JAINA Convention 1991 07 Northern California

SR No.: 527513
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA
Publication Year: 1991
Total Pages: 108
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Convention JAINA, & USA
File Size: 12 MB

Page 57

JAINA CONVENTION YOUTH SOUVENIR SECTION
Indo-Americans receive best, worst of two distinct cultures
Often, young people try so hard to "fit in" that they end up giving up or losing too much of their parents' culture and heritage. There are, of course disadvantages to being Indo-American, but they are greatly outweighed by the advantages.
You must not think of being Indian or being American but as being both. In doing so you have the special opportunity to experience the best of both cul
tures.
Advantages
First, you should ask yourself, "what does it mean to be an American?" Did you know that by the year 2000, no one race will represent more than 50% of Californians. Why am I telling you this? Because young people always want to fit in and are afraid of being different. But different from what when there is no majority population?
America is a very diverse culture, and Indo-Americans are a part of that diversity. It is a sad fact that, even with such diversity, the average American cannot locate the United States on a globe nor tell you the population of the United States. As an Indo-American, you have the advantage of sharing two different perspectives, both Indian and Ameri
can.
If people stopped expressing their identity, life would get extremely boring. If everyone tried to be "American", we wouldn't be able to get Chinese, Indian, Mexican, or Italian food. Just think of how boring it would be if all you had to choose from was pizza, macaroni, spaghetti and Doritos®. Many non-Indian friends of mine love Indian food. Not only would we lose the different types of food but we wouldn't have Chinatowns of Japantowns to visit or cultural fairs to attend.
Other advantages of being IndoAmerican is that you get to hear Indian
by Sudhanshu Jain, Redwood City, CA
music and to watch Indian movies in addition to being able to watch and hear all the stuff your friends do. Many of your friends have probably never even had the choice. You get to pick.
Many "Americans" may never have been outside of the United States. You, most likely, have been to the other side of the planet, and it is both interesting and important to see and to compare how different people live all over the world.
Also, you, unlike many others, probably know at least two languages. This gives you many advantages both for pleasure and business. It is always better to know the local language when you travel because then you can communicate with people there. There are also bilingual career opportunities available. As companies become more and more international, they need people who can speak several languages.
Disadvantages
There are racists in this world who will not like you simply because they think you are different. In fact, they may even become violent against you. We have all seen graffiti that is discriminatory and downright hateful towards certain races. Violent acts against people solely because of race, religion, or color are called "hate crimes", and the number of such crimes is increasing.
Before you dismiss this as something that only happens to other people like Blacks of Chinese, let me describe an incident of racial violence against Indians, called "dot-busting", that took place.
Several years ago, an Indian family started a convenience store in a poor, New Jersey neighborhood. The family worked very hard to run the store and were successful. However some of the local residents became jealous and attacked the Indian store owners, causing serious injury. The anti-Indian residents
6TH BIENNIAL JAINA CONVENTION For Private & Personal Use Only
even formed a "club" whose purpose was to get all Indians out of Jersey City. These people claimed that the Indians would not hire the locals and only hired other Indians. Maybe the store owners thought that Indians would be better workers. Such discrimination is not right and certainly not a justification for violence either. More recently, there have been similar cases in New York City involving Koreans who run convenience
stores.
The reason why I bring this issue up is because, whenever the economy gets bad, violent incidents like this tend to increase because people begin to blame other people for their misfortune. In order to prevent such incidents in the future, it is necessary for all of us to work together to pass or strengthen laws forbidding such "hate crimes". We also need to educate people to clear misconceptions about indians and to help these people understand our culture better.
Another disadvantage is one that is faced by all new immigrants: the culture gap. For people whose parents grew up in America, they have the benefit of the experiences of their parents in high school and college. There are things like clubs and sports in high school in which their parents may have participated. There are also things such as college dorms and fraternities which they may have experienced. One of the most different customs, compared to life in India, is dating and events such as school dances and proms, which is completely alien to many Indian immigrants, yet will be faced most youths here.
There are advantages and disadvantages to everything. Not everything "American" is better, and not everything "Indian" is better. You, as an IndoAmerican are very fortunate to have the opportunity to see both sides. Be proud of your heritage.
JULY 1991 · 55
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