So glad they're enjoying football just like all football fans. Just an aside, I also noticed a Trump flag flying.
Kurds have had a quiet but large presence in Nashville for decades. The largest Kurdish neighborhood is only a few miles from downtown but most Nashvillians don’t even know who they are! Kurdish culture is amazing and watching the recent political heat around them in their country and the country of their past/ancestors is so difficult. Thank you NYT for showing this!
4
@Augusta If I ever go to an NFL game again, I want to sit near the Kurds, who are not drunk and obnoxious.
2
This is the kind of story that makes me appreciate the N.Y. Times even more than I already do. I hate what we, under Trump, have done to the Kurds in Syria. Thank you for showing us some members of this community enjoying themselves- whether their team wins or loses....
3
Kurdish-Americans make Nashville great!!! We are so so so lucky that you are our neighbors.
19
That's what America is all about. Thank you for this article, NYT.
19
They better be praying for a Titans win!
1
This article is about Kurdish refugees but represents a similar story for so many other immigrants in this country. It should not be just sports news but on front pages of many news outlets. Our history of recent immigrants is not well brought out by the news media. They have contributed much to wherever their new home is .
20
@Viincent : This story reminds me of my ancestors who came to America over the past 400 years, many fleeing unsafe or unpleasant circumstances in the countries where they were born.
I loved seeing the photo of two Muslim men praying. Sadly, not every Muslim in the US would feel comfortable doing that in public. Kudos to Nashville for welcoming the immigrants and reminding us all the we are: e pluribus unum.
19
Perhaps they are more "American" than me -- I am a baseball and basketball fan, and tailgating parties hold no interest for me. However, I wish them well, and that they receive fair treatment in their new homeland.
12
@humanist
Hanging out with friends and family is the best part of life.
13
@humanist
Nice sentiment, but I think the point is that for most of the tailgaters profiled in this lovely piece, this homeland is not "new" - they've been here for decades. They aren't "more" or "less" "American" than you - they Are American. Like you.
13
They look like folks I’d like to hang with; their food looks delicious too.
This piece however is one more thinly-veiled anti-Trump hit job, reeking of pretext: the Kurds as longtime loyal allies — practically honorary Yanks — whom the Tormentor in Chief has gratuitously kicked in the face.
In fact, we didn’t have ANY troops in Syria until just 4 years ago, when Obama got us involved there, ostensibly to fight ISIS (or “ISIL,” as he called it).At the time, the bulk of the criticism of the deployment came from leftists, who argued this was jeopardizing US troops in the service of more George W. Bush-style neo-Imperialism. To illustrate what they saw as the unacceptable risks, left-wing pundits actually pointed to the death of an American soldier in an early-arriving unit who had already been killed in joint patrol with... the Kurds! Obama countered with assurances that he would only authorize a small, temporary deployment — just enough to root out ISIS and get out. (If interested, look up the contemporary Times coverage.)
That was 2015. All forgotten now, of course. Somehow, in the liberal mind of 2019, we went to Northern Syria to establish some permanent benevolent protectorate over “our Kurdish allies.” Yes, that’s it! And now... we just up and ditch them? Heaven Forfend! How could Trump be so monstrous and cruel?
(Incidentally, the Kurds were so heartbroken by our betrayal that they immediately struck a fresh deal with the Russians.)
7
@Eric L. They struck a deal with the Russians because they were running for their lives. Thanks to the USA.
12
@Eric L. Trump is a monster, he is cruel, and we did betray the Kurds. And this is not just the thinking of a liberal mind. There are plenty of conservatives and Republicans who are not afraid of Trump, who agree.
11
Great souls. My Vanderbilt MBA students and I loved prepping houses for them so they would have homes when they arrived. Nashville opened its heart to them, and they are wonderful.
20
@ Green Tea No one is against European–American, or any other, football fans getting together with people "like themselves" to have a good time and root for their team. We are against While Nationalists and White Supremacists and their hateful, racist agendas. Understand the difference?
13
To the Kurds: Yes, the President abandoned you but by-and-large the American people have not. Continue your struggle as best you can and hopefully we, the American people, will right the wrong by electing a President that cares about Allies and not dictators or his own profits.
29
Immigrants help build America and keep us strong. We've known that since 1620.
Welcome the stranger!
25
@porter it's a shame about the Native Americans who were there before any immigrants, who didn't land in an empty continent. What did they get out of the waves of migration ?
2
@TonyC The "native" Americans were little more than immigrants as well. They just showed up a little earlier from the other side of the world. There are no humans native to North America. If we want to talk about historical legacies of abuse, I find it ironic that you're calling the US out when you're from the UK. The British Empire is one of the most brutal and murderous in all of human history. Repeated invasions, theft, genocide, among other atrocities is the legacy of your people and your quickly fading union.
"...though a spokeswoman for the team said she and the staff were unfamiliar with the group."
The Titans have a management problem.
26
Looks like I will have to find a reason to visit Nashville soon. I have to find a Kurdish restaurant.
8
@Margaret Davis Kurdish food is superb! They also run other kinds of restaurants, including Italian ones. Americans see a dark haired person and a guy with a stache and think, that's an Italian! LOL
7
That tailgate food looks fantastic! Great story. I was recently in Nashville for work and met a lot of people from all over the world who had recently moved there great city.
10
Nashville has seen waves of immigrants from all around the world; there are thousands of Kurds who call Music City home, but we also have welcomed thousands of refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and now have large numbers of Congolese resettling here. Immigrants make our communities better in so many ways, as your article beautifully demonstrates. I can't wait to see how the hundreds of Congolese currently coming to Nashville will enrich our city!
28
This article is sad on so many levels: the giant betrayal of the Kurds by our president, who is oddly eager to please the dictator of Turkey and uninterested in the idea of loyalty to allies; and then the reality of brain damage in football players, slammed in their heads from the time they are young, fighting the odds that their post “playing” lives might be about cognitive decline. Ultimately discarded, like the Kurds in Syria.
The food also seems symbolic: wonderful home-made Kurdish food being replaced with processed American snacks. What a sad trade.
4
@Michael c: Trump's betrayal of the Kurds is beyond sad, but I liked this story. The Kurds are adapting and thriving, albeit with some processed food on game day. What I liked the most was reading that veterans recognized the Kurdish flag and went over to say hello. That's my America. e pluribus unum
23
@Michael c
Fields and McHugh's The Sunny Side of the Street, Michael c. We're all taking a walk there for just a few minutes. Come walk with us and eat a processed hotdog with a Kurdish Titan fan. He or she will no doubt let you have a kabob in return.
7
This is not news. They're immigrants, love sports, love joining together in community, love to yell, hoot, bbbque, and debate the finer points of football. Uhm, this is just kind of what we do here in American. This is the story of US, all of Us.
25
@East Roast
I guess you do not get it. You are correct it is not news to most of us but it is news to some. Some people think the " other" can never be like us or enjoy American things. For some reason people who have come from immigrants themselves can not see the forest through the trees.
11
American integration/assimilation at it’s finest. Tailgating is what we do in flyover country and all are welcome!
18
This is such a great story of immigrant/refugee assimilation here in the US. I can only imagine their feelings when the President turned away from the Kurds in Syria.
11
We've done it before; e.g. bailed out of South Vietnam leaving it's inhabitants to the joys of the newly imposed " workers paradise "; but nearly a million brave " boat people " fled, and created productive and immersive lives here in the USA.
9
@BD
The ones who left Vietnam were the curious and gifted ones that is why they left in the first place.In a society where everyone is treated equally in the financial way these people have no place.A communist society is only good for the mediocre and untalented which comprise 85% of the population
@george That must be why the Soviet Union was the first nation to put satellites in orbit, put a human into space, and the first nation to land an object on the moon. It must be how the Chinese went from impoverished war torn backwater to dominant global economic and technological power in 30 years. Vietnam's economy will soon surpass Japan and is experiencing massive growth. That all doesn't seem mediocre or untalented to me, but you lie about history in any way that makes you comfortable I guess.
This looks and sounds like the type of tailgate party that I would gladly join. Biryani and Kababs, WoW! I hope the titans are playing the Cards in Phoenix. I'll be a Kurd and titan fan for a day.
14
"But most of the Kurds bypassed the buffet in favor of more classic tailgating options. “No one wants to eat what we eat at home,” Ms. Kucher said,"
I want to eat what they eat at home. Looks and sounds delicious.
18
I posted this on my Facebook page to enlighten some of my Trump loving friends. Doubt they will read it though. I've been to Turkey and found the Turks most kind and friendly. And the food is delicious! Kudos to the author and the Times for publishing this.
11
I think I just became a Titans fan.
9
Imagine an article about European-American football fans who got together for tailgates only with people just like themselves. Such an article would be headlined "White Nationalists Shun Contact with Others," or "White Supremacists Seek Isolation Amidst Crowds."
It is entirely natural that Kurdish-Americans are more comfortable in the presence of people who share every aspect of their culture than they are in the presence of people whose culture is largely different.
Everyone feels that.
So could we have a little less race-shaming by the Times every time a European-American expresses a desire to preserve his or her own culture?
5
@Green Tea Oh, for heaven's sake! White people get together with White people all the time for tailgate parties! As a matter of fact, it is, by far, the most common demographic mix there.
What we need is much less of people adopting the contrived mantle of White victimhood.
18
@Green Tea Your imagined headlines are just that. Perhaps you are unaware that New York City and its surrounds are built around ethnic neighborhoods many of which are European. We host nearly constant parades and holidays for every group on earth. The main exception would be White Supremacists. They rarely parade here. So please don't tell us about headlines that never happened.
14
@Green Tea No one is against European–American, or any other, football fans getting together with people "like themselves" to have a good time and root for their team. We are against While Nationalists and White Supremacists and their hateful, racist agendas. Understand the difference?
16
Kurds are a fine people. Nashville is fortunate to have them.
19
This is when I say, " I love this country."
Really, I truly believe we are *good* at this. We welcome all, and those we welcome become American in their own way, and add their spice to our great delicious and diverse mix.
This is our talent, our special genius, friends! It is a shame one ignorant and demented man and one cowardly political party has decided to cultivate the opposite view.
We are so much bigger than the small man who leads us.
21
I love our country!
Unlike many Americans, I love the diversity of our great nation.
I smile at Kurdish football fans. I love that an immigrant student of mine, from Senegal, is my best Electrician student, just became a citizen.
My family, from Greece, Turkey, England, and Ireland have successfully assimilated into the fabric of this great nation and are all doing well.
My hall in college had students from Syria, Ethiopia, and Korea.
How is this not great?!
Kurdish Titans fans.....how cool is that.
Of course, I do have a problem with these Kurdish fans too..........they should be Rams fans!!!
God Bless America, I love our country!
24
Nothing more American than this story.
This got me choked up.
Shameful what we did to these loyal brave people who spilled so much blood fighting ISIS for all of us.
“The fans eyeing the spread on this day were a group of veterans who said they had fought alongside Kurdish allies during the Iraq War in 2004. They recognized the Kurdish flag, and some of the food. “Y’all let us know if you need anything,” one veteran said earnestly.“
25
That food looks and sounds great.
3
I showed this article to my Egyptian husband - he got excited and said, “We should do this!”
8
Through out the history there have been ethnic groups who have consistently gotten the short ends of the stick: Armenians, Roma, Native Americans, Kurds come immediately to mind.
Religious groups are, of course, another conversation...
3
What amazing Americans. This year thanks to trump we haven't allowed a single refugee into this enormous and wealthy country. The utter lack of humanity is disturbing to say the least. We need these people as much as they need us.
10
What an interesting and lovely piece! Only from my beloved New York Times! I’ll be sending a copy to the Citrus County commissioners ...
4
Diversity is a big part of America's strength. Examples like this news story are especially needed in the times we live in now.
9
Very happy to have read this article, glad for them to have found a home a community!
Bad news though... The KC Chiefs are coming today and they brought #15 Patrick Mahomes!!
2
I would tailgate with these folks anytime! Looks like great spread.
I had season tickets in Washington for 10 years. It was a dream to have tickets throughout my childhood, but after a decade we dumped them. The main reasons I gave them up wasn't the lousiness of the team (it kind of is fun to be the underdog!) - it was fan negativity and ESPECIALLY the heavy alcoholism in the stands. The NFL needs more fans like these to turn around what has become a toxic gamely experience.
5
There is still fire under the melting pot.
8
A melting pot, but with better food.
Cool.
14
Wonderful story. Best quote “spokeswoman for the Titans organization was unfamiliar with the group”
The fact that the NYT’s has to introduce the Titans to its fans is wrong on so many fronts...
3
Refreshing article. Thank you.
1
Saladin was a Kurd.
The Kurdish freedom liberation fighters call themselves peshmerga aka those who face death. And there are men and women peshmerga.
6
This is still a great country!
2
Imagine: A culture that doesn’t need alcohol to have fun. Yes, America, we have lots to learn.
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@Robert
I resemble that remark.
3
@ Suzanne F Upper Upper Manhattan
You can find much to start with in the article "Kurdish cuisine" in Wikipedia.
Don't be fooled by this article, the Kurds represent a small contingent of Tennessee Titans fans in Nashville. I invite all of you all Northern liberals to come down here and see it for yourself. That is if you dare to cross the Mason-Dixon line into Dixie. Cheers!
1
Fooled by what? Did I miss something?
4
Wonderful story. Really does show that immigrants find a way to fit in.
And for those doom and gloomers who only talk about immigrants and crime. Did you notice many of the interviewees are getting bachelors or even masters degrees?
3
The Kurds are our friends and allies. The enemy of the American people is in the White House.
9
Unfortunately, not too far from where these folks were tailgating is a mosque their fellow Tennesseans wanted to burn down.
3
Yes, an hour away in a smaller town. Not in Nashville. But that was a terrible thing.
2
Sounds like my kind of tailgaing!
Thank you for making my Sunday morning.
1
Tell Trump.Beware of treasure you throw away like trash.
6
Nice article.
Newsworthy?
Trump must have been relatively quiet yesterday.
According to the 2000 United States Census, there are about 117,575 Turkish Americans.
As a Wall Street Journal columnist recently pointed out, “Turkey is an Article 5 NATO ally. We have obliged Ankara for two decades by designating its Kurdish separatists as terrorists. The U.S. has never advocated breaking up Syria (or Iraq, Iran or Turkey) to allow a Kurdish state. U.S. support for an autonomous Kurdish enclave in Iraq was dependent on the Kurds’ recognizing Baghdad’s sovereignty and not using Iraqi Kurdistan as a base to subvert neighboring states.”
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne defined the borders of the Turkish Republic but denied Kurdish dreams of a homeland called Kurdistan. Many Americans support the efforts of Kurdish separatists to carve a Kurdish homeland out of Turkey, Iraq and Syria, and some even approve of Kurdish terror attacks, but that has never been U.S. foreign policy.
At present,Turkey is attempting to create a buffer zone between its border and Kurdish forces in Syria because Kurdish terror attacks have killed hundreds of Turks. The Kurds have allied themselves with Syrian and Russian forces. The United States has brokered a temporary ceasefire. However, the Kurdistan issue should be settled by the United Nations, not the United States.
4
@William Case Without questioning, nor agreeing with, your political analysis, you miss the point of the article...the common ground transcending politics, religion, gender, age, and appearance, not to mention cuisine.
Politics, where nuance goes to die.
4
@Mike
According to the article, "Some have been protesting, and lobbying the city government to put pressure on their representatives in Congress to support the Kurds and impose sanctions on Turkey. Mr. Taabur and others just set up a meeting with Representative Jim Cooper, who joined in a recent local Kurdish rally for peace. They’ve been giving media interviews to spread awareness of their countrymen’s plight."
That's not about cuisine.
1
Thank you, Priya, for writing such a positive story about immigrants and what we Americans all share in common rather than what divides us. We need more stories like this one. Please keep writing them.
26
You got my attention with the food.
If this wonderful community is tailgating locally, please share this information so I can show up with a plate and fork. The food sounds and looks pretty amazing. Biryani, something I associate with the Asian subcontinent, served at Kurdish-American tailgates is pretty darned laudable, amazing, praiseworthy, and all good.
11
Impressive, inspirational. This community hits the sweet spot of being acclimated to the foreign environment, but preserving meaningful and benevolent tradition. And in Nashville, in the American South. Good for the Kurds. And good for us. See, American Greatness does have its various enclaves! And they existed before, and now despite, T. Rump.
19
Sometimes food writing and sports reporting add up to something more meaningful than the constant drum beat of political updates. Thx for finding and telling this story.
35
I can't remember a more heart-warming story in the age of Trump. Thanks for this. It has, for the moment and at least in small measure, reaffirmed my faith in humanity.
37
Great story but it left one question unanswered for me. Why did such a large Kurdish population settle in Nashville?
15
@Louis Gwin The roots of this community in Nashville began to grow in the 1970s, amid war between Kurdish people and Iraq (which wanted control of Kurdistan - not a nation, but a region). Those adult refugees are the elders of the community now (in their 60s and up). The next wave of Kurdish refugees came with Desert Storm in the 90s, but in the meantime families and friends settled where they already had some connections.
I think refugee resettlement orgs had something to do with the initial location (much as Hmong and Somali communities have settled here in MN) but the community grew organically over time. I grew up in Nashville in the 80s and 90s; many of my early childhood neighbors and friends were Kurdish (my mother managed a low-income apartment complex and welcomed refugees from many nations). HTH :)
33
@Christie - Kurdistan almost became a country when the Ottoman Empire was broken up after WW I, under the Treaty of Sevres. It was signed but never ratified, and was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne, which did not include any provision for Kurdish land.
10
They did not like Polkas.
1
This warms my heart. I'm so sorry for what tRump did to the Kurds in Syria, but we all have to come to terms with the fact that this country has done the same thing to so many people, and cultures, who trusted us. Kurds have suffered much throughout their history. I'm glad your families are here, and safe. I hope more can come, and help make our country better.
36
@ChesBay I've traveled through much of Iranian and Turkish Kurdistan, and it is an impressive part of the world. The border between Turkey and Iran, in fact, lies at the base of Mt. Ararat. Diyarbakir Turkey has a strong Kurdish community, and it's a great place just to wander through the town, especially if you have an interest in Byzantine Christianity, and the Turk/Kurd tensions.
1
A wonderful American story. Thank you.
32
I lived in Nashville around the turn of the century and worked in an elementary school that had a decent sized Kurdish population. Those kids (who are now the age of these tailgaters) were some of the sweetest I'd seen and truly wanted to learn and be a part of the larger American fabric. This article brought back good memories for me, and I wish the local Kurdish population in Nashville continued success.
71
These ever-optimistic Titan fans remind me of old die-hard Cubs fans. It took decades but it happened. Wait until next year. Keep dreaming of that Super Bowl parade.
18
I am so proud of the warm welcome my home town has given the Kurds. And, as people of faith they blend right into the Buckle of the Bible Belt. Note the picture of two people at Prayer in the parking lot.
43
Good we don’t need alcohol at events. How do we as a nation teach our kids to feel feelings and know that they eventually move on if you are always covering up with booze. Good for them.
28
@Calleen Mayer
Easy for you to say living in Florida. Come to Utah and we'll see how long you can mix with the natives without a little somethin' or 'nother to get you through the experience. Yeah, then we'll talk about not coverin' up negative feelings with booze. Until then, my word we're being a little preachy.
2
I would prefer the Kurdish food to hamburgers and hotdogs. It looks positively delicious!
56
There is something to be said for the community that can be built around being a fan of a sports team. I can understand why new Americans such as these embrace football to be a part of their new country.
How I wish soccer was more popular in the United States. It's popular in the rest of the world. Why not here?
Knowing what we know about the damage football does to the player's brains, why can't we get more into soccer instead?
16
@Pseudonym Nashville is actually in the process of building a field for a soccer team. American Soccer doesn’t have much of a fandom, but it could gain traction.
12
@Pseudonym ... Football is America's game.
2
@Pseudonym Soccer seems to be very popular in the US among school-age kids, but not when you get to a higher level.
The article noted a Kurdish-American Titans fan including American snacks in tailgating, but the traditional dishes are so enticing. I'd gladly forgo a burger for stuffed grape leaves. Limit consumption of American meat-heavy meals & convenience foods; you'll live much longer!
24
The light take: if Kurds are supporting the Titans, the Bills don't have a chance. Maybe some families could move to Buffalo?
A very warm picture of how some families seize the opportunity for a new life, against all odds. Just as my grand an great grandparents did.
33
@cheryl I'm not sure how they'd deal with the winter. Then again, a lot of Somalis who first settled in Georgia have moved to my home state of Maine.
3
@Bob R
My brother's family used to live up there (Dresden). My sister in law worked for the Lewiston schools, and she told me about them. They adjusted! But in Buffalo, the wall of
"lake effect" snow can get you down.
2
Not only is this a wonderful article it's followed by wonderful comments. The great experiment continues and may it do so forever.
69
It is hard to read this and not feel shame. These people's countrymen were abandoned. Anti-immigrant sentiment seems everywhere. ICE agents loom everywhere. And the best we can offer by way of restitution is the Tennesee Titans? Can't we resettle them to New England or at least Green Bay?
41
@Steven We do love a good tailgate here at Lambeau, and if those Titan fans come up, I hope we show them a good time.
26
@Steven
The Barzani clan provided Kurdish leadership for most of the last two centuries. One of them asked President Eisenhower, as I recall, to let the Kurds settle in Montana.He should have agreed.
3
I agree with your statement. Nashvillians may be proud that Kurds have assimilated well into American culture but what do they really believe? Davidson County has a history of voting Blue however Tennessee is bright red. Trump is comfortable visiting Nashville. Do the math and racism is alive and well not only in Tennessee but throughout the US.
1
I was surprised that there’s a Kurdish community in the US. I am now, even more disappointed that no politician, especially Democrats, has pushed for relocation to the US of the Kurds being dislocated from Syria. They are fleeing violence in the country they currently occupy. They do not have a home country unlike those coming across the southern border of the USA. They also would not merely be seeking better economic conditions like so many people from Central America.
33
NYT, thank you for this article. Also thank you for “The Soldiers We Left Behind” by Phil Klay.
Here we have Iraqi interpreters fighting alongside US troops and Kurds cheering for Tennessee Titans.
America is able to join people from all backgrounds and unite them. Truly America is better or equal to the sum of its parts, the brotherhood of man.
45
@PC
The USA and Canada are the only countries in the world where immigrants truly become full fledged citizens of the destination country.
The article about the change in Virginia also highlights this facts. Immigrants come to America and they or their children jump right in and become full participants in the economy, voting, political and military life and as this article shows, culturally too.
The NYT article about Germany and how it defines being German is also instructive. Muslim immigrants are able to fully participate and are considered Americans. In the EU, Muslims are at the edges of society.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump and his Inner Party cohorts threaten for reverse all this.
Hopefully, Democrats nominate someone who can decisively beat this unqualified “President”.
44
@Practical Thoughts
The official definition of being German in Germany is largely having a German passport issued. Everybody can get one after a couple of years in residence, not too much criminal offenses (below murder, a couple of convictions generally don't hurt, we believe in rehabilitation), and a bit of spoken German (really only a bit, we don't want to be seen as authoritarian or nationalist).
Those people at the margins are mostly people who immigrated as adults with no qualifications that are of any use in a technology-driven economy. many are analphabets or were shepherds and the like. They have the same social welfare income like a German who decides not to work anymore and get all kinds of free education offered. But it's not so easy to change from, say, butcher to information architect or AR/VR programmer when you're older.
7
Our economy is very high tech too. I can understand a goat herder in Germany struggling, but what about his kids?
Germany is a great country and in many ways politically more advanced than the USA with its Republican mob. However, I still believe the US on average does a better job integrating immigrants. At least for now......
3
Great article - perfect anecdotes & images. Thank you, Priya, for giving this story light.
30
This article breaks my heart.
These folks are better Americans than most of us. I would imagine that some if not many have family back home.
How on earth can the US abandon the men and women who are fighting brutality and who were our brothers and sisters in arms when we cared to do the same?
Donald has taken to sports lately. The irony is lost on him but not on everyone.
May the Kurdish fighters prevail.
135
@Nancy Becker — I feel the same. My sone is a Veteran, who fought alongside the Kurds in Northern Iraq in 2004. He says they were some of the fiercest loyal people. It is shameful what the U.S. has done by abandoning them.
110
@Nancy Becker . Donald has taken to sports lately because; 1) They are venues full of people that his campaign does not have to pay for. 2) They hope to make this president appear to be a regular guy. Last but not least they are using these venues for polling the popularity of this president. Compare the greeting he received in each of the venues that he attended.
14
@Patrick " They hope to make this president appear to be a regular guy."
That's an impossible task. Sort of like Michael Dukakis appearing in a tank to make him appear tough.
1
Thanks for covering and giving this story space. I liked the photos, too. What a nice focus on this community of Kurdish immigrants. As I've listened to their plight in Syria I've wanted to learn more about them. As expected, they are just like you and me.
55
Democrats, please, please nominate a candidate that will beat Donald Trump!
This election is about more than a health care plan or tax initiative. We can get to these issues at some point soon. However, there is a more urgent and pressing issue.
That issue is a Titanic fight for the soul of America. A soul properly demonstrated in this wonderful article about these Football Loving Americans.
We can’t afford to lose this.
73
@Practical Thoughts I agree 100%. As far as I'm concerned, the Democratic nominee has to have only one quality -- he can beat Trump.
6
Thank you for this touching and inspiring and timely piece. It is a reminder of the mutual joy and benefits to society we all reap by embracing people who are in need.
39
A powerful story of the ongoing success of America’s two century immigration journey. Although we all retain some of our home country culture, at the end of the day we all become Americans, celebrating our mutual passions for food, sports, economic success and the freedom to be who we are without persecution.
44
This, literally, brought tears to my eyes:
The fans eyeing the spread on this day were a group of veterans who said they had fought alongside Kurdish allies during the Iraq War in 2004. They recognized the Kurdish flag, and some of the food. “Y’all let us know if you need anything,” one veteran said earnestly.
Says it all.
210
@Mike Brought tears to my eyes too with"Y'all let us know if you need anything".
4
@Mike -- Bravo.
Without our "leaders" to tell us whom to hate, we might just all get along.
14
@Mike these people are more American than the 2nd grader in the White House, and certainly more American than the first lady who overstayed her Visa and barely speaks English.
11
I loved this story. Tailgating is about family, friends, community, the food and shared support of a team. These rituals are so important in digital, disconnected age. The kids are playing instead of behind screens.
Such a great example of people embracing but adding to and improving American culture - adding delightfully distinctive traditions and cuisines to tailgating. The recent U.S. betrayal even more disgraceful.
92
This is America. How lucky are we all to be a part of a country that allows for something so improbable but so wonderful?
131
The photo near the end, the children playing a pickup game of touch football in the parking lot -- classic. I did that with my friends, and non-friends i.e. just any kids who happened to be near. (And explaining basic rules -- good enough for a game anyway -- just takes a minute.) That's a great thing about football. All you need is a ball, just any humdrum space (grass, asphalt, a quiet road, whatever) will serve, plus the basics for some touch football couldn't be simpler. That's a very heartwarming photo.
46
We could sure use some Kurdish fans up here in NY for the Giants! Their loyalty and energy as fans is to be admired and replicated. What a wonderful story of how immigrants become so quickly Americanized. A strong argument for why immigrants make this country great. We are a country of immigrants.
85
Nice story. People are just people are just people. Why do some of us have to turn them into The Other and demonize them?
66
@Miss Anne Thrope -- The 'some of us' you refer to are (most typically) those with global scale Profiteering in mind.
Just say "NO!" to Empire.
4
What a great story! The Kurds are keeping much of what is important to them: their cuisine and their faith. Nevertheless they are engaged in American popular culture. I can only wonder what they make of American political culture after POTUS betrayed their relatives and former countrymen.
If I were these American Kurds, I would have strong doubts about America.
25
Football instead of soccer? America's version of football shares something in common with its version of industrial food. Both tend to be pretty bad for ones health. Kurds would be well served to stick to their own traditional foods over hot dogs, potato chips and soft drinks. At least WATCHING football is not hazardous to your health.
8
@alan haigh
One of the things that is not great about America is our horrible diet. Hot dogs, junk food, alcohol, and tums for the tummy, etc. Football is a very fun sport which I played a lot of growing up, but you are right on about the Kurds sticking to real football.
Great article; thanks.
1
Over the decades I have been drawn fondly to different cultures like the Sikhs and the Kurds. Good Americans become great Americans by absorbing the human strengths of all Americans. We ARE the gem; we ARE the facets- America IS the light!.
49
We all need to work to make sure that "America IS the light" doesn't become "WAS the light ."We are right on the edge and already part way into "was" terrotory
3
@Marty Milner
Loved you in Route 66, Adam-12, and that Mirror Image Twilight Zone episode, Marty. But mostly glad to hear that tales of your death were greatly exaggerated.
Anyhoo, a hearty hear hear! to the sentiments that you expressed.
1
This is such a lovely story. It is reminder of how many cultures can be celebrated simultaneously.
142
This article makes me proud to be an American.
167
@C
At the same time, abandoning their fellow Kurds in Syria makes me ashamed.
8
The Nashville Kurdish markets with bakeries in the back and little kitchen nooks serving kebabs and shwarma are incredible. We are lucky to have them. The bread.
156
All the food described here reminded me so much of my sister-in-law and her aunties in Montreal. They're Lebanese and when we went over to my brother's place, the kitchen was jammed and people chattered in English, French, German and Arabic. And the dishes that came out of that kitchen!
I miss them all so much, it's been a long time since I've seen them. Thank you for the memory.
84
@Pezley
When I was young, family gatherings on one side sounded with French,Polish and English. Displaced from that other war. The other side sometimes practiced their rusty Italian but we were three generations in by then. None the original immigrants in my family failed to learn English and we weren't taught the language of the old country. I wish I had been.
3
I was hoping there would be recipes to accompany this article, more than just the one. But thank you for including the link to the article explaining the Kurds and their plight for the rest of us.
34
@Suzanne F
Google the recipes.