hello all,

some things have been bugging me lately.
first off, my fathers parents are from Punjab but he was born in the states. however my mother is African American and was born and raised in the UK(wiered combination iknow lol). I feel like i can't connect with African Amercians because i wear bhindi and they say i talk white!! sometimes i'm like well my mum is from the UK lol. And i even feel wierd in y own family sometimes.

I want 2 kno r there any other Punjabians or other indians here, if so, shout out!!!!!

1 more thing,i don't like how people call Native Americans "indians". When i tell people i'm indian they're like,"what tribe?" what the heck?????

i would love to hear your thoughts and i'm sorry for any typos,. i am kinda busy.

pyar

muycaliente said:

What else are you doing, pyar?

muycaliente said:

quite possibly the coolest damn word ever...

My parents are from India.. but I have lived in Atlanta most of my life..

P.S.

http://prince.org/msg/8/237405

been in love with the culture since someone let me try on a sari when i was 12 or so


and such beautiful people

Interesting to read your thoughts, muycaliente.

I think it's fairly easy for traditionally embattled groups to become quite insular, exuding a certain air of provinciality. When survival is at stake, it becomes almost a reflex to sum up one's world into practical, albeit perhaps skewed, chunks and to force anything/anyone that doesn't quite fit that order into a familiar group... or to relegate them altogether as "wierd" or "other." Assuming you live in the U.S., black Hindus -- or at least black women who wear bindi -- aren't too common.

Along this line, I'd be interested in seeing your experience as a 1/2-black person living in India or Pakistan. I have a friend -- 1/2 Indian; 1/2 Pakistani -- who has done research on Indians with pronounced Dravidian ethnic lineage (generally very dark-skinned as, according to some research, they are closely genetically related to southeast Africans). He observes that they have always been disproportionately represented among the Dalits, or "Untouchables," in the traditional caste system, and even now they are frequently discriminated against throughout the Indian Subcontinent. Some folk just can't win, eh?

I also suspect the sentiment you're getting is perhaps related to your locale. Where do you live? In certain areas that are particularly cosmopolitan, while you may still be seen as novel, you'd likely find less negative value attached to it.

As for the Native American = "Indian" thing , just get used to it. Some folk simply like to cling to cultural idiocy... even after it's been pointed out to them for over 500 years.