I disagree. I feel that non-Indians (they are not limited to white people, Ennis!), tend to “grok the soul of the practice” more than the external formalities like puncuation (of Sanksrit yogic terms) or cleanliness rules (of puja and stuff) that Indians may emphasize. Westerners tend to vibe more with the essence of spiritual practices, the heart of it all.

(Horrified) F*ck no. Speak for yourself, Cyrano.

Yes, all eight of them. Hmmmm…is the Punjabi population phenotypically different than the one in the US, cuz this is not my experience.

As per the East Asian involvement with the black power movement, it’s not something most people here are aware of, but there’s a book on Yuri Kochiyama’s involvement with the Black Panthers and Malcolm X- the first book ever written about an Asian American revolutionary. It was mostly in the first half of the establishment of the Black Panthers, as non-black activism became estranged once the “good” black power movement turned into a black nationalism that was not only exclusive towards other civil rights movements, it became oppressive to the marginalized members of it’s own movement (basically the women). But that’s a different story, and overall, I’m very proud of the Black Panthers.

Just to clarify my own background and comments in case there is any confusion, I live in the UK. When I used the term “Asian” on this thread, I was referring specifically to what Americans call “South Asians”. Normally I used the American terminology when participating on SM, but as someone had used the British terms and had addressed some questions to me, I replied in the same vein.

It’s interesting reading about the East Asian American involvement in the black power/civil rights movements in the US though, I didn’t know about any of that.

To everyone else in the country: We’re just the “Indians”. Not Asians because to them Asians consist of people who are from China, Japan, Korea…

Yeah, same here actually. In response to some previous posts where I was addressing the “model minority” issue, I had lumped us up within that umbrella term “Asian” because both East and South Asian Americans are the model minority. But really, “Asian” here means non-brown, slanted eyes, and the browns and yellows have different historical legacies and reputations in the United States. The brown skinned people are marginalized by the popular perception of Asians, so desis and Pacific Islanders will often distinguish themselves from “Asian American” by adding “South,” “Southeast” or “Pacific Islander” in front. It’s also why scholars and activists who want to be inclusive often use the term “pan-Asian” or “API” (Asian and Pacific Islander) to refer to the peoples of the Asian continent and Oceania collectively.

Jai:

I think it was also a factor of black people being more established in the UK (and the West in general, at least the US) and having greater political clout and, at the time, a much higher cultural profile and influence compared to Asians, so I guess Asians joined them in an unofficial “alliance”.

The (non-brown) East Asians Americans began their third wave of activism in alliance with (or at least in emulating) the black power movement, particularly the Black Panthers. I wish I had a better understanding of South Asian American activism here, but I’m pretty sure South Asians weren’t involved in the ’60-’70s movements the way the East Asian Americans were.