Earlier this week a SM tipster (thanks Ami) sent us word of this article in Time Magazine that does a pretty good job of examining the second generation Asian American experience:
The American story is, of course, made up of successive influxes of immigrants who arrive in the U.S., struggle to find a place in its society and eventually assimilate. But the group of post-1965 Asians was different from the Jews, Irish and Italians who had landed earlier. The Asian immigrants’ distinctive physiognomy may have made it more difficult for them to blend in, but at the same time, their high education and skill levels allowed them quicker entrée into the middle class. Instead of clustering tightly in urban ethnic enclaves, they spread out into suburbia, where they were often isolated. And it was there that their kids, now 20 to 40 years old, grew up, straddling two worlds–the traditional domain their recently arrived parents sought to maintain at home and the fast-changing Western culture of the society outside the front door. The six people at the New York City dinner are members of that second generation and–full disclosure–so are we, the authors of this article.
In the paragraph above you see a very concise reason for why the experience of South Asian immigrants living in the U.S. is different from those living in European countries, and totally different from those living elsewhere abroad. The fact that immigrants here spread to isolated suburbs helped them assimilate more quickly, while at the same time encouraging them to embrace inclusiveness by identifying with other immigrant populations.
If you were to draw a diagram of acculturation, with the mores of immigrant parents on one side and society’s on the other, the classic model might show a steady drift over time, depicting a slow-burn Americanization, taking as long as two or three generations. The more recent Asian-American curve, however, looks almost like the path of a boomerang: early isolation, rapid immersion and assimilation and then a re-appreciation of ethnic roots.
I enjoyed this article because I felt that they were describing my own experience quite accurately.
As a child growing up in Pennington, N.J., Fareha Ahmed watched Bollywood videos and enthusiastically attended the annual Pakistan Independence Day Parade in New York City. By middle school, though, her parents’ Pakistani culture had become uncool. “I wanted to fit in so bad,” Ahmed says. For her, that meant trying to be white. She dyed her hair blond, got hazel contact lenses and complained, “I’m going to smell,” when her mom served fragrant dishes like lamb biryani for dinner. But at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Ahmed found friends from all different backgrounds who welcomed diversity and helped her, she says, become “a good balance of East meets West.” Now 23, she and her non-Asian roommates threw a party to mark the Islamic holiday ‘Id al-Fitr in November, then threw another for Christmas–which her family never celebrated. “I chose to embrace both holidays instead of segregating myself to one,” she says.Asian Americans say part of the reason it is so hard to reach an equilibrium is that they are seen as what sociologists call “forever foreigners.” Their looks lead to a lifetime of questions like “No, where are you really from?”
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p> Similar to the people interviewed here, for me the University experience was where the Boomerang began its return trajectory. I remember that my freshman year another Indian kid asked me “so what are you?” I thought to myself, “is he kidding? Doesn’t he know I am Indian by my name?” He was really asking me what state in India my parents were from. By the time I was 18 I was intellectually aware of the fact that India has many states with many different cultures and languages. At a gut-level though I just assumed that all Indians and Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were the same. They all spoke Gujarati at home and their parents acted just like my parents.
Many children of the Asian immigrants who came over in the 1960s and 1970s say they didn’t find that kind of self-affirmation until, like Fareha Ahmed, they got to college. Raymond Yang was one of only three Asians in a class of 420 at his high school in East Northport, N.Y. “I always felt like I was between worlds, especially in high school,” says Yang, 28, whose parents are Chinese. That interim place felt like his and his alone–until he got to Brown University. When Yang was a freshman in 1995, there were 854 other Asian Americans enrolled–a full 15% of the undergraduate student body. “It was sort of culture shock. I had never met kids like me,” he says. “We all grew up feeling the tension between trying to be Asian and trying to be American. We really bonded over the idiosyncrasies of being between two cultures.” During his senior year, he roomed with five other Chinese Americans, and his close friends included children of Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Indian and Korean immigrants.
And finally, here is the the most salient point. The clearest explanation yet for those people that visit our website that don’t understand why so many of us embrace the label South Asian:
…tension is common to generations of immigrants. But Jack Tchen, director of Asian/Pacific/American Studies at N.Y.U., says these second-generation immigrants are beginning to find a middle ground and to “define a new modern form of Asian modernity, not necessarily the same as American modernity.” That is what sociologists call identity building, and for the second generation, it is based not on a common ethnicity, faith or language (except English) but on shared experience.Which is what the six around the New York City table are discovering. For nearly three hours, they tell stories about their families, their work, their heartaches, their joys. They discuss their Asian identities and American habits.
Kal penn(kumar from harold and kumar) said some where its not like i am going to put on my SA’sian identy on today. For a lot of folks there isnt a boomrang effect at all. There is a significant %age of school age kids who werent effected by “fitting in”, “peer pressure” etc. My observation is based on mostly white americans. It appeared to me that the guidance councellors teachers were more worried about those things than most kids. I cant generalize much about the indians b/c there were only 3 indian kids in my school and 1 afghan who every one assumed was indian. The sample size was too small to generalize. There was a large number of asian population too. Apart from the recent vietnamese immigrants the rest asians behaved like whites. Ie they had a %age of population that was influenced or felt pressured to conform to a ‘cool standard’. But there was another group who didnt feel pressure to do so and did what ever they felt like. I personaly think that the group that peer pressure, fitting in crowd is an overblown phenomina, but i could be wrong b/c i may have gone to a wierd school…
No Canada is the one exception I think. They are the same as us…only different 🙂
????? Why cant kumar prefer his identity. You may choose to call yourself brown, SA, SL or whatever. Its upto him what identity he prefers. If he feels a kinship with the kashmiri pandits its upto him to hang out with them or create the identity. Also kashmiri pundits dont have a privelleged identity. you ought to learn more about topics before shooting off.
Bong breaker
Well, if you grew up in India you would be instantly aware of the cultural difference between yourself as an Indian and any Chinese or Korean or Japanese that you happened to meet. But for those growing up in the U.S., as second genners, whether Chinese or Korean or Indian, the Asian part of the identity would form a smaller percentage of the full identity while they shared a US identity in common. Thus, the cultural difference (as different types of Asians) would be more diluted and harder to pick up on. IMO.
One Up
Because Indians tend to be more prejudiced against African-Americans and there is a stronger stigma against such relationships. Of course it doesn’t only indicate assimilation when Indians date African Americans. It could just be for no reason or any reason. I have a friend who only dates black men and that seems a bit odd too.
call me dabbu:
think its a fact usually underappreciated(and at most, reluctuantly acknowledged)by many second generation kids and many first generation people the3mselves that if someone decides to leave ones family/home/past and travels half-way across the globe to start a new life ,thats a remarkable success story in itself(even if you are a cabbie,slurpee etc etc)
I doubt all 2gens feel this way. Immigration could just as easily be viewed as an act of betrayal, which forced the “progeny” into cogenital alienation and unwanted hybridity. Some celebrate this in a peculiar, postmodern way, but others I know definitely resent it.
Wow, this has been an interesting thread.
I personally had my accent neutralization course from a linguist/phoneticist that a dated a year ago: a Henry Higgins to me playing Eliza Doolittle 🙂
It just hits me how much animosity seems to exist against 1-gen immigrants. It’s impossible for us to get it right, is it? Your own country sees you as a traitor and your children despise you, all this while living in a foreign culture. Why do we even do it, then? Are you guys completely against the concept of immigration?
Why is it so difficult for some people to realize that 1-gens may have their own struggles to face, whether you are a cabbie of a computer nerd? Yeah it’s even true for an IIT grad or a Silicon Valley grunt who merely “conforms and grovels to get a paycheck”. God, why is it so difficult for people to think of other people as human?
I am envious of 2-gens to see that you do have support groups that help you deal with the process of “identity confusion” (like this website!). Personally, as a 1-gen who likes lots of things about American culture, I find it a lonely road. Most of my best friends here are hyphenated-American who understand the process of assimilation, including the “boomerang” or the “S” effect 🙂
Sorry for the rant, but it’s just depressing to see so many stereotypes and haters out there…
I hate to say it technophobegeek but you just exemplified what irks many second geners. There is no “confusion.” Any animosity that is shown toward first genners is almost always directed toward people who assume that if you were born or grew up in America then you must be confused. This website certainly wasn’t created to clear up any confusion. If anything I like to think that we confuse people more.
There is a hughe variation in outlooks and affiliation amongst gen 1 and gen 2 populations and not to mention 1.5. My observation is that there are some gen2 types who are less accepting of this. For them some how its their god given right to shove their veiwpoints as the sole viewpoints.
And my observation is that there are some gen 1 types who are less accepting of this. For them some how its their god given right to shove their viewpoints as the sole viewpoints. I often battle those types in the comments section of my post. 🙂
If you see the battles over identity in the comment section they have started when a gen2 type like in this thread thinks that a) some one is a criminal for identifying himself as kashmiri pundits or that Indians is a subset of SAsian. This was similar to what some one did by saying sikhs are hindus.
Dude, right now you are exemplifying the very close-minded type of person you are ostensibly railing against. You took one comment by an anonymous reader and you are using it to make sweeping generalizations using the logic “they started it.” If you think someone is being a troll then ignore them. Don’t let them cause you generalize thereby affirming their position.
Dude if you read my original post i said “some”. I should have been more clear. There is a minority in second gen types that i see my above mentioned pattern in. An analog of similar behavior in 1st gen is quite less. you’d be hardpressed to find a gen1 who wouldnt state that there are multitudes of viewpoint. The majority on gen 2 is aware of the huge variation and has accepted it. An even greater majority of gen1 has been aware of that viewpoint since childhood.
The majority on gen 2 is aware of the huge variation and has accepted it. An even greater majority of gen1 has been aware of that viewpoint since childhood.
How do you know that 1st gens are more accepting of diverse viewpoints than 2nd gens.
If you are basing the above on your anecdotal evidence, would you agree with my anecdotal evidence that:
2nd gens are less homophobic, racist and elitist as compared to the first gen.
Yes, and I say bs. You are simply making up “numbers” based upon what you want to believe. That is called generalizing and could be considered shoving your opinion as fact. What is “some,” and what is “quite less?” Do you know how many first gen bloggers out there think we are “bigots” for using the term “South Asian,” and say so on their blogs? You are simply saying that you believe first gens are more accepting of differences and that more second gens want to shove their opinions down peoples throats. I know that you are wrong. So where does that leave us? Nowhere. So why leave silly comments like that which you know will generate a forceful response?
Do you know how many 2nd gen indians i know here. Its based on conversations and observation with them It is generalization you bet. Why cause thats how people work. No one I dont conduct a survey of every one they know, neither did you do a survey of all the folks here or on the web. Any ways if you want to argue my observation vs your fine consider your self winner. And i know that you are wrong 🙂
Hmmmmm, arguing about whether it’s 2nd or 1st gen’ers who are less tolerant of diverse opinions is like arguing one political party is more corrupt than the other. You’re bound to find plenty of ammunition for either side……
Okay, that reads confusingly. I guess I’m still sore that the Bears lost……
Not as sore as I am on the Colts loss. What a game!
Hey Al M – Ben Roethlisberger has a typepad blog (here)! Lots of gals named Kayla seem to leave comments – or maybe it’s just one person named Kayla. Okay. Sorry. This is totally off-topic. I am now off to search his blog for any desi commenters, for which to justify wasting this comment space on Sepia Mutiny.
(continuing the thread-jacking) i’m pretty sore about the patriots’ implosion. i’m rooting for pittsburgh and carolina next week. that steve smith is a baaad muhfuh.
ahhh… yes… confusing aint it… and having just landed off an air canada flight with not one but two scrumptious sepiate flight attendants… i tell you … the differences are very acceptable.
yes luv, i would like some more chai and then a namaskar, sat shree akal and khuda hafiz to you too 🙁
What, nothing about Nidhi Khurana? I’m disappointed guys.
dh said:
Dang…everytime I’ve flown by them there mostly old hags.
well… the senior staff was older … but i think the airline’s taken a strategic decision to cater to the indian customers (what a novel concept) on the trans-atlantic route and these were the seedlings – a far cry from a lufthansa flight some 15+ years back when they offered me a veal dinner – this time there were masala cholay, kheer, raita, tikkis, samosas, dal, saffron rice, soonf,… and ginger-chai – plus the trilingual cuties of course.
here’s my request of y’all… next time – ask for chai or indian tea on your international flights if they’re not serving any… enough critical mass and this might just become a regular affair. also had a very pleasant experience by way of food flying air sahara… down side was that spicy food should have been avoided by my neighbor in the early hours… i spent a good 2 hours leaning away from her into the aisle until we landed
on another down-note, the tea they’re serving in airports and aiting rooms is the dip and sip kind out of a machine – bland stuff.
saala sabko banna hai doctor ya engineer aur itna natak! tsk tsk .. we are all brothers and sisters … just one big brown lump of protoplasm
i feel that even the desi canadian experience was different, at least back in the day–maybe it’s different immigration laws, maybe it’s the slightly diffferent culture (b/w the u.s and canada) that is more pronounced in certain parts of the u.s….though now, in 2005, the experience may not be so different.