Guess what? Virginia ain’t just for lovers no more. It is also for Indian Americans. Well, at least on January 26th of every year:
Virginia will celebrate January 26 as Indian-American Day in recognition of the community’s contribution to the State.
A legislation to this effect was recently passed by its legislature.
“Over the past year, I have come to realize how much the Indian-American community contributes to the Commonwealth. In appreciation of their efforts and all they have done for the Commonwealth and its people, it is my pleasure to announce the creation of Indian-American Day in Virginia,” Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling said. [Link]
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p>Let me rephrase that quote by Bolling so that it is slightly more honest. “Over the past year, I have come to realize that you shouldn’t refer to brown people as Macacas but rather, you should make dosas with them.”
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p>Although this is bound to upset some of our more sensitive readers, I do wish they had been more inclusive and called it “Macaca-American Day” instead. The way I see it, we have nearly 10 months to plan. How are we going to celebrate our own day?
“The face of Virginia is changing and the immigrant community is a powerful force in urban and suburban Virginia,” Bolling said, adding that he wanted to do everything he could to reach out to the immigrant community and build a ‘better’ Virginia.
“During my campaign for Lieutenant Governor I made a promise to the Indian-American community. I promised to do my best to develop closer ties with them and involve them more in the leadership of Virginia,” he said. [Link]
And speaking of overrunning states, here is this interesting tidbit from Texas:
India House Inc. received a $1 million donation today at its foundation-stone laying ceremony, marking the beginning of construction on the southwest Houston community center…<
p>[Houston Mayor Bill] White said he wanted to offer thanks on behalf of all Houstonians for what “the Indian-American community does here in this great city and for what it offers in additional services … for other Houstonians here in this great India House.”
The city of Houston has given India House a $500,000 community development block grant.
The center, which will cost between $18 million and $20 million, will promote Indian-American culture and provide social, health care and referral services for everyone — regardless of their ethnicity. [Link]
In the 2000 census of the 7,000,000 people in Virgina only 55,000 were of Indo-American background which at time made them 0.8% of the population. I guess in the last 7 years they may have passed the 1% mark, but still that is a very low % of the population.
i’m really into macaca-american day and would be happy to spearhead the entertainment. haha. abhi, i continue to love your posts!
Don’t forget that Virginia has a desi brother in the cabinet – Aneesh Chopra, Secretary of Technology!
We should see more such initiatives in the coming days.
i say we all invade virginia that day, wear our ‘who you calling macaca?’ tshirts, and have a parade in honor of sr siddarth (he can be grand marshall)….. and as for the houston center… i think you’ve found home base for your future meetups :)…
Awright that does it.
I expect to see all youse here in the state capitol on the 26th.
Especially YOU Abhi.
Bearing gifts of food ‘cuz Coach love to eat.
I think we should not only wear the t-shirts, but march past George Allen’s house on the way to the state capitol.
obviously ;0)…
we could have sort of a million macaca march moment.. with samosa/chaat stops every few miles or so… and no gatorade… it’s all about ‘chai’… or ‘madrasi coffee’…
mm.. samosa/chai sounds good, i’ll get the macacaroni and cheeze
Allen’s office is in the same building as one of the gyms I train for.
I’m so there.
I’m guessing that in spite of being such a small percent of the population, this is because we add a much larger percent to the economy of the state and perhaps even to political campaign funds.
That and the whole Macaca incident, which certainly gained us some attention.
Well this is interesting but I am wondering why are they singling out Indian-Americans to have an Indian-American Day. I don’t think this is the best way to show Virginia’s promotion of inclusiveness – it connotes minority model connotations. Are there other days in other states (or in Virginia) that single out a particular minority and uphold them? Why does a small minority group warrant a day in their honor? Is it because the Indian-American population is very economically successful – these are not rhetorical questions but if any can answer them, it’ll help me understand if I think this is a good thing or is it a divisive thing among the state’s many minorities.