Chasing the American Dream
Silver chains, diamond rings and a kaleidoscope of rare jewels glistened in the window case of Karan Basel’s modest Upper East Side shop on Third Avenue and 91st Street last week. From inside the locked glass door he cast an imposing figure and a skeptical scowl, looking potential customers up and down before buzzing them into his hallway-sized store.
A powerfully built, Egyptian-born American with dark hair, dark eyes and a strong accent, Basel, 41, put everything he owned into his small business when he opened it last year. He worries about its prospects every day and what his success or failure means for his wife and small daughter. Their photographs are posted behind the glass countertops alongside an American flag, a constant reminder. He is a modern portrait of an immigrant chasing the American Dream.
Because of his professional and ethnic background the issues in the presidential election seem particularly important to him this year. He cares about two things: the economy and the situation in the Middle East. They’re the only two issues he talks about and he loves to talk.
A rabid salesman, Basel is quick with a smile and a word of advice and he never takes no for an answer. One woman eyed a $150 sparkling chain and, before she knew it, he had the chain around her neck and was pushing a mirror toward her. He never let a lull enter the largely one-sided conversation. She gave shy, one-word answers, attempting to end the bidding before it could begin. After enduring her refusals for a few minutes, he finally said, “Just put $50 down now and I’ll hold it for you. You can come back later, if you don’t want it, I’ll give you your money back.”
“Maybe I can come back,” she said politely, and left without opening her pocketbook, and before Basel could object one more time. Tough economic times indeed, he said.
Basel’s clientele is a mix of middle class New Yorkers, mostly white, many Jewish. A steady stream of Latino customers come from Spanish Harlem above 96th Street. Sometimes he pretends to be Jewish to close a sale. “One lady learned I was Egyptian and then she found out I was Muslim and she immediately decided not to buy a diamond necklace and left.”
He said he doesn’t feel the racism often. “I’m just a guy who goes to work, and takes the subway home. I don’t go out and get involved in stuff like some guys.” But, he said he had to give up his morning routine of reading Al-Ahram, his favorite Arabic language newspaper, after he began to get scowls and suspicious glares on the subway in the aftermath of September 11th. And, he said his brother comes up on FBI terror watch lists because his name, Samaa, is close in spelling to Osama Bin Laden. “I used to be proud to tell people in this country that I was Egyptian, and talk about its history and the pyramids,” Basel said.
Basel studies every twist and turn of the presidential election with the same ferocity that he approaches a sale. He reads the papers voraciously and watches television news nightly. He sees every debate and watched most of both party conventions. Having become a naturalized citizen 12 years ago, he takes his civic duty seriously. “I want to vote for the right person,” he said.
In 2000, casting his first official ballot, he voted for George W. Bush. “I didn’t want America to be the world’s policeman,” he said. Now, he says he feels like that vote was a mistake. “Bush wanted to go to Iraq from Day one.”
He feels America spoiled the good will among nations it built up over the years. If he were taking a trip overseas he would use the Egyptian passport he carries as a dual citizen.
In the past four years, Basel has become a Democratic partisan in his political views. He thinks President Bush asked the world for help in Iraq like a cowboy, “It’s come with me, or else,” he said. Mimicking Senator John Kerry’s campaign, he added, “maybe there can be a better way. The Iraq war was a big mistake. Really.”
The controversy over the two candidates’ Vietnam War record also hits home with Basel, who served in the Egyptian Army. He is impressed that Senator Kerry chose to go to Vietnam and believes Kerry had the political connections and money at the time to avoid going if he had wanted. “Even if he spent only one month on the front lines it doesn’t matter, because you could die in one minute in war,” Basel said.
On the economy, President Bill Clinton had long coat tails. Basel thinks the Democrats can do better than the Republicans. After recalling the economic success of the 1990s, he complains about the 2003 tax relief package: “I got $140 as a small business. Come on, what is that?”
According to Basel, Bush is only out to help the rich. “When he wants something from someone he helps them, otherwise, he crushes them like a cockroach,” he said. Even though Basel’s store is full of precious metals and stones, he doesn’t consider himself part of the rich crowd. He always feels like any economic downturn could devastate his business selling luxury items.
“In the Army [in Egypt] I learned that if one guy makes a mistake, we all pay. But, if one guy does well, only he does well,” Basel said.
