15 CHENNAI sunday 04 12 2016

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After a victory that baffled not just America but the world
outside as well, Donald Trump will soon become the 45th
president of the US. Indian-Americans tell us about how
their lives have changed since the Republicans win

Living in
Trumps
America
Horizon

Now a nation of averted eyes Hate spike

Va n i D o ra i sa m y rounded by a multitude of dialects from all over A survey of 10,000 teachers conducted by

I
the world, I felt a belonging. There was solace and the Southern Poverty Law Center (www.
may never see my friend Latifa(name solidarity and a coming-togetherness in that ano-
splcenter.org) after the election of Donald
changed) again. And thats a reality I am nymity. But that November 9 bus ride was differ-
not yet willing to accept. Last week, ent. I sensed exhaustion, wariness and a what- Trump on Nov 8 found that the results
she made the gut-wrenching decision to go have-we-done despair. Maybe it was just me, maybe of the election are having a profoundly
back to Indonesia, leaving behind a very I was just mirroring my own anguish, maybe I negative impact on schools and students in
successful career as a gynaecologist and should never have sought out Yeats Second Com- the US. The main findings:
her stillborn American Dream. She hasnt ing lines that morning. Maybe I should just have
been told shes not welcome here, but she calmed the f*** down. Maybe things would be al- 40% heard derogatory language directed
fears she will be. She fears her young Asian Mus- right, after all. But then, that evening, I heard from at students of colour, Muslims, immigrants and
lim family that includes a three-year-old may nev- Latifa. And I knew it was not just me. people based on gender or sexual orientation
er reconcile with Donald Trumps America. She In the days hence, I devised my own safety
fears she will one day accidentally brush up mechanisms. I now carefully disengage from po- 50% said students were targeting each
against a Trump supporter in New Jerseys notori- litical conversations, either online or off. I am not Amit bandre other based on which candidate theyd supported
ously crowded trains and look up and sure how I might respond, how I will
see hatred in a strangers eyes. How keep the anger down. I do not for a
would the stranger know who she re- single moment believe the trope Nasty talk didnt start with Trump, but it was the province of people
ally was? And she isnt even a hijab- that the Trump supporters voted we all viewed as idiots schoolyard mobs, certain drunks in bars,
wearing, mosque-going Muslim. out of ignorance, that they could guys hollering out of moving cars  Mary Karr, poet, in The New Yorker
Reality is that long bus
When I am asked what I think about not sift rhetoric from reality. No one
ride into New York City

Somehow, the same jokes arent funny anymore

being brown in Trumpland, I say I the morning after election can be that daft. How do you hon-
dont think. Thinking is an evil luxu- day, when your fellow estly believe that a man who brags
ry. Reality is that rabbit hole down passengers avoided each about not paying his taxes is actu-
which there are no sagely caterpillars, others eyes ally going to make your country
only an Evil Joker cackling a gotcha. great again? That a man whose R Chandramohan, 37, software engineer, Texas

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Reality is reading those sly goading many businesses have gone belly-up
messages on Facebook posted by that long-known is going to bring your jobs back? I have a sense of iving in Republican Texas vant news better. deals a blow to this sector, it will few weeks. Not to mention the im-
American friend who helped you set up your suspended reality even while writing these lines, has taught me a thing or two I came here as a student and affect not just people like me but migrant jokes that, given the
house. He knows fully well that though the post how should I respond to someone who actually be- about survival. Much has did not feel insecure about my also the tech industry in India. times we are facing, seem insen-
has drawn blood, you will be too shocked to re- lieves this stuff ? So, no, no more political talking changed in my world since job. While it is stable for the most According to reports, Trump sitive. My way of dealing with
spond. His crossing over has numbed you. Reality points for me. I could live to regret this standoff- Donald Trump became pres- part, some insecurity has devel- the businessman has been able to this is simple. I tell my American
is that long bus ride into New York City the morn- ish-ness, but it serves my sanity. ident-elect. I now feel a sense of oped. Previously, when my Amer- circumvent loopholes to build a friends that they might want to
ing after election day, when your fellow passengers Eventually, once the anger recedes, I want to discomfort that I find hard to put ican friends joked about the tech- profitable business. And if he hold off their jokes. They say Im
avoided each others eyes. Or it is the silence of the reach out to those Trump supporters among my in words. The next four years are geeks going back to India, I would knows how to do that, then he losing my sense of humour. So, I
grave that hangs over the city streets, as the truth friends and try to understand. I know not all of going to test every American, and laugh with them. Somehow, the knows how to seal them and remind them with veiled humour
sinks in. them are racists or misogynists, that many of Indian-Americans are no excep- same jokes arent as funny any- thats not a bad thing. The issue that unless they belong to a na-
I did not have any illusions when I emigrated them are actually decent human beings who care. tion. I am spooked by his take on more. The nearly $150 bn Indian is he makes statements which are tive American Indian tribe, they
eight years back that I would be part of the mythi- Then, why? How could you? a rollback on H1-B visas and how tech industry relies heavily on often not backed by facts. The are no longer entitled to joke
cal American mainstream. I knew my brown skin But for now, thats not a conversation I can that would affect the community. the H1-B programme. For the fis- number of people who have used about my immigrant lineage and
would be my talisman. I knew I could never fully handle. I was never heavily into watching cal year 2017, America received his half-baked arguments to ar- refer them to ancestry.com to fig-
integrate, that I only had half a foot in the door. the news but November 9 changed close to 2,50,000 H1-B visa applica- gue has gone up. I had to defend ure out theirs.
Yet, never once in those eight years have I felt un- Vani Doraisamy is a freelance journalist and media that. Now I read Indian newspa- tions, say reports. At last check, my career choice and decision to
wanted, unsafe. Sitting in a New York train, sur- analyst transplanted to New Jersey, US, from Chennai pers because they carry the rele- the cap was still 65,000. If Trump immigrate many times in the last As told to Farwa Imam Ali

Frankly, has Despite the Donald, it is still America to me

Indian politics Naren Weiss same. These fears regarding race are ica as misguided for electing a bigot you not to read into this incident in (in every part of the world), but Ive

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fears that have been in play for hun- and a misogynist is to reduce an en- the exact manner in which you prob- also suddenly begun to experience

ever been better? rom day one of Donald

Trumps candidacy for Presi-
dent of the United States I felt
nothing but fear. A deep sense
of impending doom.
Amarjit Singh, 63
I did nothing about it
Taxi driver, New York though. I never initiated a
dreds of years (and are still very
much relevant today).
When my American father asks
me not to intervene in public dis-
putes, its because he knows that my
being a brown man makes me imme-
diately more susceptible to attack.
tire nation that has been welcoming
of not only me, but of my own ethnic
and multinational family. Dismissing
every Trump supporter as a bigot or
a racist is equivalent to reducing eve-
ry brown person here to a fundamen-
talist or a terrorist. And stating that
ably are.
Because heres the truth of the
matter: these types of people will
treat their own race with just as
much disrespect as they will other
races. This is something I learnt
from my own father after I myself
incredible amounts of love right
here. And while this racism may nev-
er end, I am hopeful that this intense
love doesnt either.
We (the people) have suddenly re-
alised that we are all in this together.
And so we are more than ready to

T
he 2017 US presidential election has helped
me see America for what it truly is. An-
other India. Like India, today America is
the most divided it has ever been in mod-
ern history. I have also seen many elec-
tions and presidents come and go. But I must say
this one had the most violent overtones. That
said, what changed? Nothing. Hillary Clinton
won the popular vote, Trump won the electoral
college, the protestors protested, and the com-
mon man still went to work the next day whether
he liked it or not.
Im not over thinking things because let us be
honest, Indian politics has been no different.
First-generation immigrants like me who have
weathered Indian politics know that politics and
politicians are fickle. Some of my friends say we
bring our divisive politics here when we talk
about platforms like Republican Hindu Coali-
tion and the like. For example, for centuries we
divided India along communal lines, I see the
same mentality being followed here too. So,
Christian Indians or Buddhist or Sikh Indians
are not Indians? Why could it not be simply Re-
protest nor did I join in on an
effort to stop the man in his tracks.
Both things I had the power to do.
And yet, I didnt.
I became more attuned to things
happening around me, people look-
ing at me differently. As an imposing
figure (brown, 63, noticeable beard)
I began to sense when other people
felt thoroughly scared of me. And,
much like a wild animal encounter-
ing human society, I felt my own fear
tripling theirs.
Heres the thing though: these
arent new problems for people of
colour.
Ask any black or brown person in
America and they will tell you the
When my Indian mother asks me to this country is nothing more than a was racially abused in India. reach out to one another, to lend a
Have instances of outward love in- helping hand or a listening ear, and
creased? I know that they have. Eve- to fight for what we truly believe in,
What weve realized now is that we no longer have the luxury of relying on ry day I see dozens of people going together. To fight (as one) for what is
someone else to fight the good fight for us out of their way to make hundreds of right.
Muslims they come across feel wel- What weve realised now is that we
come and safe. A smile, a kind word, no longer have the luxury of relying
shave my beard before boarding air- backward, prejudiced nation is not a warm inviting conversation. I am on someone else to fight the good
planes, its because she knows that only unfair, it is blatantly untrue. thankful that I get to witness this fight for us.
this could be the day that my routine Have instances of racism in- daily and routinely. Now, we have to fight it for each
random security check is taken a creased? Im sure that they have. A And again, the truth of that? These other.
step too far. friend/colleague was recently accost- people will treat all races with just as And so, we will.
These are all things that people of ed on the street in broad daylight and much respect as they will their own
colour in America know far too well. threatened with a Marry me, [exple- people. Racism is not something Naren Weiss is an actor and playwright
Democracy works though, I firmly tive]. I can make you American or that is borne out of a nation, it is who divides his time between Brooklyn and
believe this. Even when it fails, de- Trump will send you back to your borne out of the individual. And it is Chennai. His plays have been performed
mocracy works. country, you immigrant! important to never forget that. across India, Singapore, South Africa and the
To blatantly dismiss half of Amer- I have to pause here though to urge I have always experienced racism United States
My neighbour asked if my bags were packed yet
Sunaina Tirpathy, 45, entrepreneur, California

publican Indian Coalition? To me nothing has
changed.
And yet, what is the point in fretting? I have
plied my taxi business here for decades and
therefore had the opportunity to meet people
from all walks of life who come to visit, or reside
in the Big Apple. Some of my passengers were
racist twenty years ago, and continue to be so
today. America, like any other country, has intol-
erant people. It is not a Trump or a Clinton that
makes them racist or bigoted but each individu-
als inherent nature. Even though I do not feel
any different given my exposure to the divisive
and violent nature of politics in India, many
young Indian-Americans feel nervous about the
hateful rhetoric. I tell them they will be fine so
long as a President Trump does not practice
what he preached during his election
campaign.
I
Number of incidents of
intimidation and harassment
recorded by the Southern Poverty
Law Center between November 9,
the day after the presidential
election, and the morning of
November 18
32% anti-immigrant
thought she was concerned about the
23% anti-black
6% anti-Muslim
5% anti-women
live in Fremont, California which
with its 55 electoral college votes
voted Democrat this election. When
the spectre of a Trump presidency
became a reality, I consoled myself
that eternally Democrat California
would weather the Trump effect bet-
ter than others. I was so wrong. On
November 10, my Caucasian neigh-
bour asked me if I was legal. I
rhetoric and said I was good. A few
days later she asked me if my bags
were packed yet. For the next hour or
so, we proceeded to have a curt and
bordering-on-civil conversation
about my rights as an American. I
never thought I would have to defend
my birthright in this country. I might
tre in my neighbourhood was vandal-
news of another threat against a
woman from the desi community had
not reached me earlier.
I returned home shaken by the
news of how Solonika Pancholy, an
Fremont wearing a headscarf had
her car vandalised and found a note
which assumed her scarf was a hijab.
Apparently, the note said, among oth-
er things, this is our nation now.
Get out. My parents were first-gen-
eration immigrants and moved here
two decades ago. The same evening,
I heard on the radio that a Taiwanese
Christian churchs community cen-
ised with swastikas.
My neighbours passive aggressive
racial profiling and the incidents
that came to light have made me very
nervous. I fight not to give in to fear
and wonder what it must be like for
minorities in the Republican states.
It makes me wonder what my life will
country I have ever truly known as
home. In the last three weeks, I have
had more conversations and persua-
sive debates with American friends
than I have had in my whole life. And
for the first time ever, I have installed
security cameras in my home, be-
cause I feel the bubble I lived in called
Democratic California, with its spike
in hate crimes has finally burst. But
I guess that was bound to happen. Be-
cause we now have a presidency that
believes being anti-gay and anti-mi-
nority is the only way to make the
majority believe it is an effective one.
Until sanity of some kind returns, I
will do what I have never done thus
far watch my back.

As told to Farwa Imam Ali have reacted with more patience had Indian -American woman hiking in be like for the next years in the only As told to Farwa Imam Ali