In my previous blog about the racial incident in Rochester Hills, I had forgotten to mention a quick conversation I had with an attendee at the meeting that was held to discuss the incident. The lady sitting at my table asked me how old my kids are and when she came to know that I have a 14 year old son, the same age as Brannan who was shot at for asking directions, she said, “wow, this could have happened to your son.” I respectfully disagreed. I said that I don’t think he would have been shot at. In my son’s case, he would be considered a good kid—good in studies, good for the school environment, and anything but a “trouble maker.” My son is not black, he is brown and that makes a huge difference.
And that’s exactly the reason that many brown folks I know, have no concern about racism in this country. Most of us brown folks fail to realize that most of our rights as citizens are because of the struggle of others, mainly that of African-Americans, who fought for social and racial justice.
When I landed in United States in 1990, for me, America was a country of whites. I knew there were blacks (it was only later that I learned the term African-American) in the United States but from what I understood while watching TV in India, that they were pretty insignificant.
When I landed to accomplish my master’s at Virginia Tech, I did not know the history of this country. For me it was my future, not the American past that mattered. This was/is the land of opportunity. A friend at Virginia Tech introduced me to race relations and American history when he lent me a cassette of the movie “Mississippi Burning.” I remember watching the movie on a Friday night, normally reserved for partying and a night of relaxation, before getting back to research work for graduate studies over the weekend. That started me on an on-going journey to learn more about the history of slavery in this country and its present effects.
Once I came to realize that this was not just Hollywood fiction, but a major part of American history. I was horrified. Since then, I have been very curious about the history of slavery in this country. And I have a lot to learn still.
The general focus for Indian sub-continent immigrants (by that I mean immigrants from India, Pakistan, and surrounding countries) landing in United States is education and securing their future in this country, economically. We work hard and don’t want to be distracted by involving ourselves in any social issues regarding this country. Most of our interactions are with other immigrants of our kind and whites, particularly in college campuses. After education, the usual move to a house in a suburb and voilá, the American dream is achieved.
Race relations and discrimination is a rarely discussed topic in social gatherings. I don’t remember ever being in a social gathering where the topic of discussion was the unjust shooting of African-Americans by police or Black Lives Matter etc. And if the topic is ever visited tangentially, it is always dealt with the attitude, “It is not my problem,” or “If we can make it, why can’t they?” Or “If you work hard in this country, whatever your background, you can make it.”
My brown friends fail to realize that just being brown and not black is a privilege in this country. They don’t have the historical context where blacks were treated as 3/5th human being. Also they don’t realize that American slavery was based on race and race alone. Racism is engrained in the history of the United States. This history is hard to learn and does not come easily but its effects are evident on a daily basis.
The color of one’s skin is very important in Indian sub-continent cultures. Growing up in India, I remember watching ads on TV about creams that will make you “fair and lovely.” From what I understand, Bollywood actors are still used in ads to sell those creams. Unfortunately, the culture there associates fair color with goodness and beauty.
I wish more of my fellow immigrants could understand that the reason they can live and thrive and are afforded the rights they have in the United States is because of the Civil Rights Movement. Bottom line, if African-Americans had not struggled and sacrificed to get their civil rights, we would not be in this country.
The good news is that our brown American kids are much more in tune with the history of this country and the current environment. They realize that their parents are hypocritical, while taking advantage of minority certifications for their businesses and all the advantages of American citizenship but never ever contributing anything for social, racial and economic justice in this country. These kids are our hope. And I hope they will participate fully for the equality of all human beings in all aspects in this country, and for that matter, the world.
My recommended list:
Reading
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Watching
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Frederick Douglas’s – “What to
Slave is the 4th of July”
The
Greatest: My Own Story : Mohammed Ali
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between
the World and Me
Ta- Nehesi Coates: The
First White President
Sylviane A. Diouf: Servants
of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle
Tom’s Cabin
Howard Zinn: A People's
History Of The United States
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13th – Netflix Documentary
Detroit – Movie
The Help - Movie
12 years a Slave - Movie
Roots – History Channel Documentary
Selma – Movie
Mississippi burning – Movie
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