"Asian" in America means Chang, not Chakravarti; Kong, not Kumar.
Everyone has a vice. Mine is email, or, more specifically, an on-again off-again addiction to the listserve of the South Asian Journalists Association. The list hosts a collection of journalists, academics, activists and students, most of whom submit to a daily barrage of junk email without having the excuse of living in boring old Princeton, New Jersey, with an Ethernet connection in the bedroom.
Everyone has a vice. Mine is email, or, more specifically, an on-again off-again addiction to the listserve of the South Asian Journalists Association. The list hosts a collection of journalists, academics, activists and students, most of whom submit to a daily barrage of junk email without having the excuse of living in boring old Princeton, New Jersey, with an Ethernet connection in the bedroom. The SAJA list is home to some of the most momentous Indian American debates of our times. Did Madonna insult Hindu culture by wearing a bindi? Should Taco Bell be sued for giving a pious man a beef burrito when he asked for a bean burrito? Should fat white women in Queens be allowed to use mehndi? Only rarely does an Indian American political issue rise above the din of outrage over insulted gods and stolen customs. One recurring distraction is the debate over whether Indians belong in the Asian American movement.
A small but vocal minority of Indian Americans wants our relatively young community to become part of the well-entrenched, well-funded Asian American movement. They argue that piggybacking allows Indians to use Asian American cultural and legal institutions, freeing scarce resources for other activities (such as protesting mehndi abuse). They say the political clout of 10 million Asian Americans added to 1.1 million Indians will help us further our shared interests in immigration policy, prevention of hate crimes and stereotyping by the mainstream media. Some insist that Indians have no choice but to join the Asian American movement simply because the United States census counts Indians as Asians.