Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 6 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 3 months ago by
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I live an area with a large population of people from India, and I find they will speak to whites and Asians and people from their own background, but will avoid black people, especially black men. Some of these people are twice as dark as I am, and they don’t see themselves as black. I don’t understand it. Is there a history of dislike for other people of color, Africans, black Americans, etc., among people from India? I am nice to everyone, and I speak to all.
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Name : Tony, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 44, City : Cincinnati, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : Senior executive, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,It’s not really that there is a history of dislike between Asian Indians and blacks. Most Indians living in this country are immigrants. What they know about America comes from internationally broadcast American media and word of mouth from family in America, who have limited experience with blacks, outside of TV, themselves. And you know what images of blacks are in American mass media.
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Name : Amanda31512, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 20, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,What a lot of people don’t know is that the caste system in India is also a system of race. All the darker-skinned Indians are at the bottom of the system, and all the lighter-skinned ones are at the top. Because Asians and white people don’t have the stigma associated with skin color (in most cases) they are not automatically viewed as low-class, ‘ghetto,’ whatever you want to call it. Black people, on the other hand (including other dark-skinned Indians), are automatically conceived of as less and are treated like pariah. I know this is true because of conversations I have had with Indian friends who have lived in Africa, and from speaking with people from Trinidad and Tobago, an island with an equal proportion of black people and Indians. This racism is not true of every Indian person you come across, but when you encounter it, the caste/color thing is definitely in play.
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Name : Carlford Wadley, Gender : M, Religion : Christian, Age : 21, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,I agree with Ms. Amanda. As an Indian, it’s only through the media and friends who live in the United States that we come to know about this country. I differ with Mr. Calford on some of the points he has touched upon. Young people in India are very tired of this casteism, and most of the people never ask about another’s caste and stuff like that. The caste system was not at all part of the religion. It’s based on the occupation.
On the issue of light skin and dark skin, I would like to point out that as an agricultural country, the people who work in the sun will naturally be dark-skinned, and the light-skinned people will be those in professions where they don’t have to spend much time in the sun.
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Name : Padmanabhan19840, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Indian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 31, City : Santa Clara, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College,I used to live in Delhi, India, and I observed a great deal of discrimination against the large population of African students living there, sometimes as overtly as being denied entrance to certain establishments. There are many reasons. Thousands of years ago, when the Indo-Aryans invaded India, caste was defined by the shade of one’s skin. While that does not hold true today, there is still a stigma attached to being dark. The Indian aesthetic of beauty, particularly for women, is that of fair skin. British colonialism only served to entrench these attitudes. So does ‘Baywatch.’ The portrayal of African Americans in the media serves to enhance the stereotype that black people are dangerous and violent; frequently in India I was asked what America was doing about the ‘black problem.’ And I also think the stigma of Africa, one of the few places in the world economically worse off than India, is damaging in itself (nations steeped in poverty, like India, often carry a collective national shame). It is very possible that a first-generation Indian would bring these prejudices to the United States. But I think it can be safely said that second-generation Indo-Americans are free from these derogatory stereotypes.
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Name : Lisa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I feel quite ashamed of my fellow Indians, going by what you say. I don’t know of any history of dislike for African Americans or people of darker coloring – in fact, I am certain there isn’t any, at least here in India. However, I do know a lot of Indians are enchanted by white skin, so to speak. Then again, many Indians move abroad but are rarely able to develop the social skills required of that particular region. I don’t think this answers your question in entirety, but I just felt obliged to respond. Apologies on behalf of the Indians who live around you.
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Name : Srivi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 27, City : Bangalore, State : n/, Country : India, Occupation : writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I’m an Indian living in Alabama. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no history of dislike for people based on skin colors in India. Everyone of us from India comes in different skin colors but are not biased on the color type at all. I’m not sure why a well educated, well employed person like you faced that situation, but please do not form an opinion that is negative, true people have different mentalitites irrespective of their race/ethnicity/religion, but I think there might be few other reasons for this happening. Are you physically well built (more than average) and can easily come off as an intimidating personality? The reason is not many people, be it of any race, are comfortable with people more physically stronger than themselves. Also, if I’m lost on the road and need to ask someone about directions, I’d prefer someone well shaven and normally dressed (just by intuition) or even better, a cute looking girl! Another important factor is language, I’m more used to Caucasian accent and it comes easy maybe because I see more movies which usually have a majority of white characters talking. That could be a reason, too, if you’ve a heavy accent of your own. If you feel my reasoning is out of place, I’m plain sorry that it has happened to you, but I assure you if you find the open minded guy/girl (guy preferred, Indian women are more conservative than you’d expect) of the lot and interact normally, you’ll find your inhibitions fading or even better other people’s inhibitions about you fading. To my experience we’re well networked as any immigrant population is among themselves, and news that there’s a really nice/helpful guy in the locality passes around easily.
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Name : Raj, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 24, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,
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