Abstract
Often called a “model community,” Indian Americans have taken root in American society. Indian American Christians have seen the United States of America as their “promised land.” However, living in this promise land, Indian American Christians had to overcome challenges of racism, hate crimes, and different forms of discrimination. Through case studies, interviews, and participatory observations, this article will examine the impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement among Indian Christians living in the New York City Metro area. In doing so, this article seeks to identify reasons for the perceived silence among Indian American Christians and the work that is being done in everyday life for the healing of a nation.
Introduction
As a “nation of immigrants,” the United States of America has immigrants from almost every country in the world. As such, the immigration experience of Indian Americans is part of a national narrative. Over the decades, Indian-origin residents came to the United States in ships and planes and settled in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and Los Angeles, among other cities. The majority of them were single. Some were married, but they came alone. They operated small and large businesses, worked in factories, hospitals, and companies—embedded in every sector of the American economy. In this new land, they worked hard, raised families, attended religious services, and served alongside other communities for the peace and prosperity of this nation.
Consequently, many labeled the Indian American community as a “model community.” As a matter of fact, the 109th Congress (2004–2005) passed house resolution 227 unanimously, recognizing “the valuable and significant contributions of Indian Americans to American society.” The Los Angeles Times published an article on August 11, 2015 titled, “Indian Immigrants are Tech's new Titans of Science and Technology.” 1 The success of Indian Americans was also noticed by President Joe Biden when he remarked on March 4, 2021, during a video meeting with the NASA team that landed a spacecraft on Mars, “It's amazing. Indian-descent Americans are taking over this country.” This recognition has put focus on the way in which Indian-origin citizens living in the United States are responding to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is reflected in the article written by Angela Dewan, senior digital producer with CNN international in London on June 29, 2020. The title of the article was, “Indians are being held up as a model minority. That's not helping the Black Lives Matter movement.” 2 She is concerned about the “silence” of the Indians living in the United States, the UK, and Canada against anti-black racism.
This chapter describes the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the Indian American Christian population in the New York City (NYC) Metro area. In what follows, I briefly review Indian American immigration to the United States. I then consider contested identities and constructed identities in categorizing this community. I draw upon interviews, participatory observations, and two case studies to describe the ways in which the Indian Christian communities in the NYC Metro area are being impacted by the Black Lives Matter movement followed by an analysis of emerging themes. In this telling of the story, we discover a minority community seeking to find ways to express their “voices.” While it is true that the percentage of Indian Americans living in the United States that took to the streets in protest is a small percentage, it cannot be equated to being “silent.” Real conversations in living rooms, churches, and different digital platforms are taking place. Prayers are offered as a form of protest. Sunday schools have become places to share and grieve. There is much that is happening.
Brief History of Indian American Immigration in the USA
In 1984, I immigrated to the United States from Kerala, India with my parents and my sister. I am part of over 4.6 million Indian-origin residents in the United States. According to Pew research, the average income of Indian Americans is $119,000 per year. The same survey recorded that 82 percent of all Indian Americans consider themselves proficient in English, 43 percent hold a postgraduate degree, and only 6 percent of the US Indian population is living in poverty. 3
According to Roy P. Thomas, the first recorded name of an Indian on American soil was an Indian sailor found in the diary of Rev. William Bentley of Salem, Massachusetts. This unknown sailor sailed with Captain John Gibaut who visited India (Malabar at the time) for trading Indian spices. There is also a record showing that there were six Indians participating in an Independence Day parade in Salem, Massachusetts. 4 The first significant number of immigrants who came to the United States over 100 years ago were from the north-eastern part of Punjab, India, “working mainly in agriculture, lumber, and railroad industries.” 5 Some of the Indian immigrants were able to save enough money to buy their own farmlands. However, according to Roy Thomas, “they were discriminated against in the new land and were often victims of racial attacks.” 6 Local Americans formed an organization called the Asiatic Exclusion League to “prevent further immigration of Indians to America and to restrict those and their descendants who were already in the US from owning more property or gaining citizenship.” 7 In the late 1800s, there were also people from Bengal, India who settled in New Orleans. They later traveled to northern cities like Detroit and NYC. 8 The Immigration Act of 1917 was a setback as it restricted the immigration of Asians. The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Asian Exclusion Act, prohibited Indians from coming to the United States. One immediate impact of this law was the inability to bring brides from India for marriage. As a result, Indian men married Mexican women. 9 In 1946, Congress passed the Luce–Celler act allowing a yearly quota of 100 immigrants. In recent research, the term “model minority” has become an accepted category to represent Indian Americans and Asian Americans in general. However, when Indians first came to the United States, they were “exploited for their labor.” 10
Beginning in the 1950s, students started arriving in colleges and universities to study medicine and theology among many professional fields. 11 Few left and many others stayed. For example, Father K.M. Simon of Knanaya Syriac Orthodox church started serving as dean of the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in New Jersey in 1953. 12 Dr. T.V. Thomas came to study at St. Louis University in 1954. 13 Dr. T.M. Thomas, an instrumental figure in the establishment of Mar Thoma Church in America, attended Putney Graduate School of Teacher Education in 1963. 14
One of the fruits of the civil rights movement was that Congress passed the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 providing a conduit for skilled laborers, students, and refugees. The Vietnam War created a shortage of healthcare workers, which made a pathway for nurses, especially women from Kerala (southern state of India), to migrate to the USA. The Family Unification Act of 1980 allowed family members of the immigrants to join them in the USA. Also, during the 1980s, the United States became the primary destination for professional Indians, creating a “brain drain” in India. However, this “brain drain” was recategorized as a “brain gain” as it helped the IT sector in the USA grow. Starting in the late 1990s, computer professionals with H1 visas started to immigrate. 15 The number of undocumented Indians in the USA has also increased. Between 2010 and 2017, 330,000 Indians overstayed their visas, more than any other country. 16
Contested Identities and Constructed Identities
There is no one category that is universally accepted in describing the people of India in the United States. For example, the term “South Asian” is “problematic because the region comprises of at least six countries—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan—that do not identify themselves as a bloc, and are in fact riven by political rivalries and religious-political tensions.” 17
Generally speaking, the first generation came with a desire to return to India after retirement. They identified themselves as Indians living in the United States. They considered themselves as “pilgrims in a strange land.” The 1.5 generation attempted to keep the best of Indian and American cultures. An attempt to maintain “American” and “Indian” identities created a hyphenated Indian American identity. In 1980, the US Census Bureau categorized Indians in the United States as “Asian Indians.” However, this was rejected because at the time “we commonly called ourselves Indian Americans.” 18 While the term “Indian American” is widely used to describe the people of Indian origin in the United States, the term itself is problematic as it does not fully describe the patterns that are being formed. For example, the next generation who are born in India don’t necessarily see themselves with a hyphenated identity. Those who are born in the USA often identify themselves as Americans of Indian origin. For the purpose of this article, I will apply the term Indian American to denote people coming from India, living in the United States, or born in India to at least one parent of Indian heritage.
Intersectionality: Indian American Christians and the Black Lives Matter Movement
As images of Black Lives Matter protests from different parts of the United States after the death of George Floyd in May 2020 aired across television networks, digital, and printed media, Indian Americans sought ways to participate in this movement. Juliya, a 1.5 generation Indian American Christian, says that “we are supposed to be a model community. How can we then go and protest?” Freeda, a 1.5 generation Indian Christian youth leader, says, “first generation bought into the model minority definition. They work hard, raise families, attend religious services, and build communities of their own. And they expect the next generation to do the same and remain silent in the public square.” The first generation wanted to show their “American belonging” by being law-abiding and exemplary citizens. This often meant that they became passive receivers of marginalization and racism. In addition, the eternal optimism of Indian immigrants about greater inclusion and equity in the future helped them to cope with injustices they were experiencing. What is remarkable is that “in this voyage, the racial discrimination and restricted opportunities they experienced at the hands of so-called Christians of the United States did not lead them to lose their faith in Christ. Despite the adversities, diaspora Indians continued to rely on God's love, God's power and God's grace.” 19
Generally speaking, among first-generation Indian Americans, conversations about race have been understood as a conversation between “Blacks and whites.” According to Georgekutty, “we didn’t have the language or a way to frame a conversation. We were too busy trying to make it in America.” Varghese Mathai writes, “the Asian-Indian who entered the post-civil rights era America did so as a privileged immigrant, ushered into the fullest rights of equality and opportunity.” 20
The lack of Indian Americans protesting on the streets during the Black Lives Matter movement raised questions of indifference. Authors of the article, “Asian Americans’ Indifference to Black Lives Matter: The Role of Nativity, Belonging and Acknowledgment of Anti-Black Racism,” 21 conclude that among foreign-born Indians living in the United States, there is a reported “indifference” compared to their US-born counterparts. The article also found that a “sense of belonging” to the larger community is a significant factor predicting the indifference to Black Lives Matter movement. The authors suggest that “lacking a sense of belonging among Asian Americans may be a proxy for the ways Asian Americans potentially internalize racist nativism and feel alienated from the decision-making process in the United States.” This finding is consistent with my own findings. Foreign-born Indian American Christians internalized bias and discrimination. As George Thomas, a first-generation Indian American said to me, “Who would pay attention to us? It is better to stay quiet and mind your own business.” 22
In addition, the four killings of Indian Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana in May 2021 forced Indian Americans to have difficult conversations centered on immigration and race. Lydia, an American of Indian heritage, says with a raised voice that sounded like thunder, “If it is a brown-colored person, they would call this terrorism.” Deborah, an American teenager of Indian heritage asks, “Are we that invisible? Are we so marginalized that no one cares?” She stands up from her chair in protest and passionately gives a speech on how Indian Americans have been contributing to the economic, cultural, and religious landscape of the United States. Her younger sister chimes in, “Don’t they know that there are thousands of health-care workers who are from India? We even have an Indian aunty as Vice President of the United States.” With a lowering of her voice, she continues “I guess it doesn’t matter.” Then she raises her voice “But it does matter.” 23
One of the biggest impacts of the Black Lives Matter movement on Indian Christians is the courage to name racism that exists within Indian American churches. A leading Indian Pentecostal who wants to remain anonymous says, “There is racism within our church.” Matthew Thomas (name changed) comments on Facebook, “At times we have rallied behind the rhetoric of ethnocentrism and even abused other minorities (at the very least in the privacy of our homes and around dining table conversations).” 24 Jerin, a youth leader, points out that the caste systems and colorism that are prevalent in India are possible contributing factors for this prevalent negative association against African Americans.
Lydia says, “We are part of the problem. We need to speak up and stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. What would Jesus do in this situation?” She is not alone in asking this question. Anand Veeraraj, pastor of an Indian Christian church, writes, “While assimilating into American society, we imbibe the values of the dominant groups and attempt to keep a safe distance from issues that demand our Christian response.” 25 Seeing the death of George Floyd, Paul, founder of a parachurch Indian Christian organization, says, “Pastor, it is too sad. No one deserves to die like that. What can we do?” 26
Case Study: Pray for America
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, a leading senior pastor of the Indian Pentecostal church in New York said, “Pastor, young people want to engage with this movement, but the church leadership is scared and wants nothing to do with it. What should be our approach?” A network of pastors, who are not by any means progressive, facilitated an informal conversation to address the concerns of young people. As a result, Adonai Gospel Ministries based in NYC, took an initiative to gather a Zoom meeting titled “Pray for America.” While this was coordinated by Indian American Pentecostals, it was inclusive of all denominations and cultures. Participants, young and old, male and female, from different cities and states, joined this prayer service. Pastor James said, “we are using this technology to stand together as a country and body of Christ,” praying for peace and justice for the land. During the invitation for intercessory prayer, Jim, a youth leader, said that people “displayed lack of integrity” towards Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd … You might think it only affects a few races and that it may not affect me. Surely it affects all of us. It impacts all of us. That is why we have [a] God-given responsibility to pray for restoration. Pray for change.” Pastor Ciby, an Indian American pastor leading a multicultural church in Georgia, prayed, “We are coming for our entire nation, standing in the gap for all the sins our nation has committed. It doesn’t matter when it happened or who did it, … we come to plead on behalf of our nation that you would come into our nation and heal our land.” After the meeting, one young person commented, “This is our protest!” A first-generation grandmother said, “Prayer changes, and I pray that this prayer will make a change.” This was an opportunity for generations to come together despite political differences and pray for the “peace of the nation.” Pastor Steve John, a next-generation Indian Christian leader from Dallas, Texas said, “How do we respond to what is going on all around us?” Based on the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25, titled, “Who is my neighbor?,” pastor John continued, “Our black brothers and sisters are going through a dark night right now. It feels like everything is lost for them. We have to have love for them. Let’s say more than Black Lives Matter: Let's say Black lives are worthy, Black Lives are loved.” 27
Case Study: A Church Sunday School Conversation
Freeda, whom I introduced earlier, started to notice that young people from her church were commenting on social media platforms about the Black Lives Matter movement. One day during Sunday school, she opened this topic up, to the surprise of her class. One by one, each of them started to share their stories and seek ways to be in solidarity with their friends. Seeking advice, she called her dad. He encouraged her to do it and then began to open up about his experiences of racism that she never knew. Consequently, a series of conversations were conducted in which both first generations and next generations joined together listening to one another, lamenting, praying, and seeking answers together. One young person said, “After the death of Trayvon Martin, I was scared for my brothers because they would often wear a hoodie.”
During a Zoom meeting that was organized to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, it became apparent that these young people didn’t want to be spectators. One person said, “I want to be in solidarity with my African American brothers and sisters.” Another person wanted to know “What does the Bible say?” If the Bible is “a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, then how does the Word of God shed light to this situation?” It created space for conversations, especially intergenerational conversations.
Themes
Movement of the Holy Spirit in the Midst
Reji George says, quoting Genesis 1:2, “In the same way in which when the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, the Holy Spirit is in our midst during this time of distress.” 28 She goes on to say that the Holy Spirit is not simply a passive spectator but an active participant in this struggle. If this is so, then we must pay closer attention to see where the Spirit is at work.
Protest Becomes Prayer
When asked “Why go to the streets and protest,” Lydia says, “For me it is prayer. It is a prayer walk—praying for peace and justice.” 29 Seeing discrimination, racism, and injustice, Christians from India in the United States are praying fervently. Many have said to me because of COVID-19, “I don’t want to go to the streets, but I can go to the throne room of God and seek my petition.”
The Bible Is My “Weapon”
During a follow up conversation, Jerin said “The Bible is my weapon. I am new to this country, but I see a parallel with [the] struggles of minorities in India. Through the Word of God, we can open the eyes of the people.” It is not just about the study of God. The young people are looking to the Bible for a path forward. Princy, for example, sees herself as an American and she identifies herself with Jael, a female character from the book of Judges. Jael was a foreigner but instrumental in delivering the people of Israel. Princy, though she says she is an American, very much feels like a foreigner. She does not see this as something negative. She is active, an energetic and prophetic voice in the Indian Christian community. One day when there was a march for Black Lives Matter, she not only went but invited two of her friends to join her. Princy says, “It is important to stand in solidarity with our African American brothers and sisters.” 30
Young People Are Leading the Way
While many have taken to the streets, others have taken to digital media. From YouTube channels to Facebook, Indian Christians are finding ways to express their concerns and solidarity. Mathew Thomas (changed the name) wrote on Facebook on June 2, 2020, “Ever since I arrived [in] the United States I have heard, seen and experienced the reality of racism. More than my own personal experiences I have heard numerous stories of racism from my friends, including from my wife.” 31
Conclusion
Despite the fact that Indian Americans are moving up in income, the strange dress, accents, and smells of spicy food created stereotypes that continue to caricature Indian Americans. They faced a multitude of challenges as they began to build a community.
The Black Lives Matter movement is more than just a protest. It is about healing a nation that is deeply wounded. As Jim, an Indian American youth leader, prayed during “Pray for America” quoting 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The Black Lives Matter movement is helping Indian American Christians come to terms with their own racism and chart a path toward national healing. As such, formed in the Spirit, rooted in Scripture, with Christ as their elder brother, Indian American Christians are digging in, ready to do the slow and hard work of seeking peace in cities across this nation.
