Being Gay, By Indian Immigrants - 1529 Words

Being gay in America is difficult. Being gay in America is even more difficult when you’re not quite gay. Being a closeted not-quite gay woman in America, surrounded by Indian immigrants is pretty difficult, too. It’s a bit like staring in a James Bond film, if all of the characters suddenly developed Bollywood accents, and marginally less homicide. Also, I may be exaggerating, because I don’t attract nearly as many Bond Girls, no matter how much I’d like to. Even understanding what â€Å"not-quite gay† means for me was and is a struggle. I suppose a common saying is true: if you can’t find the gay cousin in your family, then you are the gay cousin. And it’s true; in my jumbled mess of aunts, uncles, and third-step cousins once removed, there hasn’t been a single person to come out. Or, if there has, we certainly never talk about them. What does this mean, then, in terms of the relative morals for my two cultures? If there is such a thing as an American, than I am one; I was born in this country and have lived here my entire life. This should give me a right to voice my opinion about American politics. At the same time, I refused to speak English until I was four; everyone I grew up around was Indian. Does this give me a right to interject in conversation when Section 377 of India’s penal code, recently upheld by the Supreme Court, makes being homosexual a crime? Maybe, I do have overseas citizenship. Does any measly DNA connection give me the right to protest when LGBTQ+Show MoreRelatedRace, Gender, and Ethnic Groups Essay1508 Words   |  7 Pagesrecently, in November 2005, riots emerged in Paris’ suburbs, sparked by the accidental deaths of two Muslim teenagers, and then spread to 300 French towns and cities. Most of the rioters were the French-born children of immigrants from Arab and African cou ntries, a large percentage being Muslim. These race and ethnic riots have all recently placed the issue of racial and ethnic identity at the forefront of political debate in the United States and in Europe. In this paper, we endeavour to discuss manyRead MoreThe Fight For Equality Throughout America1517 Words   |  7 Pagesassume that discrimination would be nonexistent. However, there seemed to be a loophole in that people considered â€Å"unamerican† faced enormous amounts of discrimination. Despite being American citizens, many Mexican Americans’ human rights were not protected, as they differed from the â€Å"average† (meaning white, non-immigrant, protestant, male) American. Mexican Americans fought back in various ways. Large numbers of them fought in World War II and returned home demanding the rights they had been deniedRead MoreThe Intersection Of Race And Media1489 Words   |  6 Pagesgotten a lot less discriminatory since the days of blackface, American Indian depictions in old cowboy movies and really any person that was not of white Anglo-Saxon tradition. For much of U.S. history, most white-produced images of other racial groups have been unambiguously racist (Croteau 2012) But even though us as a nation has gotten better since those days, is racism completely gone from American television or is it still being normalized into cinema and television by reproducing the understandingRead MoreWomen s Rights : Women Of Color Organize For Reproductive Justice By Jael Silliman1326 Words   |  6 Pagesthis even after their gender counterparts received semi equal rights. Jael Silliman, chronicled this struggle in her novel Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice†. The book opens up with the quote â€Å"We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired†(Silliman 1). This quote rings true, even to this day African American women continue to use this quote. These words however, were said by Fannie Lou Hamer as she presented at a gathering of over 1500 African American women. This gatheringRead MoreThe, The Salem Witch Trials And The Civil Rights Movement Essay1686 Words   |  7 Pages It is often affirmed that as the most dominant species on planet earth, human beings essentially rule the way in which our world has evolved; we have cognitive abilities that allow us to explore a multitude of complex variables, utilize logic, formulate a wide range of choices, and act out our decisions. However, even as highly logical creatures, humans have the propensity to be influenced by the choices of others or information presented to them, form groups of like-minded individuals, and participateRead More Diversity Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pagesdiversity has been the growing migration of populations. In recent times there has been an increasing number of people moving around their own countries and to different countries looking for work. The United States for example received 15 million immigrants between 1945 and 1985 (Peach et al., 1988) this has contributed to a widening wealth gap between rich and poor nations as well as between rich and poor groups and individuals with in nations (Marquand, 1997). The resulting movements of Labour haveRead MoreChicano Movement Essay1540 Words   |  7 PagesThe Chicano Movement was the Civil Rights Movement for Mexicans that took place in the mid 1960s. Chicano meaning sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants. The Chicano movement had several goals, including rights for field workers, better education for Mexicans and empowerment of Mexicans. The movement was rooted in Los Angeles. In the movement, were different groups to tackle down different goals. The famous activist, Cesar Chavez led one of the groups to fight for field worker rights, which participatedRead MoreGender Discrimination : The Jade Peony1367 Words   |  6 Pagesone-child policy). Boys are considered necessary and lucky as they are the future heirs. Girls are treated as useless and a waste of resources. In the novel, Jook-Liang, the only daughter, is constantly verbally abused by Poh-Poh, who describes her as being mo yung, useless. Jook-Liang n arrates that she hopes the baby will be a girl so she can have a slave (21). This allusion indicates the significance of tradition and superstition in the Chinese culture. It shows how the men are shown to be more superiorRead MoreAsian Indians American The List Of Things That Will Be Discuss2643 Words   |  11 Pageswill be about Asian Indians American the lists of things that will be discuss in this paper to start with the foundation of the paper which is the social history of Asian Indians American in the United State and things that involve in the social of Asian Indians Americans are things such as political, economic, etc. as well as educational information about the group also the impact of family and religion on the Asian Indians American and finally the popular cultures of Asian Indians. After that is theRead MoreHate Crimes And The Response Of Law Enforcement Officers Essay1370 Words   |  6 Pagesfor a crime, the existence of hate crimes has been present since the ear ly days of the United States. Throughout US history, murders, assaults, and destruction of property has occurred against African Americans, American Indians, Irish immigrants, Asian Americans, Latino’s, gays, the mentally handicapped, and all other groups of minorities. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, there has been an increase in racial based attacks against those of Middle Eastern descent, whether they are Muslim or not