Hinduphobia: Intolerance, racial and religious
'I do hope the Patel family sues the hell out of the state of Alabama, and I hope the Hindu American Foundation and other community organisations are helping with legal aid and monetary support.'
'For, there is reason to believe that it is religious and racial bias that led to the incident: In other words, a hate crime. There is no reason to suffer that silently,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
I was in the San Francisco Bay Area last week. So far as I can tell, the #BlackLivesMatter protests (external link) over police brutality in the shooting of teenaged Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, have run their course, and we are back to business as usual.
In the meantime, of course, President Barack Obama has made two rather unfortunate speeches alleging religious discrimination in India. Given American moralising, this is par for the course -- but two incidents suggested that the emperor is the one without clothes.
One could make the case that there is considerable phobia against non-Christians in the US, and on occasion this has led to violence. Of course, there is much racial discrimination as well. Blacks have long complained about the 'driving while black' syndrome, whereby a random black driver is far more likely to be stopped and questioned by police than a white: They are in effect guilty until proved innocent.
On the other hand, in a recent book, Ghettoside, Los Angeles Times reporter Jill Leovy shows how rampant crime against blacks goes unpunished, as the police don't care to investigate adequately. I'd like to ask the sanctimonious POTUS, 'Wouldn't Martin Luther King be shocked that happens to blacks?' It appears Mississippi Burning is relevant even today, 50 years after civil rights marchers Schwerner, Goodman and Cheney were murdered by bigots.
Racial prejudice by the police affects browns as well, as in the sad case of Sureshbhai Patel, a 57-year-old Indian grandfather visiting his developmentally-challenged, 17-month-old grandchild.
Patel was slammed to the pavement by a white policeman, paralysing him. His crime? 'Walking while brown': All Mr Patel did was walk in the neighbourhood where his son lives in Alabama. A neighbour complained that a 'black man in his 30s was walking in driveways, peering into garages.'
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1 comment:
Great article. You hit the nail on the head. However, I would add a few things - It's definitely true that Americans do treat Hindus well and we have religious freedom and we have overall had very great opportunities. HOWEVER - we should never be foolish enough to believe that we are accepted as equals. There is a lot of white rage. The whites are angry as hell. They feel they are losing their country. Also as much as they might deny. Christianity is the face of white supremacy. The white christian caste system is far more strict than the Hindu one. Your skin is your uniform. Blacks have their churches and whites have their churches. If blacks dare to go to a white church they will be greeted with violence by the police.
Racism is inculcated via the church. Segregation begins and ends on Sunday morning.
I know we all might feel safe but when things like this happen, it shakes you out of your comfort zone. It's good this poor old Indian man got an apology from the Governor of Alabama, the cop was arrested and fired, and there was a stink raised about the police violence because the poor old man was an INDIAN citizen. If Mr. Patel were an American citizen nothing would have happened to the cop.
One thing I will teach you about dealing with whites - very nice polite civilized people. However there is always a deep seated resentment they have for anyone non-white. It's a slow boil covered by a thin veneer of civility. They love their own race. They believe in the inherent superiority of their race which is a complete falsehood...but they believe it. It's their way of coping with integration with non-whites.
As Indians we should always have one foot in our Motherland. Whites are actually more respectful of non-white foreigners than they are of non-white US citizens. It seems strange but it's true.
As long as they see us as "foreign" we can enjoy the fruits of the US but still maintain a margin of safety from any potential rage.
Obviously there are exceptions. There is a lot of intermarriage and Indians have integrated well into US society. However, when these things happen it shakes you out of your comfort zone and you realize that no matter what, we are different.
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