Despite this, all throughout my growing up, I've seen a clear racial divide in my town, and it seems to only be getting bigger the more South Asians move in. Today, someone who goes to my former high school tweeted something about how our school board chooses to observe Indian holidays (for the record, the only "Indian" (read: Hindu) holiday observed is Diwali, and we don't get the day off; we're just allowed to have it recognized as an excused absence*) and while I'm not interested in beating to death just one person's ignorance, this whole situation just plays into the broader issue at hand. Nobody discusses it at length, but the high school I went to is really self-segregated. I mean really self-segregated. And while there is an element of "sticking-to-one's-own" at play here, I also feel like the divide is a lot greater than that. In my four years, I often saw majority-white friend groups blatantly talk shit about majority-South Asian groups, stereotyping them as smelly, loud, nerdy, weird (FOBby) and a whole host of other adjectives. In embracing our cultures through participating in typically South Asian activities and making more South Asian friends, the non South Asian friends we made in elementary and middle school abandoned us. Those of us that did stick around our non-South Asian friends heard almost never-ending criticism of the "brown group", quickly amended by "Oh, but you're not like that. You're basically white!". I'm reminded from a quote from the movie A Passage to India: "Then, if I agree, the English will be able to say, 'Here is an Indian that almost behaved like a gentleman. But for the color of his face, we might even let him join the club." I can look and "act" white all I want but the fact that I am Indian is inescapable, and for anyone to say that to me intended as a compliment, and for me to have received it as one, is tragic.
South Asians of South Brunswick, I urge you to be brown and unapologetically so. Address the divide, call people out, and recognize racism for what it is. Because the face of racism is not only "Go back to India!" but also "You're lucky you're 'American' enough for me to associate with you."
*Edit (11/13/13): As of the 2011-2012 school year, South Brunswick School District has, in fact, given the day off for Diwali, as opposed to an opt-out excused absence that was previously offered.
*Edit (11/13/13): As of the 2011-2012 school year, South Brunswick School District has, in fact, given the day off for Diwali, as opposed to an opt-out excused absence that was previously offered.
I completely disagree. I went to South Brunswick High school and not once in my four years was I ever seriously discriminated against for being brown. Did I hear brown jokes and curry jokes? Yeah but I also made pale jokes and sun burn jokes. I also made asian jokes and black jokes. You're in high school that's what you do. If you really wanted to meet white friends you easily could, the thing is most indians didn't want to. If anything Indians tend to segregate themselves automatically with things like Garba and Temptasian. From my experience Indians and specifically Indian parents tended to be the most racist and judgmental about other races. Hell indians would talk shit about other indians being "smelly, loud, nerdy, weird (FOBby)" or white kids being dumb and in easy classes or black people being ghetto. My point is that its high school and obviously some level of "racism" exists, but time and time again there are examples that this racism is not seriously bigotry and rather innocent high school immaturity. Hatred and bigotry stems from ignorance, how can they be ignorant about indians when they grew up around them? All in all our high school was very accepting towards indians as well as every other race, unless you can cite one well known example of bigotry other than casual remarks among friends. And if you think that's the problem, people making generalizations about races, then I feel like the only solution you'd be happy with is if everyone stood hand in hand singing kumbaya at the fireplace while also being colorblind. If you want to have a victim mindset, you can always find a way to feel like a victim. Or maybe I just have too much time trying not to study for my exams. Either way, I hope this was some kind of assignment for a class because this was a blatantly exaggerated piece attempting to draw sympathy from indians from a town that was and still is extremely accepting to us.
ReplyDeleteI only realized it when I left. When I left to do my first summer internship, the longest I'd been away from my frat brothers and college environment, I felt amazing. I felt amazing because (and this sounds disgusting) I felt amazing because I didn't feel like I was indian, I felt like I was just a part of the team. When I came back to college, I remember talking with another Indian brother who casually mentioned in conversation how he would "Die to Be White" and I found it extremely weird and off putting that he said that but no one else in the room even noticed. The environment enabled racism so much that we felt shitty for being indian, hated our cultural identity and longed to be white. In my head it had been programed: indian = shitty. But it like trying to see air, it was so accepted that it was practically invisible. I couldn't even doubt it in its midst, only with some outside context of how a normal non-racist environment was like could I see it for what it was! I suddenly thought about it, there were A LOT of racist policies in my fraternity. Brown Rules (a semi-joke rule that only 3 browns could be seen together in public), Only 2 Brown Pledges allowed each class, Make sure we have more white guys at sorority events then brown guys. I didn't, well couldn't, realize the subtle racism until I left the environment.
ReplyDeleteI want to apologize. I wrote that old comment when I was in high school when I mostly hung out around indians and never really saw racism against me. But In college I was mostly around white people (joined a fraternity) and was in a similar situation to what you described being in high school. Whenever I heard of fraternities being called racist, I was always at their defense. At the very least I would admit "Other fraternities were racist, but not mine!"
ReplyDeleteI only realized it when I left. When I left to do my first summer internship, the longest I'd been away from my frat brothers and college environment, I felt amazing. I felt amazing because (and this sounds disgusting) I felt amazing because I didn't feel like I was indian, I felt like I was just a part of the team. When I came back to college, I remember talking with another Indian brother who casually mentioned in conversation how he would "Die to Be White" and I found it extremely weird and off putting that he said that but no one else in the room even noticed. The environment enabled racism so much that we felt shitty for being indian, hated our cultural identity and longed to be white. In my head it had been programed: indian = shitty. But it like trying to see air, it was so accepted that it was practically invisible. I couldn't even doubt it in its midst, only with some outside context of how a normal non-racist environment was like could I see it for what it was! I suddenly thought about it, there were A LOT of racist policies in my fraternity. Brown Rules (a semi-joke rule that only 3 browns could be seen together in public), Only 2 Brown Pledges allowed each class, Make sure we have more white guys at sorority events then brown guys. I didn't, well couldn't, realize the subtle racism until I left the environment.