Indian identity in American schools

[Guest guest]

Indian identity in American schools

By C. Alex Alexander

 

Although I have been in the US since 1962, I seem to have remained

unaware of how American schools are imprinting concepts of Indian

identity and Hinduism on the minds of American youth including

children born to Indian parents. It was probably because I never had

children of my own. My recent inquiries of Indian parents about this

issue revealed that not many Indian parents are fully cognizant of the

extent of misinformation that is being parlayed to young Americans, not

just about India but about most non-European civilizations.

 

After availing of an early retirement from our professional lives, my wife

and I spent a year studying Art History after which we became volunteer

docents at a local art museum. In our roles as docents we came in

contact with elementary and high school students who visited the

museum to augment their knowledge of world history and ancient

civilizations. After a year's experience of interacting with school kids I

have become convinced that something needs to be done, especially

with regard to the way non-Judeo Christian communities are being

portrayed in the text books that our students use and the manner in

which their teachers are trained to deal with Asian, African, Latino and

Native American traditions.

 

India, in my opinion receives the worst treatment of all at the hands of

our teachers of world history. China and Japan fare a lot better. My

African-American colleagues with whom I often talk about India's image

in the US greet me with their "welcome to the club" slogan. They remind

me that Indians "have to fight the battles like they themselves had to

struggle with in order to make the white Americans concede at least

partly that Africa is more than a mere continent that sent them their

slaves". Those who have resided in the US since the early 1960s may

recall the debates that when the US Nobel Laureate William Shockley

and his friend, Professor Arthur Jensen began to popularise their (now-

discredited) theories of racial inferiority of African-Americans. It took

nearly four decades of systematic challenges by the black community

to correct the distorted stereotyping of blacks, some of which continue

even today in a subtle fashion.

 

Likewise, during the last three or four decades, the negative images of

India and Hinduism in particular have been promoted by our movies and

talk show pundits (Indiana Jones, Oprah Winfrey, 60 Minutes et al).

These have contributed to the inability of many of our school teachers to

present a balanced portrayal of the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh

traditions to their students. Hinduism seems to fare the worst at the

hands of our school systems. The average American teacher's

knowledge of Hinduism, which is the core component of India's cultural

heritage, is often stilted by the sensational portrayals of that faith by our

mass media. Though a few inquiring Indian parents seem to be aware of

these problems, I am unaware of organised efforts in most states of our

land (except in Virginia and California) undertaken by the Indian

community to address this issue. I also realise that the extent of such

prejudiced portrayals of India may vary from state to state, the worst

being in our Bible belt in the South.

 

This issue was recently highlighted at the 5th International Conference

of the World Association of Vedic Studies (WAVES) held on July 9-11,

2004 at the Shady Grove Campus of the University of Maryland by a

paper presented by Yvette C. Rosser of the University of Texas at

Austin and titled "Stereotypes in Schooling: Negative Pressures in the

American Educational System on Hindu Identity

 

Formation". That study found that "stereotypes about India and

Hinduism when taught as facts in American classrooms may negatively

impact students of South Asian origin who are struggling to work out

their identities in a multicultural, and predominantly Anglo-Christian

environment". Rosser's work is based on surveys of both teachers who

teach world history in our classrooms and Indian students who are

being taught by these teachers.

 

The study found that the teachers devoted only seven per cent of their

preparation time to Asia of which most of it was consumed by Japan

and China. Latin America received six per cent, Middle East four per

cent and Africa three per cent. Eighty per cent of their learning time was

devoted to European history! The amount of time spent in class

instruction of these cultures reflected a similar distribution of effort. The

students who were interviewed by Rosser were all of Indian descent.

They were often befuddled by the contradictions that resulted from what

they learnt about Indian culture and Hinduism through their teachers vs.

what they derived from interacting with their Indian parents and Indian

friends of non-Hindu faiths.

 

This is a serious issue with implications for the formation of both identity

and character of not only the Indian youth but also of their non-Indian

counterparts with whom they will have to interact socially and live with

for the rest of their lives. Aren't we after all "one nation indivisible with

liberty and justice for all"? Our great seal proclaims "e Pluribus

Unum", "out of many, one"! Neither American's cultural identity nor

his/her roots should be demeaned owing to the ignorance of our

teachers, especially when we the taxpayers are paying their salaries!

 

This article showcases the pathetic situation of Hindu portrayal in the

US textbooks and why edits have to be made for fair portrayal. In a

nutshell, the textbooks are full of negative and disparaging portrayal of

Hinduism and paints a very positive picture of other religions.

 

My own interactions with my adult American friends lead me to

conclude that most of them appear to have got their entire education

about India and Hinduism either from the television and newspapers, or

magazines like the National Geographic and Readers Digest or through

visits to museums. This is particularly so with regard to their knowledge

of Hinduism.

 

Most of them know about India's three Cs: Caste, Curry and Cows and

the three Ps: Polytheism, Poverty and Population! They know little or

nothing about the distinctions between polytheism and pantheism. The

more "sophisticated" ones know a little about Gandhi, mostly through

Richard Attenborough's movie. They are also the ones who are more

likely to ask you about "sati", "bride-burning" and "the Kashmir" problem.

With more than a million practicing Hindus now in the US and with

nearly 800 Hindu temples and ashrams here, there is no reason why

Hindu temples in each state (a la the African-American churches)

cannot take leadership roles in systematically examining the high

school textbooks that the children of their worshippers use in schools.

Should they find factually incorrect or demeaning characterisations of

India and its Hindu, Jain, Buddhist or Sikh religious traditions in these

textbooks, they should bring them to the attention of their local school

boards with requests to rectify them.

 

Not doing so will surely affect the identity and character formation of

both Indian and non-Indian youth who are the future citizens of this

nation. In order to do all that, there needs to be a united voice of Indians

of non-Abrahamic traditions in every community. I believe that the

temples of the Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist faiths are uniquely suited

to perform such functions. It is indeed both sad and surprising that

Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist temples in the US have not yet formed

at least a web-linked and non-dues paying national council or

association or consortium to discuss and resolve problems that affect

the identity of future generation of Indians here who want to remain as

adherents of their faiths into which they were born. The monotheistic

faiths (Judeo-Christian & Islamic) in the US have their own separate

linkages that inform each other of important issues facing their

respective faith communities. They do so with lightning speed whenever

they suspect that their images or reputations are being distorted. I

believe that the Hindu temples (due to their large numbers) are uniquely

suited to take a lead in the development of such a consortium, council

or association to tackle issues concerning representations of their

religious traditions in our school systems.

 

Not too long ago, there were many articles in the US and Indian media

about the denigration of Ganesha, Ramakrishna Paramahans, Shivaji

etc by the sophomoric writings of euro-centric American professors

associated with US schools of divinity. Complaints about such writings

were lodged by both Indian scholars in India as well as scholars from

among the NRI communities here in the US and UK. But the latter

(critics) were often unfairly caricatured by a few Judeo-Christian as well

as Indian "intellectuals" characterising the critics as Hindu

fundamentalists or ignoramuses who are unfamiliar with our Bill of

Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression.

 

It was even more baffling for me to learn that some of these American

(Judeo-Christian) professors who routinely defame Hinduism and its

deities and heroes through their writings are frequently invited by Hindu

groups and even given honoraria and garlanded and feted for

their "contributions". Most Hindu hosts seem to be unaware of the fact

that their "distinguished lecturers" who often identify themselves

primarily as professors of "Eastern religions" at reputable universities are

in actuality serving as principal faculty of their respective schools of

divinity. These schools of divinity have ulterior motives in offering

degrading interpretations of non-Abrahamic faiths.

 

Rosser reported in her study that one Indian student said that he was

asked in a class discussion why Indians always worshipped rats, fed

them and allowed them to multiply when it is well-known that they can

harbour vectors capable of spreading bubonic plague.

 

They have no interest what so ever in teaching any student the virtues of

India or its predominant Hindu civilization, which has contributed, to the

evolution of Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Hinduism's core value of

pluralism and its tolerance of all faiths are seldom highlighted, nor

discussed as more conducive to the preservation of world peace than

our monotheistic Abrahamic faiths can ever hope to be if the latter

remain wedded to its exclusivist religious philosophy steeped in their

respective beliefs of infallibility.

 

You should not be surprised if you had heard from your children that

they had not heard anything good about India or its many religious

traditions from any of their teachers. I wonder how many of them were

told by their teachers that India is the largest democracy in the world

with a secular form of government, that it is a country that has never had

a military coup, never invaded another country, allowed Christianity to

thrive even before it spread to Europe, gave haven to Jews, Christians

and Zoroastrians when they fled from the onslaughts of Islam, and gave

birth to Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. They also may not have heard

from their teachers that India is the seventh most industrialised country

in the world, and that it contributed a great deal to ancient mathematics,

astronomy, bronze casting, surgery, and vaccination, Yoga, Ayurveda

etc.

 

But, your children may have been asked inane questions by their

classmates based on a sensational TV or magazine account of some

weird practice going on somewhere in India as it happens everywhere,

even in our own, viz., the United States of America.

 

For example, Rosser reported in her study that one Indian student said

that he was asked in a class discussion why Indians always

worshipped rats, fed them and allowed them to multiply when it is well-

known that they can harbour vectors capable of spreading bubonic

plague.

 

This occurred after a TV show aired an item concerning veneration of

rats in a temple in Rajasthan. I too recall someone asking me whether

that practice was typical of Hinduism. My response was that it was no

more typical of Hinduism than it is of Christianity if we were to infer that

all Christians handled rattlesnakes in their Sunday worship as some

congregations in West Virginia or the Boot Heel of Missouri still do in

order to test and affirm their own "sinless" lives since their last worship

in that church!

 

The Judeo-Christian, African-American and Latino parents (Latinos less

vigorously than the former two groups) exercise constant vigilance to

ensure that the facts about their respective cultures are not degraded or

slandered by any teacher. If they do, their representatives on the school

boards promptly take them to task. Now, it is the turn of Asian-Indian

parent's here, particularly Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist parents to find

out from their children what they are learning about India and its many

religions and their traditions. And, if they find that their schools are not

offering a balanced account of India's history, its achievements and its

religious traditions, I do believe that the parents have an obligation to

seek remedial action from the administrators of their schools.

 

At least for posterity's sake, they must act. If they do not, they are in

my humble opinion, short-changing their own commitment to Sanatana

Dharma. They are also missing a golden opportunity to highlight the

ancient wisdom of the Hindu traditions as codified in Sanatana Dharma,

which celebrates religious pluralism and diversity. I know of no other

faith other than Hinduism or an ancient land other than the pre-Mughal

and the pre-Colonial Indian subcontinent which permitted the thriving of

multiple faiths and demonstrated its hospitality to all those who came to

its shores seeking refuge from religious persecution or trading

opportunities.

 

The extent of such prejudiced portrayals of India may vary from state to

state, the worst being in our Bible belt in the South.

 

Even in recent times, India has provided refuge to Tibetans fleeing from

persecution in their own homeland. More than two thousand years

before our Founding Fathers in this Nation envisaged a country which

shall become that "shining city on the Hill" where religious pluralism and

diversity shall thrive so that we can remain an example for the rest of

the world, the Indian subcontinent was practicing it! India continues to

remain as that "shining" land mass of religious tolerance even despite

the relentless provocations of the arrogant factions of the monotheistic

faiths.

 

It is not a well-appreciated fact here in this country that India's

Sanatana Dharma had always espoused such a pluralistic tradition as

befitting the peoples who inhabited that subcontinent. Middle East too

was a haven for pluralism with its pre-Christian Semitic and African

cultures as well as the very early Christian churches of the first four

centuries of the Common Era. They were all destroyed consequent to

the bastardization of the ancient eastern Judeo-Christian faiths when

these essentially "eastern Jewish and Orthodox.

 

Eastern Christian faiths" were hijacked nearly 1700 years ago by the

Western imperialist powers to convert them into exclusivist creeds and

make them become tools in their quests for world domination.

Unfortunately, the Islamic rulers embraced the same fervor for co-opting

religion in the service of expanding political power. The follies of all such

perversions, past and present are now becoming more obvious in recent

years with the resurgence of militancy among the ignorant minorities of

the Abrahamic faiths who are either willing to maim and kill for proving

their exclusivist superiority and nearness to God or belittle and ridicule

those who perceive God differently. In that context, the parents of our

Indian-American children have a stellar opportunity to show their

neighbours of Abrahamic faiths the redeeming values and traditions of

Sanatana Dharma and the latter's intrinsic nearness to the true tenet of

the American creed, EPLURIBUS UNUM!

 

(Dr. Alexander is a US citizen and has retired from the medical

profession. He has held several executive medical positions in the US

Department of Affairs, US Department of Defense, US Army Medical

Corps, Reserve Components and has held professorial appointments at

several medical schools during his 40 years of medical career in the

United States.)

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