Rapid modernization and famine were the main factors that drove the first South Asian Americans to migrate to the U.S to seek better opportunities. An interesting fact that surprised me is that the first wave of South Asian Americans came into the U.S from Canada where they had initially emigrated to in the late nineteenth century. These Indians who had gone to Canada encountered exclusionary policies and discrimination, and this forced them to migrate to the U.S. Also, most of the first South Asian emigrants were predominantly younger men, and since during the time there were anti-miscegenation laws that prevented them from marrying whites, they ended up marrying Mexican women. As such the early South Asian community in the U.S reflected a mix of culture that included the Punjabi and Mexican customs and traditions.

South Asian Americans are quite a diverse group of people, and are sometimes referred to as Asian Indians or Eastern Indians. This group of Asian Americans mainly originate from Asian countries that are to the South of Asia including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They are also diverse with regard to religion and the main religions of South Asian Americans are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Christianity. However, most people relate the South Asian American community to Hinduism, “Punjab-Mexican unions were termed as Mexidus, which refers to a combination of Mexican and Hinhus that misrepresents the identity of immigrant Indian men” (Lee, p. 130). They have several languages, over 22 different major languages with 1500 other languages existing, but their official languages are Hindu and English.

References

Lee, Jonathan H. X. History of Asian Americans. 1st ed., Santa Barbara, California, Greenwood, 2015.

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