Many South Asians take the “racial bribe” and climb the racial ladder in a futile attempt to reach the status of whiteness.I come from South Asia. Indeed, I am an Iyer myself. Why did nobody offer me a 'racial bribe'? The answer is, no such thing exists. No country in the world is paying us to emigrate to their shores. On the other hand, our compatriots may want to see the back of us- Iyers are notoriously stupid- but they are too poor to club together enough money to get shot of us.
It is true I could have spent some money and got to America and then I could have studied and worked hard and attained some modicum of middle class respectability. But I could not have 'climbed the racial ladder'. Nobody would have accepted me for a big, muscular, African American man even if I changed my name to Deshawn.
Deepa Iyer is telling her, presumably non South Asian audience, a pack of lies. African Americans are descended from people who were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean. They were slaves for centuries and continued to suffer various legal and other disabilities even after they were emancipated. Iyer is pretending South Asians, if not kidnapped, were 'bribed' to come to America. They were so stupid that they thought there was some 'racial ladder' which would allow them to 'reach the status of whiteness'. As a matter of fact, the thing is easily done over a couple of generations by buying grooms of exceptional fairness. But, what would be the point? The Indian arranged marriage system is about 'kin-selective altruism'- i.e. keeping wealth within the family and 're-insuring' oneself within one's own endogamous network. This means cultivating a 'high trust' network based on 'costly signals'. This promotes wealth accumulation and a rise in collective status because within every family some are pushed to rise within the learned professions and to advance forward in the administration.
Iyer ignores this obvious fact. She says-
They are the ones calling protesters “looters” and differentiating themselves as model minorities.Suppose you operate a small shop or cafe. You tell your kids not to be 'looters'. Stay home or help protect the shop. Do be a 'model minority'. Don't take drugs. Don't loot liquor stores. Don't set fire to your own neighborhood.
Iyer thinks this sort of behavior is very wrong.
Still others remain indifferent to understanding the history of Black liberation struggles that paved the way for their own families to immigrate and enjoy benefits in America.It is not true that 'the Black liberation struggle' helped Indians get to America. It was the Cold War. The US gave us food aid and used 'trapped dollars' to finance a brain drain. However, Indians were paying a lot of money to get the fuck out of India because, under dirigiste Socialism, it was a fucking shithole.
On the other hand, it is true that J.P Narayan supported himself for a while as a student in America back in the Twenties by 'selling hair straightener to Negroes'. Needless to say, that shithead fucked up Indian politics but good after his return.
Some are silent and apathetic, seemingly oblivious to the civil unrest happening around them.Whereas what they should be doing is selling hair straighteners to Negroes- or trying to fool them in some more up to date manner.
Getting more South Asians to understand the importance of dismantling the systems of white supremacy is not easy,Getting them to understand the importance of the Mochizuki proof of the abc conjecture is not easy. But it is probably very useful and some, who are properly qualified, may make the effort. But getting any sensible person to understand stupid nonsense is both impossible and useless. Suppose there was a 'system of white supremacy'. Then, not only could we dismantle it we could replace it with a 'system of Iyer supremacy over Iyengars'. Deepa's parents knew this can't be done. So they fled South India, where evil Iyengars have been taunting Iyers for their stupidity and abject failure to climb the 'racial ladder' or secure 'racial bribes' for trillions and trillions of years.
especially when we see images of Indians filling up a stadium in Houston in support of a Hindu nationalist leader or recognize that there are people from our own communities who actively support the current Administration despite its anti-immigrant policies.The reason Deepa sees images of Indians welcoming Modi- who presses Trump to increase immigration quotas for Indians- is because Modi is delivering things that those Indians want. Trump has delivered lower taxes. This may cause some of them to support his Administration. Lets see what Biden has to offer.
Why is Deepa so outraged by what she sees? Does she go apeshit when she sees people buying stuff they like, instead of things they hate and which are bad for them, in the shops?
Why is Deepa herself, in the photograph on her profile page, wearing her hair like a White Woman? How come she isn't 'dismantling structures of white supremacy' by sporting an Afro or braiding her hair into corn rows?
Perhaps her Leftism is of the J.P Narayan type- i.e. something gestural, self-serving, and the moral equivalent of 'selling hair straightener to Negroes'.
Because we have not yet derived any personal advantage from a senseless type of activism.
But that doesn’t mean we can stop.
We must continue to amplify the importance of solidarity with Black communities and undo anti-Blackness within our own people.But Deepa's own people think she is as stupid as shit. Still, if her connections are helpful to a wealthy entrepreneur, no doubt she will win respect as a clever operator.
That means explaining how white supremacy and racism are devastating all people of color including South Asians.That means explaining that everything we can see with our own eyes is actually a delusive mirage. Iyers like herself don't have 'One Percent' median earnings. They live in crack houses and get shot by cops.
It means acknowledging that the full liberation of Black communities leads to the freedom of all people.Very true. Look at Zimbabwe. Come to think of it Zanzibar after 'full liberation' was worse. Lighter skinned women- which would have included people who looked like Deepa- were forcibly 'married' off to the newly liberated. After a few such 'marriages', they relished the freedom to hang themselves with whatever meager remnant of cloth left to them.
It means explaining that when we perpetuate anti-Blackness, that we are being complicit ourselves in reinforcing systems of oppression that harm South Asians too.By contrast, when we perpetuate anti-Modiness or anti-Trumpness, we are only being complicit in stupidity.
And, it means coming from a place of love and compassion to reach our own people.What great love or compassion does Iyer have for Modi or Trump?
We must keep trying, and we can look to the stories of Minneapolis and Ferguson shop owners as starting points and inspiration.But, Deepaji, how are those dollars to be earned? If 'structure of white dominance' are offering 'racial bribes', must it not be the case that South Asians were specifically brought over and encouraged to display high productivity so that 'white dominance' would increase, not fall?
Below are 10 action steps that South Asians can take:
Step 1: Donate to help protesters get out of jail around the country with bail funds > https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/national-bail-fund-network. Then, donate to Black-led organizations in your area and to South Asian and Asian American organizations with an explicit commitment to be in solidarity with Black communities. Every dollar does count.
Whatever job or economic function a South Asian performs in America, it must be the case that the 'surplus value' is confiscated by the apparatus of 'White dominance'. Basic Marxian economics explains why this 'surplus value' must tend to increase. In other words, every dollar donated to the good cause represents a small fraction of what accrues to an evil system. This is why Mahatma Gandhi advocated a complete boycott of the White Man's Courts and Schools and Fiscal and Financial Institutions.
If you really believe the silly ideology you are spouting, Deepaji, I say to you with love and compassion, then you must quit being a lawyer and quit asking people to earn or donate dollars.
Step 2: Show up safely on real streets or coordinate South Asian solidarity actions on digital streets.By bad mouthing Modi and Trump and 'White Dominance' and so forth.
With digital conversations, plan an agenda to discuss: “How can South Asians show up for Black lives?”And where can they get their parking validated?
Discuss using the guides in Step 4, and then come up with a plan of action with 1 individual action + 3 collective steps (examples: deepen my own analysis and share it; support a local group; commit to 2 community conversations; ask a place of worship or cultural group to make a statement of solidarity). Check out this guide for what to do if you can’t be in the streets from Beyond the Streets (link).How stupid would you have to be to require guidance from Deepa Iyer? Incidentally the 'Beyond the Streets' link is from 2014! This shit failed 6 years ago!
Step 3. Sign a letter of solidarity or create one.The chief value of that letter is that it helps split the East Asian community by demanding that 'Officer Tou Thou' be made a scapegoat.
Example: Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) in Minnesota > https://caalmn.org/api4georgefloyd/.
Step 4: Learn about South Asian communities and the imperative for building solidarity with Black communities.While burning bridges with the East Asian Community and disparaging Modi.
>For a starting point: read Vijay Prashad’s Karma of Brown Folk.Prashad is a Marxist who is related to Brinda Karat whose husband was quite big in Kerala politics. He is also a vicious anti-Semite. So, South Asians should not just hate Modi and Trump, they must also fight with East Asians while turning into Anti-Semites. This will help African Americans. Why? Well Prashad's book, which came out 20 years ago, claims that South Asians are a 'model minority' that is consistently deployed as "a weapon in the war against black America." In other words, African Americans should have demanded, back in '65 itself, that immigration from South Asia never be permitted to commence.
>For post 9/11 analysis on solidarity with Black communities: read a chapter from my book, We Too Sing America, called “Ferguson is Everywhere” that provides community stories along a framework for discussions and political education (link).What Deepa is linking to is fulsome praise of herself. Lord Krishna reveals that to praise yourself is akin to commiting suicide. But this woman is too shameless to die.
> Check out Anirvan Chatterjee’s The Secret History of South Asian and African American Solidarity for historical examples of cross-racial solidarity.Chatterjee doesn't tell us that it was a Black American who helped Gandhi get his start in Pretoria by getting him into a respectable boarding house. What it does tell us is that Indians are completely shit. They outnumbered the Whites by 10,000 to one yet could not free themselves till Britain decided the game was not worth the candle. By contrast, African Americans were a minority facing a ruthless, much better armed, foe.
>For courageous conversations with family, use this guide with exercises developed by the Queer South Asian National Network (link).Apparently 'courageous conversations with family' require 'Crayons/colored pencils/markers'. If I'd have tried any such thing with my granny she'd have stuck those crayons up where the sun don't shine. Still, different strokes for different folks- right?
Step 5. Take a stand.And take those crayons out of your arse. We're not here to enjoy ourselves but to say some names.
Share your commitment to dismantling anti-Black racism and the demands of Black communities (step 7) with friends, networks, and on social media. Say the names of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, and Breonna Taylor. Check out @SouthAsians4BlackLives on Instagram for shareable visuals and messages.
Step 6. Then ask others to take a stand. Ask your networks, organizations, places of worship, and campus groups to make solidarity statements. You could also join efforts to petition your university or school to divest from police contracts, or to ask local political officials to respond to the demands from Black communities (see Step 7).University? They use crayons in University? Just exactly how fucked is American Higher Education?
Step 7: Understand and Support the Demands from Black Communities.Quite right. Let the rich hire private security guards. Meanwhile the Cartels can invest in our communities. That will make us all so much safer.
Insist on investments in communities and divestment from law enforcement.
Incorporate demands from the Movement for Black Lives (here) and from Color of Change (link) that address use-of-force, defunding the police, and profit motives in policing — and check in to see what local Black communities are demanding as well.Why not start with what Black communities are demanding? I suppose the answer is that they want good, effective, policing of a 'broken windows' type. Sooner or later, they will get it. But first the Left-Liberals must be disintermediated though, I have to admit, that business with the crayons can be kinda fun.
On prison and police abolition: here’s a report from MPD_150 (link) and a mini-syllabus (link), and an Abolition in Policing workshop from Critical Resistance here.That's the icing on the cake. Abolish the Police. Let the Cartels run the hood.
Step 8: Support the Gandhi Mahal in Minneapolis > https://www.facebook.com/donate/624114434980787Support it how? By burning it down again?
Step 9. Ensure that South Asian solidarity struggles also include confronting casteism, Hindutva, and Islamophobia.till nobody is left except one senile Marxist who turns out to be a vicious anti-Semite and a pair of High School seniors who each thought the other was a Lesbian. Also that there would be pot. Why is there no pot?
Learn more from South Asian groups here and read about caste abolition from Equality Labs here. In fact, in communities advocated for the passage of a city council resolution in St. Paul against the human rights violations in India (link).This 'city council resolution' is hilarious-
Jane Prince is an elderly White woman. The other two are probably East Asian. Apparently Prince is willing to drop the anti BJP reference after facing push-back from the South Asian community.
Reaffirming Saint Paul as a welcoming city, expressing solidarity with Saint Paul’s South Asian community regardless of religion and caste by rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Islamophobic ideology, and opposing India’s National Registry of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act.
Sponsors: Jane L. Prince, Dai Thao, Nelsie Yang
What a tremendous accomplishment for Deepa and her ilk! They got a Hmong refugee and an elderly White lady to make fools of themselves by feeding them a bunch of lies. This did cause 'South Asian solidarity'- but it was solidarity against nitwits like Deepa.
Step 10. When the urgency stops, don’t stop acting:But, Deepa, the only people who are currently interested in dismantling you are South Asian Hindus who think you are a mischievous, self-serving, fabulist who is meddling in a serious matter- viz. the safety of African Americans- which, even if only for self-interested reasons, we all want to see put right.
Dismantling white supremacy is a long-term commitment.
Even when it’s not on the news, we need to show up for each other. Practice self-care and community care, and build your daily plan for transformative solidarity. Here’s an approach that might be useful: it’s a framework I developed to help us figure out our roles in times of crises through a mapping exercise. You can find the map, the descriptions of roles, and a reflection guide here.But you can't find your crayons because the 'Weavers' stuck them up the 'Caregivers' butts which made the 'Disrupters' very disruptive indeed. All this is the fault of 'White Supremacy'. Mind it kindly. Aiyaiyo!
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