By Ramya Ramakrishnan
About 17.8 million Asian adults live in the United States, accounting for 7% of the total adult population, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. This number may have increased in the last couple of years but Asian Americans are still very much a minority here. Chinese Americans are the largest Asian American ethnic origin group, accounting for 22% of the total Asian adult population, followed by Indian (20%) and Filipino adults (17%). With 48 recognized sovereign countries in the Asian continent, there is tremendous geographic diversity which translates into multiple ways Asians in the U.S. personally describe their own identities. Some choose to identify with their ethnic origins such as Korean or Vietnamese, some with the pan-ethnic label Asian, some with a broader regional identity such as South Asian, and others with an American identity. Asians in the United States also sometimes choose to combine their religious identity with the word American, for instance Muslim American or Jewish American, while identifying themselves.
While the majority of U.S. Jews that make up roughly 2.4 percent of the total population of the United States identify as white, a small percentage of U.S. Jews who are “Jews of color,” “people of color,” or “BIPOC” are a minority within a minority here. Antisemitism in the U.S. has been a persistent issue with a long history of hatred against the Jewish community and it has now reached a record high which is really alarming. Antisemitic incidents and targeted hate crimes against Jews have led to murders, attacks and assaults on college and high school campuses and at public places, vandalism of Jewish owned businesses and places of worship, online bullying and harassment.
While speaking at a recent education conference in Los Angeles, I met several bright and brave college students, one of whom was an Asian American attending an Ivy League university experiencing antisemitism at her place of learning. She is a Jewish American of Singaporean origin. Yes, these people, a micro-minority within the Asian American community actually do exist! The stories she shared with me, her experiences as a young Jewish American college student in her own country and at a campus that is supposedly accepting of everyone regardless of ethnicity, national origin, faith etc., were very concerning and honestly heartbreaking. These are students who are targeted, harassed and bullied simply for holding on to their traditions and the faiths they choose to carry in their hearts. I happen to know Chinese Jews and Indian Jews who are American citizens who have been hit with a double whammy, facing discrimination as Asians and more frequently now for their Jewish identity as well. Asian American coalitions and organizations that are meant to unify all Asians in the US should ideally be a safe haven for these people who are one of us, allowing them a platform to voice their concerns and opinions without any backlash but unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case.
As someone who has spent her formative years in India, I find this lack of acceptance of all faiths, within the Asian communities in the U.S., both disappointing and concerning. India has always been a safe haven for all minority religious groups which is noted by Pew Research, a very reputed nonpartisan think tank known for high standards of methodological rigor, accuracy and transparency. Indians are raised with respect for other religions and every minority group thrives in India which is why you will find refugees fleeing from several countries around the world, making India their new home. Here they find peace, acceptance, respect and love. While mainstream media may completely distort facts because of their clear anti-India agendas they choose to run with and concoct their sensationized news stories, the reality is reflected in the everyday experience of minorities thriving in India. The extensive research surveys and data are ignored by many so-called scholars simply because it doesn’t fit their narrative and careers built on falsehoods. India has always been a safe haven for the Jewish people as well, who have fully integrated into the Indian culture while maintaining their Jewish identity and freedom. While I am a practicing Hindu, I have been to several churches, gurudwaras, mosques and synagogues because my faith fosters respect and acceptance for other faiths and teaches me that “Truth is one. Paths are several.” It is my hope that Asian American organizations and coalitions welcome Asian Jews without prejudices and close mindedness and their leaders can reflect on how their internal biases don’t really align with their organizations’ mission statement and unifying goals. There is no coalition without the respect for every voice, including the ones that may be quite different from ours.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s own views and doesn’t reflect the views of any organization or group.
Spot on!