On San Bernardino

There is a thing my family does after every bombing:

“Please don’t be Muslim, don’t be from Pakistan or Afghanistan or anywhere near us, please please please don’t let his name be Ahmed or Mohammad or Ali!”

We know if the attacker is any one of the above things, there will be backlash. The right country of origin or name is all the media needs to go on yet another tirade about the evil and damnable nature of Muslims.

But I have grown accustomed to mass shootings being the work of white men (because statistically, they are). So when the San Bernardino shooting turned out to be Pakistani Muslims, my heart sank into my toes.

Muslim Killers trended the whole day. So did the word “Pakistani”. All of a sudden, I felt paralyzing fear.

After Paris, Islamophobic attacks increased everywhere. Hijabis (the most frequent targets of these sorts of attacks, as they are the most visible) were getting headscarves ripped off, a woman was thrown into the subway tracks in NYC, politicians demanded that US entry ought to be denied to Syrian refugees (coded as Muslim for being Arab). And then this.

 

The media loved it. The Post’s front page read “Muslim Killers” and almost every article mentioned their trip to Saudi (for those of you that don’t know, the Hajj season, which brought two MILLION Muslims to Saudi, was just a few months ago) and the recent beard growth by the husband.

What does it mean when normal behaviors are seen as signs of radicalism? What happens when you catch your breath in fear every time the media begins to report on a crime? What happens to the psyche of a people?

Tinder for Brown Folk & Being Queer

Dil Mil is the secret app every brown kid is using to find a fuckbuddy/spouse.  It’s absolutely ingenious. You see pictures for a maximum of five seconds and all screenshots will get your account reported; it’s aunty-proof.

One problem: it assumes you’re straight. It’s not just the default orientation, it’s the only option. No place to change it. No place it even mentions orientation. Your Facebook gender is “girl” so the people you’re looking for are folks listed as men.

I have never been so sad. For a community (in my experience) that often shames romantic interactions before marriage (and even after to some extent), it is really awesome to see young people create a blended world for ourselves. But it recreates so many of this culture’s oppressive ideas on love.

Brown LGBTQ kids exist. We exist and we are valid.

I downloaded the app mostly for this class after our discussion on arranged marriages and LGBTQ identities. I didn’t think that there would be many LBPQ girls, but I figured the option would be there. It was just a strong reminder that I an unintelligible.

There is a conversation here to be had about what a future looks like. Right now, I’m angrily deleting the app and watching Chutney Popcorn again.

On the Trump Rally

Before Thanksgiving, Donald Trump arrived in Columbus. A couple hundred people, from many walks of life and many political ideologies gathered outside of the Columbus Convention Center to protest his presence in Columbus. The rally was originally planned by the Central Ohio Worker Center, but many other organizations joined the protest.

While the solidarity was absolutely astounding, I felt a distinct sense of oddness. I am usually in spaces that are much more narrow in their political goals, and the breadth of beliefs and backgrounds was startling, especially in the ways it manifested.

Planned Parenthood joined the protest, and their presence became the most prominent very quickly. First, whenever “women’s issues” were mentioned, it received the loudest applause. While I believe whole-heartedly in reproductive rights, it was slightly off-putting; Trump has been awful to women, but they aren’t his primary targets. (Not to mention the transphobia in pretending that pregnancy/abortion/reproductive rights are a WOMEN’S issue.) Second, because of Planned Parenthood’s presence, the anti-choicers came out in droves. Instead of being specifically anti-Trump, we were dealing with anti-choicers AND Trump supporters, which was very overwhelming.

How do we deal with these situations? At first, part of me was bitter, because as a Muslim, daughter of immigrants, and BLM activist, I thought that a Trump rally of all places would put those issues at the forefront, because those are the groups he has targeted most violently. The rally was planned around “RACISM is not welcome in Ohio”, but it felt like we were turning to a very (race-blind) anti-sexism platform. But assuming that wasn’t the goal of PP’s presence, so how do we deal with various numbers from various orgs? What happens there? Can we build better coalitions?

 

Starting at Home

https://www.colorlines.com/articles/read-when-south-asian-american-activists-talk-black-lives-matter-their-parents

http://theaerogram.com/bringing-home-south-asians-talking-parents-sureshbhai-patel-police-brutality-black-lives-matter/

These articles highlight a study that involved South Asian Americans speaking to their parents about the #BlackLivesMatter movement and what their parent’s thoughts were on the movement and other events that were occurring, specifically the assault on Sureshbhai Patel in Madison, Alabama (which I honestly did not know even occurred until reading this article).

This article encourages the community to talk within the family about #BlackLivesMatter, police brutality, and race. In the article, a number of South Asian activist and their parents discussed topics surrounding race and current events in the news.

This article intrigued me because I too was curious of my parent’s thoughts on all of the recent events of police brutality and the active #BlackLivesMatter movement, but I haven’t mustered the courage to ask them about these topics.

After reading the article and being shown that there are many different outlooks on these events I’m understanding more and more how internal conversations within the family open up space for change and understanding.

There’s this Korean saying that goes, “If a faucet leaks at home, it leaks outside of the home too.” I’m finally beginning to understand the true meaning behind this phrase. It starts at home. Home is where we need to converse on these issues and debates in order to receive responses of understanding.

 

World Lit and Asian American Lit

This semester, a number of students including myself are simultaneously taking both the World Literature course and the Asian American Literature course. The classes are different with respect to the content that is being analyzed and studied in the the class, but the questions being addressed have similar focal points. Both classes focus on the diaspora of Afropolitans or South Asians, the “immigrant’s” experience, the literal and psychological borders, and the question of where home is. The studies and their similarities are not coincidences. But, why is it that these classes are not offered at a lower level and as prominently as other English courses?

Honestly, much of what I have learned and still am learning has allowed me to add focal points in my analysis of not only novels but also in our world today. I try to focus not just on the character’s voice but also the narrator’s voice, the surroundings, the words chosen, the historical context, and many other aspects of the novel. Before these classes, I can say without a doubt that I had no clue how to analyze works of literature and if I did, I would be looking only at the character’s perspective and how the character was affected. This is not to say that I have reached par. I have much more to learn and wish others have the opportunity to take these courses and have much  more experience in the classroom before these upper level classes.

The reason for this post is not just to point out its benefits, but also advocate more courses in the lower level course selection with respect to Asian American Literature, World Literature, and other literature course that do not revolve around the traditional English works.

South Asian American. AMERICAN.

South Asian Americans Want to Be Accepted–Not Merely Tolerated

“Are we, USA-born and naturalized citizens,  not American? Even when we speak the same language, wear western clothes, and follow American laws, we are still considered outsiders. Often we are told to go back “home.” Home? Where? The New York hospital I was born in?” Ravleen Kaur

Although I cannot fully relate to the discrimination that South Asian Americans go through constantly in day to day life, as an Asian American, I am constantly asked this question every time I meet someone new. There is a constant back and forth…

A: Where are you from?

Me: Originally Chicago, but when I was younger my parents moved to Florida.

A: No, where are you really from?

Me: The Norwegian Hospital in Chicago.

A: No, what’s your nationality? Where are your parents from?

 

I am constantly complemented on how my English is very fluent, how I don’t have an accent, how I can clearly express myself; but what am I being compared to? I was born in the States. America is where most of my family resides. Florida is my home. When will I, along with all Asian Americans present and in the future, be accepted as just Americans and not USA-born citizens or naturalized citizens. Just Americans.

Just American.

[Addition: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/j-mijin-cha/we-are-not-white_b_5620965.html Highlights that all minorities face barriers.]

Thoughts on the Blog

In my student career at Ohio State, I have seen multiple professors incorporate social media into the classroom. This has been through a variety of methods, including but not limited to blogging, tweeting, or even just using the carmen discussion page to facilitate discussion outside the classroom. I’d like to share my thoughts on using social media as a learning tool.

The greatest benefit to using social media is proving another outlet for students to voice their views without being subjected to the classroom audience. Often times, the class reaches a hive-mind conclusion after a few students participate, diluting discussion since all are in agreement. Blogging makes it much easier to articulate thoughts without fear of subjugation.

That being said, who’s to say how many students read and reflect on these blog posts? Sure they are a great way to be heard, but is this limited to self gratification? Look at how many response posts were created this semester.

Also interesting is the subject of these blog posts. While the focus of the course is South Asian American literature, there are quite a few posts focusing on current events in the middle east. I think this is indicative of what students want to talk about but don’t know where else to raise these questions. So the course that frequently breaches social issues becomes correlated with all social issues concerning students.

Personally, I like the concept of using social media in the classroom but it will need some tweaking for it to carve a helpful niche. Perhaps look at this blog like the presentations so students can put more thought behind posts and promote intellectual discussion.

On taking Asian Lit and Brit Lit at the same time

Along with Pranav’s class, I’m also taking Jill Galvan’s 19th Century British Novel. It’s been interesting to read Jane Eyre with a mind toward “Orientalism” (because I certainly wasn’t in that mindset when I read it and loved it in high school). I wasn’t surprised that the 19th century was ripe for stereotypes about “Orientalism” in Britain––it’s all over Jane Eyre:

A wind fresh from Europe blew over the ocean and rushed through the open casement: the storm broke, streamed, thundered, blazed, and the air grew pure.

…

“The sweet wind from Europe was still whispering in the refreshed leaves, and the Atlantic was thundering in glorious liberty; my heart, dried up and scorched for a long time, swelled to the tone, and filled with living blood — my being longed for renewal — my soul thirsted for a pure draught.

…

“‘Go,’ said Hope, ‘and live again in Europe: there it is not known what a sullied name you bear, nor what a filthy burden is bound to you.

(these are three paragraphs right after the other, and I believe my version says “A wind fresh from the East”) This is excessive, isn’t it? This obsession with European air in contrast to Rochester’s misery in the West Indies. And I won’t even go into the descriptions about Rochester dressing up as a fortune teller, a mystic where he looks “oriental.”

We read literature within the context of their times. How could we expect Charlotte Bronte to write otherwise when this was a societal norm? These books may help us determine the nature of the exploitive relationship between Britain and India.

And, man, it’s racist.

Justice in Inheritance of Loss

We talked in class about The Judge and how a judge is supposed to see both sides, have an unbiased perspective. Yet he has the most violent history and doesn’t seem to act in any way that resembles an intimacy with justice. I wanted to bring up this quote:

“There was no system to soothe the unfairness of things; justice was without scope; it might snag the stealer of chickens, but great evasive crimes would have to be dismissed because, if identified and netted, they would bring down the entire structure of so-called civilization. For crimes that took place in the monstrous dealings between nations, for crimes that took place in those intimate spaces between two people without a witness, for these crimes the guilty would never pay” (219). The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss is preoccupied with a lack of justice, both in the personal world and the political one. The guilty parties (colonial forces) responsible for the losses in India would never pay because their crimes seem such an instrumental part in the social structure. The power structures between countries and people act in similar ways: the powerful work off the backs of the poor. We’ve discussed before that there are not poor countries separate from rich countries. They are interconnected and overlapped, the powerful reliant on the powerlessness of the other party. Without India, Britain would not have been an empire.

*Like we said in class, I’m not saying that there is a direct, allegorical/symbolic connection between The Judge, his power and Britain with its power. But the line “For crimes that took place in the monstrous dealings between nations, for crimes that took place in those intimate spaces between two people” begs a further look into those similarities.

South Asian Book Covers

Pranav briefly mentioned in class that The Inheritance of Loss paperback has a cover typical of books written by south asians, so I wanted to take a look at some of the other South Asian book covers we’ve seen this semester. I think the sense of similarity that they all have comes from the background textures, attention to nature, fabric pattern, and curly serifs reminiscent of sanskrit (though Jhumpa Lahiri seems to have her own sans-serif typeface). I wonder if this is how South Asian publishing houses would publish these books or if they would have a different take.