a very important part of our identity. our environment plays a role on the the language we speak, food we eat, the clothes we wear, the houses we live in.

I think about my parents, my wife, my daughter...

hmmm...
You can be a Pakistani and you can be an American.

and you can be an American-Pakistani like my wife.
She is a Pakistani, but one that happens to reside in America.

and you can be a Pakistani-American like my daughter.
She is an American, who's mother is Pakistani.

but what am I?
my parents were born in India, and became Pakistanis, only later to move to US and become Americans. Did they cease being Pakistani-Americans when they gave up their Pakistani citizenship? No! Being Pakistani meant something other then just citizenship or a place of birth to them. Maybe its about a connection to a place where you spend your formative years.

I wonder they ceased being Indian when they became Pakistanis? In that case they could have also chosen to cease being Pakistani when they became Americans. But they did not do that. They retained a connection to India. eventhough they did not call themselves Indian-Pakistanis. Their immigrant identity was important to them, but their pride in their new country of citizenship was even more important.

Eventually they ended up in America. and while their latest immigrant identity is important to them, I wonder if it is superseded by pride in their latest country of citizenship? They have lived longer here in America then either India or Pakistan. At what point does someone Become just an American like they became just a Pakistani?

Its a strange sort of pride that i still don't fully understand. Its a fondness for an idea that never became fully realized. They are proud of being Pakistani, eventhough they were not born there, and they hate its politics, they hate its corruption. My father chose to give up on Pakistan for the sake of a better job. I don't know if he thought much about these issues of identity in such abstact theoretical ways. He was much more ambivelent to these things, he moved around all his life. He just lived life, he was happy simply Hamid the owner of All State. My mother on the other hand grew up in Karachi and only moved here because her husband lived here, so I can understand her attachment to the country she grew up in.

So what am I?
I was born in and grew up in Hialeah. So a Hialean?
or am I an Indian-Pakistani-American from Hialeah?
or a Pakistani-American?
or a just an American?

I am NONE of the above and ALL of the above.
call me Abu Maha ibn Hamid Siddiqui al Hialeahi