While I usually try to avoid addressing political/controversial topics through this blog,
Joel Stein's article in TIME magazine is so overtly offensive towards my people, I felt compelled to write a letter and post it (since I'm not certain it will get published).
I have seen multiple Indian leaders and business-owners try to disguise their "Indian-ness" through name-changing (ahem- Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley) or more indirect means (avoiding any mention of being Indian), so for the record, Brevity & Wit was founded, is owned, and is operated by a woman of Indian descent with an American passport whose only geographic loyalty is to New York.
Without further ado, the letter--
Dear Editor:
I can't begin to explain the rational and visceral anger I felt after reading Joel Stein's article on "immigration" in New Jersey ("xenophobia" would have been a more appropriate term, especially given his claim that we should all have Western--i.e., Chrisitian or Jewish--names).
Putting aside the obvious insults about our smelly food (do you think a guy who eats a quarter-pounder doesn't reek?) and religion (we don't worship gods with multiple arms--we represent God's mutli-faceted nature through complex imagery that even children don't take literally), Mr. Stein's article is not only erroneous, but also dangerous because it perpetuates myths about poverty and race relations. India is not poor because of our "even-less-bright cousins" and current rates of illiteracy, but because England and other European nations raped and pillaged our wealth for centuries.
The obvious Western response is that a "brighter" nation would have protected itself. But after 33 years as an Indian-American, I've determined that the essential difference between Western and Indian culture is this-- if someone takes advantage of my generosity, American culture says I'm the idiot for being a doormat, but Indian culture blames the perpetrator for being guileful and careless with my kindness. The reason Indians are hesitant to "assimilate" (I won't even go into the politics and derogatory connotations of that word), is because they have a different value system and different rules for relating and evaluating friends. To this day, despite my many cross-cultural friendships, I am still less guarded and more openly generous when among Indians.
However, Mr. Stein's real offense is in assuming he is the standard by which all other Americans must be judged. I am grateful for my many American friends (of European, Indian, and "other" descent) who are not so myopic and have a more generous definition of what it means to be American.
Sincerely,
Minal Bopaiah
