South Asian Solidarity After September 11

December 20, 2001

Source: The New Republic

http://www.thenewrepublic.com/122401/diarist122401.html

The December 24, 2001 edition of The New Repbulic features the article "All for One." The article details the "post-September 11 paradox" of "South Asian" identity. It continues, "While the war on terrorism has inflamed religious and national divisions on the subcontinent ... in the United States it has probably done more to unify America's disparate South Asian communities than any event since the mass migration that brought them to these shores in large numbers three decades ago. Since 9/11, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Sri Lankans, and Indians have felt the sting of hundreds of hate crimes and thousands of ugly comments. Describing this backlash, the media has increasingly used the label 'South Asian,' providing the term a legitimacy it hadn't enjoyed before. ... Because, to American bigots, Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs all look the same--brown--many victims are deciding they have a lot more in common than they had previously realized."