There are many reasons for anthropologists to be interested in the postal system. On a local level, sending mail is a seemingly mundane daily activity that offers numerous ways to look at a larger picture of society. How post offices are laid out is one way. To enter the post office in Jerusalem, for example, I had to send my purse through a metal detector and be waved down by a scanning wand. In Hyderabad, I had to visit several different desks to fill out forms and get signatures, stamps and approvals before my packages could be sent. Those processes speak to the security state of Israel on the one hand and the time-consuming bureaucracy of India on the other.
If you received a package from me in India, it originated at the Hyderabad General Post Office. November 2010.
The interior of Mexico's postal palace ("Palacio de correos"), built in the early 20th century, Mexico City. May 2011
Rural post office, Hillsboro, West Virginia. September 2011
Symbolic stamps—and reactions to them—also provide an entry point to analyze a culture’s priorities and hang-ups. I try to find a different design each time I purchase stamps and was delighted to discover Eid stamps this past November. According to USPS, the stamp “honors two of the most important festivals in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.” The stamp says Eid Mubarak, which is the greeting shared among Muslims on those days, roughly translating to “have a blessed festival.”
When I put the last of my Eid stamps on a card today, I decided to look up the stamp to check what the Arabic script says (I assumed “Eid Mubarak” but since it’s elaborate calligraphy, I couldn’t actually read it) and see if I could find any history of the stamp. To my dismay, the first four hits in a Google search on “Eid postage stamp” were people refuting arguments that Obama–our supposedly Muslim socialist president–demanded the post office release an Islamic stamp. The emails quoted in these pages call on Americans to remember the “Muslim bombing” of airplanes on September 11, 2001. The truth is, George W. Bush authorized the first version of this stamp in August 2001 at the 34-cent rate. It has been re-issued several times at new rates, and this year USPS issued the design as a Forever stamp (rate counts as whatever the current cost of stamps).
The above responses to a stamp that honors a Muslim holiday is one of many examples of bigotry toward Islam that I’ve seen, heard or read in the year since I returned to the U.S. (Reading Recommendation: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers). From an optimistic viewpoint, these examples are the extreme end of things, yet they say a lot about the widespread lack of understanding about a major world religion in this country. If that’s the bad end, the most common middle ground is “tolerance” (or liberals’ fetishization of having friends in veils, but that’s another story).
Having lived or worked in Muslim communities in three different countries, I suppose I have a good deal more experience interacting with Islamic cultures (which, like Christianity, vary widely from place to place) than many non-Muslim Americans. Nevertheless, my knowledge about the religion itself is limited. That’s why one of my New Year’s resolutions is to read the Quran and talk to people more often about my experiences with Islam.
What are your goals for 2012?
I got your stamp (and Christmas card) and would be interested reading the Quran with you – or at least really discussing what you learn – or borrowing it when you’re done.