Professor says Indians prefer dual identity in U.S.
THE University of Guyana (UG) Office of the Pro-Chancellor, hosted a lecture on ‘Indian Diaspora in the United States (U.S.)’ at the National Library in Georgetown.
Among those in attendance were First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar; UG Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Prem Misir; Acting Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Marlene Cox; former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UG Tota Mangar and Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission, Mrs. Leila Ramson. The lecturer was Dr. Parmatma Saran, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Baruch College, City University of New York.
He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology in 1975 and secured full professorship in 1989. He commenced his academic career in the U.S. at Baruch College in 1969 with an affiliation at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center in 1987.
The courses he teaches include on race relations, ethnicity, minority groups, new immigrants and India, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
He is the author of several books and numerous articles and recipient of grants and awards from several organisations, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for Humanities, the American Anthropological Association, the American Sociological Association, the International Congress of Sociology, Columbia University, the CUNY and the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Saran, in his thorough and insightful presentation, said, around the mid-1960s, a number of Indians were migrating to the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom (UK) among other places.
What differences
Basing the talk on his paper titled ‘Asian Indian experience in the U.S. then and now’, he said it was written to see what differences have taken places since Indians started going to the U.S.
He said, as there were a lot of changes in the immigration laws of the U.S. in 1965, Indians started going there around 1969-1970 and, in the earlier phase of their stay, the main focus was to establish themselves financially and professionally.
“However, they were equally concerned about providing a good education to their children and organising and participating in Indian social and cultural activities in order to maintain their Indian identity, particularly for their children,” Saran posited.
He said, earlier, in terms of their identity, they saw themselves only as Indians and, in his paper, an attempt is made to see how, in the past 30 to 40 years, their priorities have changed. The writing also examined what new challenges they are facing, particularly, in the context of family, religion and other experiences of their lives.
Saran sought to give some insights on the issue of Indian identity and to what extent it has changed and why they see themselves not only as Indians, as they did in the past, but “now also as Indian Americans”.
He touched on their experiences in the context of family, religion, economics, employment, politics, culture and identity maintenance.
He said he, essentially, wanted to examine to what extent Asian Indians in the U.S., particularly in the New York area, are maintaining their Indian identity and, at the same time, adapting to American culture.
In his previous studies, he said there was clear evidence in favour of strongly maintaining their Indian identity. However, based on observation and informal interviews, he found that, increasingly, Asian Indians are also identifying themselves with the American way of life and society and are in favour of a dual identity as both Indian and American.
Saran reiterated that, as in the past, they do not see themselves only as Indian but also an Indian American and, in that, they trying to find a middle ground.
The speaker said this process involves a lot of negotiations and compromises and is a complex one.
“For the Asian Indians as they were known then or Indian Americans as they are known now, America symbolised a land of opportunities,” he noted.
He said, in 1965, immigration and nationality laws not only changed the quota of immigration but also the quality of people who migrated, stating that the new wave of immigration mostly took people with the skills and high level of education.
Highly motivated
He said those who came from India were well qualified professionals, had immigrated voluntarily and were highly motivated to become part of the American dream and immigration and immigrant has always been an integral part of American society and history.
Saran said it has become imperative for them to acquire a new stock of knowledge in order to participate in the transaction of every life and the Indian immigrants in America were obviously confronted with the dilemma of being viewed by others as different.
He pointed out that, in terms of family, patterns of relationship between the spouses and children have experienced some difficulties, even though they are not significant, in the sense that they remain traditional but less authoritarian.
He said most parents are overly concerned about maintaining an Indian identity and raising their children in the Indian way.
“Indian enthusiasm for maintaining Indian traditions, especially within the context of family, makes parents often lose sight of the limitations their children might have of living up to their parental expectations. If parents fail to recognise these limitations, and most often they do, they are likely to be disappointed. Some parents are quite unreasonable and place their demands to such an extent that the child either gives in or revolts,” Saran observed.
He said such incidents are common and have become a major source of conflict and tension in Indian families residing in the U.S.
“This is the most important consequence of migration for the Asian Indian population and must be dealt with accordingly,” Saran cautioned.
He said maintenance of Indian heritage and identity is very important for the population – religious functions, festivities and practices are considered to be an important vehicle for achieving that purpose.
Parents with young children are particularly active in observing religious functions and visiting temples, he said.
“Thus, religiosity among Indian immigrants has not declined because of immigration. On the contrary, it is clear that there is better consciousness of religion and a need to practice some religious rituals individually as well as community. It is also seen as helpful in maintaining their Indian identity,” he concluded.
Touching on education, he said the very nature of immigration laws of 1965 was such that it only allowed people of high level of education and professional background and, as a result, an overwhelming majority of Indian immigrants possess high educational qualifications and it has also been noted that despite their high qualifications, they continued to enhance their education, in American universities.
He said, as a result, one rarely saw Indians working at the gas station, driving a cab, working in a restaurant or any manual jobs. But, in recent times, particularly in metropolitan areas, it has become common.
He said the children of these immigrants are, so far, maintaining high educational achievement standards and it is expected that, at least among the children of the first generation immigrants, it will be maintained.
Important group
In terms of politics, he said, as of the 1980s, Indian immigrants have been active in American politics and while they belong to both Republican and Democratic parties, now they are also seen as an important group of people in terms of numbers.
He said, initially, their involvement was marginal, mostly as fund-raisers but, currently, two Asian Indians are Governors of two States and some are members of the State Senates and Assemblies and others are serving at local levels.
“It is clear that even though this community is relatively new and it is small in number, it is already recognised as a political force and big in fund-raising by both the Republican and Democratic parties,” he asserted.
“The first generation has made their mark in politics even though it may not be considered significant. They certainly have set the stage for the second generation to actively participate in the political process. It seems that, in the very near future, we are going to see more and more Indians running for public offices, getting elected and making an impact on American politics,” he forecast.
“We can safely say that Indian immigrants have done quite well in jobs and employment and their economic status is quite comfortable,” Saran offered.
He said his study of Asian Indians indicates that “the ethnic group of immigrant Indians do not live in isolation, but co-exist with a multicultural American society.”
“Indian immigrants have adapted to the extent required for the functional necessity of living and working in American society. Thus, they work with professional competence, speak the language of the whole society, wear western dresses, also eat American food, develop a taste for American music and sport and celebrate American festivals,” Saran reported.
He said they can be viewed as a group who avail themselves of economic opportunities and adapts the accepted behavioural patterns of American society in order to participate in the affairs of daily life.
At the same time, though, they endeavour to maintain their Indian value system, their beliefs and customs, their language, food, religion, rituals and festivals and such and their commitment to their family continues to persist.
Their experience can be seen as very close to the Jewish experience, maintaining their identity very strongly while participating in the mainstream of American society.
“They see themselves both as Indians as well as Americans. During the earlier phase of their stay in America, they, essentially, saw themselves as Indians. However, now they have accepted a dual identity of being Indian American,” he reiterated.
He said this experience of Indian immigrants in the U.S. is not unique, as it is well known that Indian immigrants have kept very close ties with India wherever they went and maintain Indian culture and identity in a strong way.
“Additionally, societies are increasingly becoming multicultural and multi-ethnic. The ideology of cultural pluralism has prevailed and we are becoming part of a global village,” he stated.
He referred to this phase as ‘You can take Indians out of India but not India out of them’, concluding:“This phrase pretty much goes to also my population, even though there has been acculturation to some extent.”