South Asians must fight for Black lives as well
I remember an elderly relative asking me in Hindi in the middle of my fifth-grade birthday party, “Why do you have so many Black friends?” My 10-year-old self had no answer, but decades later I still remember the discomfort of that moment.
Another time, in temple, an aunt asked me if I felt safe at my magnet program at my high school. She wanted to send her kid there but worried about the “bad neighborhood” with predominantly Black residents. I demurred but didn’t have the words to call out the inappropriateness of the conversation.
As the daughter of Indian immigrants, I am no stranger to xenophobia and racism.
Yet when the Black Lives Matter protests began, I started to reflect on the anti-Black racism in my own community. Growing up in Florida, I avoided the racism I encountered rather than confronting it. But that was a mistake. We only hurt ourselves if we don’t fight for justice for Black people.
Our Black brothers and sisters have been fighting to dismantle systemic racism in this country for centuries. Without the civil rights movement of the 1960s, my parents would not have been welcome to immigrate from India to the United States in the 1980s. Without the Supreme Court fight in Loving v. Virginia that legalized interracial marriage only 53 years ago, I would not have been allowed to marry my white husband. We need to recognize that supporting Black people in this fight for justice will improve equality for everyone.
Now, as Indians and Black people alike proudly embrace Kamala Harris as a vicepresidential candidate, we have even more opportunity for our communities to come together.
To my Indian and South Asian community, I call us to action to fight the anti-Black racism in this country. We can start with the following:
Educate ourselves: Learn that the history of all people of color in this country is possible because of the struggles for freedom that Black people fought before us. Martin Luther King, Jr. adopted the idea of ahimsa, or nonviolence, from Gandhi. Our history is their history. We are not separate.
Confront the racism in our community: I will teach my son to have better answers than I did when experiencing antiBlack racism from those close to me. Young people — take the time to have the difficult conversations with your Nanas and Dadis and Aunties and Uncles who may hold racist views.
VOTE. Vote, vote, vote. Get everyone you know to vote in local, state and national elections. Whatever your beliefs are, participate in the process. This is no time for minorities to sit out the election, and especially with Florida’s history with presidential elections, we know how much every vote counts. Electing the people to office who care about the issues we care about is the way toward long-term, systemic change.
This time of reckoning brings an opportunity to change the direction of our country, and Indians can be on the right side of history as allies to the Black community.