(This article was written for the Federation of Indian Associations, Chicago’s Annual Souvenir.)
Indian Americans play a vital role in American society. They are the engines of the economy and the drivers of innovations. They also enrich an already diverse American cultural landscape. On top of it all, the Indian diaspora, as part of the world's largest democracy, plays a crucial role in diplomacy and international relations.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 2018), the Indian diaspora in the United States comprises approximately 4.8 million individuals born in India or reported Indian ancestry. Some of the first immigrants from undivided colonial India arrived in the U.S., the land of opportunities, in the early 19th century. They were small in number and found settlements mainly on the West Coast. These early Indian settlers worked in agriculture, lumber, and railroad industries.
It wasn't until 1965 that the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act removed national origin quotas for immigration. The Act paved the way for non-European arrivals, including high skilled Indian workers. From 206,000 in 1980, the Indian immigrant population grew to 2,688,00 in 2019 - a 15-fold increase in about 40 years.
Today, Indian-Americans account for roughly 1% of the U.S. population and 6% of America's foreign-born population. This makes Indian-Americans the second largest immigrant group in the country, after Mexicans and ahead of immigrants from China and the Philippines.
Notwithstanding their minuscule number, Indian-Americans have the highest per-capita household income of any ethnic/national group. According to the Pew Research survey, Indian-Americans are among the most educated groups based on 4-year college degrees. About 79% of Indian immigrants aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor's degree compared to 33% of US-born and all immigrant adults. About 30% of Indian-Americans hold a post-graduate degree, 90% of it in a technical discipline.
Indian-Americans were much more likely to be employed in management, business, science, and arts than the U.S. and foreign-born population. Many Indian-Americans now occupy leadership positions in corporate boardrooms, educational and research institutions, politics, and art.
For the most part, from India's independence in 1947 from British colonialism until the last two decades, the relationship between India and the U.S. has remained primarily uneventful. According to the former U.S. Ambassador to India, Rich Verma, the history of the Indo-US relationship is marked by "the periods of alignment, disinterest, frustration, and convergence" (Overcoming the Hesitations of History: An Analysis of U.S.-India Ties, Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University, 2020). It wasn't until the Clinton presidency that the Indo-US relationship started moving positively. For his part, Mr. Clinton initiated the de-coupling India and Pakistan policy. Presidents Bush, Obama, and a largely transactional Trump kept that spirit going from the American side.
However, despite the warming up of the relationship and increased diaspora involvement in U.S. politics, American leadership still "does not count India as one of its closest friends and partners” (Verna, 2020). Verma writes, “Few would assert that we [U.S. and India] have become allies, natural or otherwise." This attitude was on full display in the widespread condemnation initially of India's stand vis-à-vis the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
The current Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has brought a sea change in Indian diplomacy. On June 8, 2016, Mr. Modi addressed the joint sitting of the U.S. Congress - an address punctuated by numerous thunderous applauses and standing ovations. As Mr. Modi laid out his vision for the future of the Indo-US relationship, he proclaimed that the Indo-US ties have finally 'overcome the hesitations of history.'
Mr. Modi has taken the Indo-U.S relationship to new heights in the last eight years, working with three successive U.S. presidents. Mr. Modi has also made diaspora engagements ("Howdy Modi," for example) a key focus of his diplomacy.
The recent QUAD initiative, comprising the U.S., India, Australia, and Japan, promises increased health, environment, technology, education, and public welfare cooperation among the member states. Last year, the navies of the Quad nations held a military exercise in the Indian Ocean. The group also worked on an agreement for vaccine production in response to the pandemic.
Amid wealth, prosperity, and recognition, some genuine concerns about the future and safety exist among Indian-Americans, especially Hindu-Americans. Despite community members occupying high-profile political posts, the diaspora has failed to produce leadership that champions Indian-American and Hindu-American causes.
The left-dominated academia and media have created a highly negative image of the Hindus, the largest religious group among Indian-Americans. The specter of "Hindu Nationalism," "Hindutva," caste, etc., has been raised - without much understanding and contextualization - to demean and create hatred against the followers of one of the oldest and most liberal faiths. A group of activists led by a Rutgers University academic organized an extremely Hinduphobic “Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference” last September.
A recent study titled "Anti-Hindu Disinformation: A Case Study of Hinduphobia on Social Media" found an environment of widespread hate on social media against the minority Hindu community. The study was conducted by the National Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University. Hindumisia.ai, an AI-based website that tracks online Hindu hate, backs those claims.
As the Indian diaspora celebrates "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" (75 years of India's independence), Indian Americans must galvanize their civic engagement to protect their fundamental rights of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."