An Accent on Inequality
Unfortunately, how you sound may be how you're seen.
By Firoozeh Dumas
Firoozeh Dumas grew up in Iran, as well as Whittier and Newport Beach. Her memoir "Funny in Farsi" (Villard) was published in June.

August 29, 2003

They're the heroes of the English-as-a-second-language set ? Arianna Huffington and Arnold Schwarzenegger, serious candidates for governor with serious foreign accents. On TV, on the radio and occasionally in print, their "in-der-es-ding" consonants and "You say tomahto" vowels tell the quintessential immigrant tale: America is the land of opportunity.

If you're like me, though, and your mom still hasn't quite mastered the W sound and your dad's Engineer Speak has always been better than his American slang, you might not be so sure. The truth is, when it comes to the American dream, not all accents are created equal. The devil is in the details: Where exactly are you from? What color marks today's homeland security threat level? Do all of your linguistic brethren have their green cards?