Melvin's blog

Nshima & Curry

Melvin's  Blog

Nshima & Curry

INDIAN AMERICANS GROW IN NUMBERS, NOT INFLUENCE

I enjoy going to Devon Avenue in Chicago, Iselin in New
Jersey and a few other areas in America where "Little
Indias" have been created. I can drink a mango lassi, savor
Indian sweets, and eat a masala dosai that's wide enough to
cover Sri Lanka.

Within a few blocks, I can find dozens of Indian stores and
restaurants, all reminding me of my native land. In fact,
the storekeepers try so hard to create an authentic Indian
atmosphere that they even allow people to drive on the wrong
side of the street.

Everywhere you look, there are Indians, hundreds of them,
all smiling and driving their Toyota Camrys. All smiling and
rushing to the Patel Brothers store, where the Patel sisters
are hard at work.

Go there on a Saturday and the swarm of customers is so
thick, you'd think Indians have taken over America. It's no
longer the United States of America -- it's the BJP-Congress
Alliance of America.

Of course, Indians are far from taking over America. But if
our population continues to grow at a staggering rate, you
may see more Indians than whites in the year 2120. And
instead of serving beef-tinged French fries, McDonald's will
be serving ghee-soaked puffed rice.

The population of Indian Americans has more than doubled in
the last decade, shooting up to almost 1.7 million,
according to Census 2000 figures. The actual population
could be as high as 2 million, partly because the Census
workers didn't get around to visiting every motel.

The Indian population grew faster than any other Asian
group. Indian Americans now constitute 16.4% of the Asian
American population and .6% of the total U.S. population.
Among Asians, Indians are in third place, not far behind the
Chinese and Filipinos, who have populations of 2.4 million
and 1.9 million respectively. Indians could easily pass the
Filipinos in a few years, especially if the economy
continues to weaken, forcing more American men to do without
mail-order brides.

The Indian population is certainly large enough to have an
impact on American politics. In fact, George W. Bush,
while campaigning for the presidency last year, tried to
impress Indians.

Bush to adviser: "There are so many Indians in America. What
can I do to get them to support me?"

Adviser: "That's easy: Just tell them you believe in
nepotism."

Bush: "You mean they won't hold it against me that my father
was president?"

Adviser: "Are you kidding? Have you been following Indian
politics?"

Bush: "Are you crazy? I haven't even been following American
politics."

In reality, Indians -- aside from a few wealthy
entrepreneurs -- have little impact on national issues,
partly because we lack a united voice and a national
spokesperson. We need to learn from the African Americans,
the Hispanic Americans, and, yes, even the gay rights
groups. Anytime there's a major case of discrimination
against African Americans, the Rev. Jesse Jackson seems
to magically show up, as though he has his own space
shuttle. And what happens when Indians are mistreated?
Even the lawyers are slow to arrive. Forget about a
space shuttle -- our leaders seem to prefer traveling by
rickshaw.

With the Indian population large enough to fill an entire
state, it's almost an injustice that no Indian sits among
the 535 members of Congress, especially since the state of
Missouri elected a dead man to the Senate last year.

Not one Indian has followed in the footsteps of Dalip Singh
Saund, who in the 1950s became the first South Asian to
serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. While India is
the world's largest democracy, Indian Americans are
perhaps the world's weakest voting bloc.

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