Today
I am not writing about epilepsy. I need
to share something that has broad implications for the entire society.
Instead, I am reposting an essay called “Race and Privilege as an
Indian-American” that one of my high school friends wrote and posted on
Facebook. He lives in Birmingham,
Alabama and wrote in response to the beating of an elderly Indian gentleman in
Madison, Alabama.
I
have also included a link to the news story (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/police-use-force-always-black-white/) by the PBS NewsHour. At the 9:10 minute mark of the story, the man
being interviewed, a former police officer, says that the incident is not a
racial issue. I do not agree. You can watch/listen to the news report and
interview and see what you think.
I
welcome any comments.
Race
& Privilege as an Indian-American
by
Anoop Mishra
A
Hindu was gravely injured by a police officer in Madison, Alabama last week and
Indians are rightfully pretty upset. Solutions have ranged from “Hindu 101” training
for all police officers to community dialogue with the Indian-American
community. And that’s fine.
But
my initial thought was this: this is pretty good evidence of why Black History
Month should require engagement from a much broader community. February 2015
aside, we have gone through two years of celebrating various 50-year milestones
of the Civil Rights era, culminating in the historic Selma March ceremony next
month.
I
get the feeling that we spend more time waxing nostalgic about the past than
actually building on it. And I think that would drive people like Gandhi and
King crazy. Because if there’s anything that they would want us to avoid, it’s
“wheelhouse justice” – if the issue’s in my wheelhouse, I’m going to speak up;
otherwise, good luck with all that.
For
the last two generations, the Indian-American community in the U.S. has had a
pretty simple strategy: keep your head down, study/work hard, and be rewarded
financially. Because economic prosperity = economic power = “hey, we don’t need
to march!” The major advantage we have enjoyed is immigration law that
effectively has guaranteed a highly disproportionate number of educated and
high-skilled Indians even get into the U.S.
But
at some point, we need to understand that it’s not just about economic clout or
financial security or staying true to Indian heritage while assimilating into
American culture. It’s about engaging actively in Interconnectedness with our
whole community, all ethnicities and groups. Intellectually we affirm King’s
idea that “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” but
emotionally it’s not so easy to make the connection between Eric Garner’s death
in New York and Sureshbhai Patel’s treatment in Alabama.
So
what happened to Mr. Patel, a 57-year old Indian grandfather in Madison, AL,
struck a nerve. After the Trayvon Martin tragedy, President Obama remarked, “if
I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” Almost all of my generation of
Indian-Americans currently have or have had a relative like Mr. Patel – speaks
little English, is new to the U.S., wears extra layers of clothing because
sub-70 degree weather is effectively an Arctic blast, and loves to take morning
walks.
I
do not pretend to know all the details or the motives or have the solutions to
this. But I know that what happened was an injustice. And I also have a sincere
hope that in seeking a remedy, we move beyond wheelhouse justice – what’s best
for our Hindu community – and engage in a search for broader framework of
justice, one which recognizes our interdependence with other groups, whether
African-American, Muslim, Gay/Lesbian, Hispanic or another.
This
means first and foremost greater introspection. After 9/11, when Muslims were
being targeted, there was certainly sympathy and an outpouring of support among
many. When seven individuals were killed at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in 2012,
the same was true. However, there was also another message that many
Indian-Americans were conveying, usually indirectly but sometimes point blank:
“Don’t worry, I’m not Muslim.” The intent was self-preservation, not bigotry,
but the effect was the same. Rather than unite against unfair targeting, the
preferred approach was to deflect the hostility onto another even more
vulnerable group.
So
we need to re-think “privilege” – white privilege is a phrase that’s polarizing
and I’m not arguing for or against it. But I have no doubt that privilege
transcends skin color or race. Especially in hearing Mr. Patel’s story, it’s
pretty clear that I have benefited from privilege. Yes, I’m a Hindu in the
Bible Belt, a liberal in a Red state, and brown in a predominantly white
community. However, I was raised in the US, my English is really good, my
Southern is actually stronger than a lot of Americans' Southern, and my education/marital
status/outlook/socioeconomic status is pretty much in line with the Comfort
Zone for most people. I do not have the history of slavery and Jim Crow
associated with my skin color. I also do not wear a turban or a burqa.
I
have found that I can often (not always) "compensate" for my brown
skin with my language skills, clothing, and background to at least signal
"Hey - it's cool, I'm just like you!" But what happens if that’s not
part of your toolkit? Mr. Patel didn’t benefit from the privilege of ease
with English or a Southern accent; he didn’t have the luxury of simply smiling
and exercising the cultural trump card to play in these situations – a hearty
“Roll Tide!”
So
at least in my mind, there are some ways in which I benefit that really have
nothing to do with the “content of my character” – and that’s privilege. That’s
why it’s critical to know that as Indian Americans or as brown people, we are
not the same and are not perceived to be the same. Our commonalities can extend
across race and color as much as differences can be found within race and
color.
So
my hope is that we realize that when King said, “we are all caught in an
inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly” – he genuinely did mean
all.
Being
the nerd that many of you know me to be, I think back to a great book that I
read in college, "Showdown at Gucci Gulch" for a
Political Science class. The book chronicled why the 1986 Tax Reform Bill passed
even though just about everyone hated it. The premise was that all of the
opposing parties were so disjointed and unable to unify in their opposition
that the bill passed. Toward the end of the book, the authors noted that if
someone had simply held up a sign that said "everyone who wants to kill
this bill, come over here" - the bill would have been crushed.
Empowerment,
oppression and minority rights are complex issues and I certainly don't think
that every issue is the same or can be addressed with a broad brush solution -
but I keep looking for the sign that says "everyone who wants to eliminate
bigotry, come over here." At some point, if we as minorities can break
down the barriers among our own groups, I would be stunned if progress across
all didn't come quicker.
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