South Asian Americans

South Asian Americans are Americans of full or partial South Asian ancestry. The term generally excludes Afghanistan, referring specifically to those who can trace back their heritage to the Indian subcontinent, which includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The South Asian American diaspora also includes generations of South Asians from other areas in the world who then moved to the United States, areas such as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Suriname, Fiji, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc. In the United States census they are a subcategory of Asian Americans, although individual racial classification is based on self-identification and the categorization is "not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically".

Background

History

In the United States, South Asian Americans have had a presence since the 1700s, emigrating from India. Classically, they were known as East Indians in North America to differentiate them from Caribbean Americans (or West Indians). With the arrival of immigrants from Bengal and Punjab, their population increased significantly in the 1800s. Since interracial marriage with white persons was illegal and South Asian immigrant men were unable to bring over wives from their home countries, Hindu and Muslim South Asian immigrant men married Catholic Mexican women.

Identification

Most Indians do not identify as South Asian, raising concerns for the viability of it as a classification. According to a 2021 survey, just 10 percent of Indian Americans identified as "South Asian American", with "Indian" and "Indian American" making up the lions share at 67 percent. This further breaks down by differing religious identities, just 5 percent of Hindus of Indian descent in America identify as "South Asian", whereas 27% of Muslims from India identify as "South Asian". Christians from India are more than twice as likely to identify as "American" than Hindus of Indian descent.

Demographics

South Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing groups in the United States, increasing in population from 2.2 million to 4.9 million from 2000 to 2015. Around one third of the group lives in the Southern United States, with the population nearly tripling in the South between 2000 and 2017. According to the U.S. census, between 2000 and 2018 the Indian American population grew by nearly 150 percent and had a median income of $100,000 in 2015.

Following is the list of South Asian diasporas living in the USA arranged according to their 2017 population estimated by the United States Census Bureau.

* Indian Americans (4,402,362)
** Indo-Caribbean Americans (232,817)
** Indo-Fijian Americans (30,890)
* Bangladeshi Americans (>800,000)
* Pakistani Americans (450,000)
* Nepalese Americans (182,385)
* Sri Lankan Americans (52,448)
* Bhutanese Americans (26,845)
* Maldivian Americans (127)

Geographic distribution in U.S.

South Asians are in higher concentration in California, Illinois, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic (namely, New Jersey and New York). As of 2012 the metropolitan areas with the largest South Asian populations are New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. The states containing the fastest growing metro areas with 5,000 or more South Asians are Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

As of 2017, the top 3 locations for Bangladeshis in the U.S. are New York (96,000); New Jersey, California, Michigan (15,000); Texas (13,000). The top 3 locations for Indians are California (464,000), New Jersey (253,000), and Texas (233,000). The 3 locations for Nepalis are Texas (16,000); New York, California (12,000), Virginia (9,000). The top 3 locations for Pakistanis are New York (65,000); Texas(56,000), California (49,000). The top 3 locations for Sri Lankans are California (12,000); New York (6,000); and Texas (5,000).

Cultural Influence & Notable Contributions

Culturally, many South Asians identify themselves using a demonym called Desi.

Arts and entertainment

Comedian and actor Hari Kondabolu is a successful performer in the US, famously known for his documentary "The Problem with Apu" which examined the implications of the cartoon character Apu on The Simpsons and its effect on young South Asian Americans growing up in U.S. Other notable actors and entertainers include Mindy Kaling, Padma Lakshmi, Hannah Simone, Aziz Ansari, Kumail Nanjiani, Kunal Nayyar and Hasan Minhaj. Famous musicians include Curtis Waters, Arthur Gunn, Sameer Gadia—lead singer of Young the Giant and Norah Jones, daughter of Indian musician Ravi Shankar. Shilpa Ray is an indie and punk rock musician from Brooklyn. Settled in Santa Cruz, California is the family of legendary singer, composer and songwriter Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish who taught Indian music at the University of California and founded the Batish Institute of Indian Music and Fine Arts in the early 1970s. After he died in 2006, the music institute is now run by his son Ashwin Batish and his grandson Keshav Batish both following musically in the footsteps of the elder Batish. The Institute was the third of its kind after ones set up by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in San Rafael and Pandit Ravi Shankar in Southern California.

Prabal Gurung, a Nepalese American fashion designer based in New York is an established name in American fashion industry.

''Never Have I Ever'', a South Asian American comedy drama featured on Netflix in 2020 created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher. It's a show that has been noted for its representation of South Asians in America and a young woman's coming of age story and her connection to her culture and ethnicity.

Nina Davuluri was the first woman of South Asian descent to become Miss America in 2014.

Fine Arts

Rina Banerjee is a well known artist whose paintings are inspired by Indian miniature paintings, Chinese silk paintings, and Aztec drawings. Salman Toor is a Pakistani-American artist in New York city focusing on queer brown men and South Asian identity and xenophobia. Huma Bhabha is a Pakistani American multimedia artist and her work is inspired by science fiction and she creates monumental sculptures that lack clear backgrounds.

Literature

Jhumpa Lahiri is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, best known for her book, ''The Namesake'', and a professor of creative writing at Princeton University. Kiran Desai, winner of the Man Booker Prize, and is known for the well acclaimed novel, '' Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard.'' Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an author and poet and known for her novels on fantasy and magical realism.

Samrat Upadhyay, a Nepalese American writer is the first writer of Nepali descent to be published in the West. His collection of short stories, ''Arresting God in Kathmandu'' was published in 2001. Upadhyay is a professor of creative writing at Indiana University.

Government and politics

After July 2, 1946, under the Luce-Celler Act, Indians were permitted to hold citizenship in the United States. The Act allowed a quota of 100 immigrants per year from India and allowed Indian nationals who were already residing in the U.S. to become naturalized.

In 1957, Dalip Singh Saund of California became the first Asian-American in the United States House of Representatives. In 2017, Ravi Bhalla became the mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, making him the first Sikh to be elected to the position. In the same year, Kamala Harris became a U.S Senator from California.

In 2020, Kamala Harris became the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 2020 presidential election, when Joe Biden chose her as his running mate, making her the first African American and South Asian American vice presidential running mate on a major party ticket. The election was won by Joe Biden making Harris the first female and first African American and South Asian American to be held at such a high office.

News media

Amna Nawaz is a correspondent and substitute anchor for the '' PBS NewsHour'' and Hari Sreenivasan

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