Indian Americans are very American and Indian Africans are very Indian. I wonder why.
1. Skin color prejudice still exists. Is this the reason for Indians, who are sort of in the middle of the color spectrum, are more drawn towards the perceived superior culture? I wish not.
2. Do people in developing countries care less about how cool you are, or if you are like everyone else or not? Or is it just the USA, including everyone in, but requiring them to behave as Americans more than anything else, to grant the inclusion at a deeper level?
3. Similarity in cultures means more tolerance and inclusion. Is it just the fact that India is so similar to Africa in many ways, that both cultures can easily co-exist and maintain their individuality?
4. More developed is more sophisticated and more sophisticated is better. So why not embrace it?
That makes me wonder how Africans feel in India. I think it would be similar to here, we wouldn't expect them to behave as Indians, however long they've been there. But that also might mean that we would never think of them as Indians, always as outsiders. Even if they completely embrace our culture. I think in India foreigners are always foreigners.
Sometimes I wonder why I wonder so much.
1. Skin color prejudice still exists. Is this the reason for Indians, who are sort of in the middle of the color spectrum, are more drawn towards the perceived superior culture? I wish not.
2. Do people in developing countries care less about how cool you are, or if you are like everyone else or not? Or is it just the USA, including everyone in, but requiring them to behave as Americans more than anything else, to grant the inclusion at a deeper level?
3. Similarity in cultures means more tolerance and inclusion. Is it just the fact that India is so similar to Africa in many ways, that both cultures can easily co-exist and maintain their individuality?
4. More developed is more sophisticated and more sophisticated is better. So why not embrace it?
That makes me wonder how Africans feel in India. I think it would be similar to here, we wouldn't expect them to behave as Indians, however long they've been there. But that also might mean that we would never think of them as Indians, always as outsiders. Even if they completely embrace our culture. I think in India foreigners are always foreigners.
Sometimes I wonder why I wonder so much.
Hey Aditi!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! Good to follow your thoughts and adventures over the summer.
You raise some very difficult and interesting issues - and they're all somewhat true.
But the crux of the issue boils down to how identity is defined and developed in each place. The US with its history of immigration tends to integrate everyone in - they have built a nation on the back of a common identity, especially in the face of having to reconcile so much ethnic diversity layered on top of it.
Elsewhere, immigration is neither big, nor is ethnic diversity an issue when it comes to defining national identity. It's not just Africa - even in Europe, especially non-British Europe, Indians tend to remain Indian.
So it's not so much about how Indians perceive themselves, and thus pick which ethnicities to emulate, but rather about how the system is set-up to allow Indians to fit into the larger national identity. It's not even about similarities across cultures - Africa and India are very different, and it's hard to say whether they are closer to one another vis-a-vis America.
What I find especially fascinating about East Africa is that Indians are considered to be a mercantile class (both respected and a little hated for it). No where else in the world are Indians perceived to be generally so commercially important - certainly helps in getting good treatment sometimes.
Keep writing !
Ghalib