America calls itself the Land of the Free. Nothing can be farther from the truth. It is the land of racism and prejudice. Last week, 23-year-old Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula was mowed down by an over-speeding police patrol car driven by a white cop at over 130 kmh. Her body was flung across the road more than 100 feet. Shocking body-cam footage showed the officers mocking her: “Yeah, just write a cheque," "Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value." And the top-heavy Indian embassy didn’t make enough noise.
But the trigger-happy American police, which is supposed to protect and serve, deciding the value of an Indian girl by the colour of her skin provoked global outrage. Indians and Americans of Indian origin are being regularly attacked, humiliated and sometimes murdered by white bigots who want their country to be white, while reaping the benefits Indians bring to their economy. According to a Carnegie Endowment study, one in two Indian Americans reports being discriminated against based on skin colour. America is a country of greed: recall Gordon Gecko’s famous line in the blockbuster movie Wall Street, “Greed is good?” American freedom is doublespeak. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was enacted after the Civil War which freed African slaves, provides that “[n]o State shall... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”.
The irony is that American presidents, including the hallowed George Washington, kept slaves. Jim Crow laws counted black Americans as three-fifths of a person. The core of American philosophy is aptly represented on the American dollar bill which sports Washington—money is god. A community that pours in enormous amounts of money into American coffers have Indian roots.
The answer to the infuriation of white supremacist Americans lies in the economic and cultural superiority of Indian Americans. Corporate America and India Inc are in sync. The average income of a person of Indian origin is over $100,000 per year, against $75,000 of an American. NRIs wield extraordinary power in the American corporate world, running most of its multi-billion multinational companies: 60 CEOs on the Fortune 500 companies list are Indians—Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Shantanu Narayen, Ajay Banga and more—many of them born in India. Though NRIs are just over one per cent of the US population—tech billionaires, doctors, truck drivers—over six per cent in federal and local taxes come from their pockets. The combined yearly contribution of the Indian diaspora to the American economy is over $1 trillion, which means every dollar out of 26 dollars is contributed by Indians by race and origin. Every fifth doctor in the US has strong Indian connections. Indians hold important posts in the US government. Half a dozen of them are candidates for president in next year’s elections: the US Vice President was born in India.
Previously, while Indians preferred to blend into American society adopting white values and culture, the new generation of Bharatiyas flaunt their success and wealth in style. They own expensive cars, beach homes and villas all over the country. Recently a billboard announcing the 57th birthday of Indian politician Nallari Kishore Kumar Reddy was prominently displayed at the colourful Times Square. Its photo went viral and a social media enthusiast wrote, “Isn’t it absolute proof of how Indians consistently bring their distinctive flair to the world stage?” Another humorous post said, “It’s no more Times Square. Now it’s called ‘INDIAN SQUARE'. US President Joe Biden told Swati Mohan, an Indian-origin scientist who oversaw the landing of the Mars rover for NASA, “It’s amazing. Indian—of descent—Americans are taking over the country... You guys are incredible.”
Incredible too is the fact that Americans want both Indian money and minds, but not their presence. Too bad. Most American politicians seek financial support from wealthy American Indians. Now they want to hog Indian markets for profit. India is a significant source of US imports. Orders worth over $50 billion have been given to American multinationals during the past few years. Bilateral trade between the two countries has almost doubled to about $128 billion from just $70 billion in 2020-21. If Indian students don’t go to the US universities, many of them would be nearly broke, since over $8 billion is spent by Indian students on tuition fees alone annually. Indian tourists are some of the largest spenders in America.
However, India’s munificence hasn’t changed the genetic deformation of American society. Unfortunately, whites get away with crimes against Indians because the system at the lower level is stacked with poorly educated, resentful people: US Census data records that Indian Americans enjoy a standard of living of about twice that of the median American household—the ratio of Indian Americans with at least a bachelor’s degree is double the national average. Many billionaire Indian corporate leaders have studied at American universities and donated millions to them. Unfortunately they aren’t able to use their influence on the American establishment to treat Indian Americans as equals.
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Moreover, the nexus between the Indian and American establishments is so deep-rooted that they won’t allow the agenda to move away from business and economics. Bureaucrats and politicians with loyalty to American values and hidden persuasions have infiltrated every part of Indian society. They have mesmerised middle-class Indians by extolling opportunities in the US to make big money and enjoy better lifestyles, even if it means demeaning themselves. If Americans don’t change their self-assumed supremacy complex, they will lose their superpower status sooner than later.
The Statue of Liberty welcomes immigrants with the lines, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The exhortation alluded only to poor whites from Britain and Europe. In 1923, the US Supreme Court ruled that Asian Indians are not eligible for American citizenship though blacks were, being slaves. The American Dream was built on the backs of enslaved Africans whose fingers bled picking cotton in the Deep South and Chinese immigrants who died building railroads. In modern America where DC Comics and Marvel culture is part of popular culture, the real Supermen and Superwomen today come from Indian genes. Their value cannot be measured by writing a cheque, because Indian Americans can write bigger cheques to finance the US economy.
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prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com
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