salted mango » racism http://www.saltedmango.com/blog Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:54:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 the R http://www.saltedmango.com/blog/2008/12/24/the-r.html http://www.saltedmango.com/blog/2008/12/24/the-r.html#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 21:08:40 +0000 aditya http://www.saltedmango.com/blog/?p=182 R is for racism. It’s got to stop. Not too long ago, I was stopped by an American immigration officer who, because of my religion, said I couldn’t celebrate Christmas and travel to America during Christmas break. Let me tell you facts.. I lived in America for 8 years. I was 8 in 1993 when I landed in New York. I did exactly what I supposed to – assimilate with the American culture. I forgot most of my mother tongue, Bhojpuri, and became an American. From my accent to the way I dressed, I was an American. You couldn’t differentiate me from any American except by taking note of my skin color. I loved America because it gave me the opportunities (although I didn’t realize when I was 8 ) that no country could have given me. I went to a private elementary school – was showered with knowledge and insight that I still dearly remember and tap into. America gave me everything I wanted; it allowed me to dream but more importantly, it made me believe in my dreams. I was an American first and then a Nepali.

A few years later, my family migrated to Canada because my dad received his permanent resident card in Canada (similar to the Green card in America). He only had a student visa in America which isn’t very stable because the rules state that you must leave once you graduate from school. So naturally, he jumped on the opportunity to come to Canada with a permanent resident status. He wanted us to have the best education possible in the western world. Canada was second to none.

We respect America. It gave us the opportunity that no other country could have given. After having spent 8 early (but important) years of my life in Connecticut, I thought of America as my home. So two years ago, when I crossed the border to visit my sister in America, I was really distressed when the American immigration office treated me with disrespect even though we had an American visitor’s visa and had traveled to America on the exact visa numerous times. You really have to trust me when I say that I really think highly of America (even with Bush as president).

Here’s a summary of how it went down:

It was two days before Christmas – my parents and I made the trip down with our Ontario license plate on our SUV down to NYC.

We were super excited to see the green highway signs in NY (as opposed to the blue ones you see in Canada)…We got stopped at the border. It was cool… we have to pay our $6 since we were on visitor’s visa….but then we got harassed from the very Americans we respected.

Immigration officer: Why are you visiting the states?
Dad: We are visiting my daughter during Christmas break and having Christmas dinner.
Immigration officer: What is your religion?
Dad: What?
Immigration officer: What IS YOUR RELIGION?
Dad: Hindu.
Immigration Officer: …Hindus don’t celebrate Christmas. Why are you visiting America during Christmas?
Dad: I’m visiting my daughter and we have Christmas off.
Immigration officer: You didn’t answer my question… Hindus don’t celebrate Christmas!
Dad: .. uhhh…
Me: The last time I checked you don’t have to be Christian to observe Christmas… and to have Christmas dinner.
Immigration Officer: I’m taking to your dad…if you don’t shut up, I’ll deny your visa.
Me: Umm… *very scared*

We got our entry but we were humiliated.

We love America but this was not the America we loved.

Why the hate? Because we are brown and Hindu and ignorant American immigration officers don’t know how to separate Hindus from terrorists.

This is unacceptable coming from a super power. Please educate your immigration officers. This is probably not the first impression you want foreigners to have of America.

Peace. And Merry Christmas.

]]> http://www.saltedmango.com/blog/2008/12/24/the-r.html/feed 9