Indian Identity in American Schools - Dr.C.Alex Alexander

[Guest guest]

civilizations. After a year's experience of interactingwith school kids I have

become convinced that something needs to bedone, especially with regard to the

way non-Judeo Christiancommunities are being portrayed in the text books that

our studentsuse and the manner in which their teachers are trained to deal

withAsian, African, Latino and Native American traditions. India, in my

opinion receives the worst treatment of all at thehands of our teachers of

world history. China and Japan fare a lotbetter. My African-American colleagues

with whom I often talk aboutIndia's image in the US greet me with their "welcome

to the club"slogan. They remind me that Indians "have to fight the battles

likethey themselves had to struggle with in order to make the whiteAmericans

concede at least partly that Africa is more than a merecontinent that sent them

their slaves". Those of you who haveresided in the US since the

early 1960s may recall the debates wehad here when the US Nobel Laureate William

Shockley and his friend,Professor Arthur Jensen began to popularize their

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

nearlyfour decades of systematic challenges by the black community tocorrect

the distorted stereotyping of blacks, some of which continueeven today in a

subtle fashion. Likewise, during the last three or four decades, the negative

imagesof India and Hinduism in particular have been promoted by our moviesand

talk show pundits (Indiana Jones, Oprah Winfrey, 60 Minutes etal). These have

contributed to the inability of many of ourschoolteachers to present a balanced

portrayal of the Hindu, Jain,Buddhist and Sikh traditions to their students.

Hinduism seems tofare the worst at the hands of our school systems. The

averageAmerican teacher's knowledge of Hinduism, which is the

corecomponent of India's cultural heritage, is often stilted by thesensational

portrayals of that faith by our mass media. Though a fewinquiring Indian

parents seem to be aware of these problems, I amunaware of organized efforts in

most states of our land (except inVirginia and California) undertaken by the

Indian community toaddress this issue. I also realize that the extent of

suchprejudiced portrayals of India may vary from state to state, theworst being

in our Bible belt in the South. This issue was recently highlighted at the 5th

InternationalConference of the World Association of Vedic Studies (WAVES) held

onJuly 9-11, 2004 at the Shady Grove Campus of the University ofMaryland by a

paper presented by Yvette C. Rosser of the Universityof Texas at Austin and

titled "Stereotypes in Schooling: NegativePressures in the American Educational

System on Hindu IdentityFormation". That study found

that "stereotypes about India andHinduism when taught as facts in American

classrooms may negativelyimpact students of South Asian origin who are

struggling to work outtheir identities in a multicultural, and predominantly

Anglo-Christian environment". Rosser's work is based on surveys of bothteachers

who teach world history in our classrooms and Indianstudents who are being

taught by these teachers. The study foundthat the teachers devoted only 7%

of their preparation time to Asiaof which most of it was consumed by Japan and

China. Latin Americareceived 6%, Middle East 4% and Africa 3%. Eighty percent

of theirlearning time was devoted to European history! The amount of timespent

in class instruction of these cultures reflected a similardistribution of

effort. The students who were interviewed by Rosserwere all of Indian descent.

They were often befuddled by thecontradictions that resulted from

what they learnt about Indianculture and Hinduism through their teachers vs.

what they derivedfrom interacting with their Indian parents and Indian friends

of non-Hindu faiths. This is a serious issue with implications for

theformation of both identity and character of not only the Indianyouth but

also of their non-Indian counterparts with whom they willhave to interact

socially and live with for the remainder of theirlives. Aren't we after all

"one nation indivisible with liberty andjustice for all"? Our Great Seal

proclaims "e Pluribus Unum", "outof many, one"! Neither American's cultural

identity nor his/herroots should be demeaned owing to the ignorance of our

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

interactions with my adult American friends lead me toconclude that most of

them appear to have gotten their entireeducation about

India and Hinduism either from the television andnewspapers, or magazines like

the National Geographic and ReadersDigest or through visits to museums. This is

particularly so withregard to their knowledge of Hinduism. Most of them know

aboutIndia's 3 Cs: Caste, Curry and Cows and the 3 Ps: Polytheism,Poverty and

Population! They know little or nothing about thedistinctions between

polytheism and panentheism. Themore "sophisticated" ones know a little about

Gandhi, mostly throughRichard Attenborough's movie. They are also the ones who

are morelikely to ask you about "suttee", "bride-burning" and "the

Kashmir"problem. With more than a million practicing Hindus now in the USand

with nearly 800 Hindu temples and Ashrams here, there is noreason why Hindu

temples in each state (a la the African-AmericanChurches) cannot take

leadership roles in systematically examiningthe high school textbooks that the

children of their worshippers usein schools. Should they find factually

incorrect and or demeaningcharacterizations of India and its Hindu, Jain,

Buddhist or Sikhreligious traditions in these textbooks, they should bring them

tothe attention of their local school boards with requests to rectifythem.

Not doing so will surely affect the identity and characterformation of both

Indian and non-Indian youth who are the futurecitizens of this nation. In order

to do all that, there needs to bea united voice of Indians of non-Abrahamic

traditions in everycommunity. I believe that the temples of the Hindu, Jain,

Sikh andBuddhist faiths are uniquely suited to perform such functions. Itis

indeed both sad and surprising that Hindu, Jain, Sikh andBuddhist temples in

the US have not yet formed at least a web-linkedand non-dues paying National

Council or Association or Consortium todiscuss and resolve problems

that affect the identity of futuregeneration of Indians here who want to remain

as adherents of theirfaiths into which they were born. The monotheistic faiths

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

thatinform each other of important issues facing their respective

faithcommunities. They do so with lightning speed whenever they suspectthat

their images or reputations are being distorted. I believe thatthe Hindu

temples (due to their large numbers) are uniquely suitedto take a lead in the

development of such a Consortium, Council orAssociation to tackle issues

concerning representations of theirreligious traditions in our school systems.

Not too long ago, there were many articles in the US and Indianmedia about the

denigration of Ganesha, Ramakrishna Paramahams,Shivaji etc by the sophomoric

writings of Eurocentric AmericanProfessors associated with US Schools of

Divinity. Complaints aboutsuch writings were lodged by both Indian scholars in

India as wellas scholars from among the NRI communities here in the US and

UK.But the latter (critics) were often unfairly caricatured by a

fewJudeo-Christian as well as Indian "intellectuals" characterizing thecritics

as Hindu fundamentalists or ignoramuses who are unfamiliarwith 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 itsdeities and heroes through their writings are

frequently invited byHindu groups and even given honoraria and garlanded and

feted fortheir "contributions". Most Hindu hosts seem to be unaware of thefact

that their "distinguished lecturers" who often identifythemselves primarily as

professors of "Eastern religions" atreputable universities are in actuality

serving as principal facultyof their respective Schools of Divinity. These

Schools of Divinityhave ulterior motives in offering degrading interpretations

of non-Abrahamic faiths. They have no interest what so ever in teaching

anystudent the virtues of India or its predominant Hindu civilization,which has

contributed, to the evolution of Buddhism, Jainism andSikhism. Hinduism's core

value of pluralism and its tolerance of allfaiths are seldom highlighted, nor

discussed as more conducive tothe preservation of world peace than our

monotheistic Abrahamicfaiths can ever hope to be if the latter remain wedded to

itsexclusivist religious philosophy steeped in their respective beliefsof

infallibility. You should not be surprised if you had heard from your

children thatthey had not heard anything good about India or its many

religioustraditions from any of their teachers. I

wonder how many of themwere told by their teachers that India is the largest

democracy inthe world with a secular form of government, that it is a

countrythat has never had a military coup, never invaded another

country,allowed Christianity to thrive even before it spread to Europe,

gavehaven to Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians when they fled from

theonslaughts of Islam, and gave birth to Buddhism, Jainism andSikhism. They

also may not have heard from their teachers that Indiais the seventh most

industrialized country in the world, and that itcontributed a great deal to

ancient mathematics, astronomy, bronzecasting, surgery, and vaccination, Yoga,

Ayurveda etc. But, your children may have been asked inane questions by

their classmatesbased on a sensational TV or magazine account of some

weirdpractice going on somewhere in India as it happens everywhere, evenin our

own, viz., the United States of

America. For example, Rosser reported in her study that one Indian studentsaid

that he was asked in a class discussion why Indians alwaysworshipped rats, fed

them and allowed them to multiply when it iswell-known that it can harbor

vectors capable of spreading bubonicplague. This occurred after a TV show

aired an item concerningveneration of rats in a temple in Rajasthan. I too

recall someoneasking me whether that practice was typical of Hinduism. My

responsewas that it was no more typical of Hinduism than it is ofChristianity

if we were to infer that all Christians handledrattlesnakes in their Sunday

worship as some congregations in WestVirginia or the Boot Heel of Missouri

still do in order to test andaffirm their own "sinless" lives since their last

worship in thatchurch! The Judeo-Christian, African-American and Latino

parents (Latinosless vigorously

than the former two groups) exercise constantvigilance to ensure that the facts

about their respective culturesare not degraded or slandered by any teacher. If

they do, theirrepresentatives on the School Boards promptly take them to

task.Now, it is the turn of Asian-Indian parent's here, particularlyHindu,

Sikh, Jain and Buddhist parents to find out from theirchildren what they are

learning about India and its many religionsand their traditions. And, if they

find that their schools are notoffering a balanced account of India's history,

its achievements andits religious traditions, I do believe that the parents

have anobligation to seek remedial action from the administrators of

theirschools. At least for posterity's sake, they must act. If they donot,

they are in my humble opinion, short-changing their owncommitment to Sanatana

Dharma. They are also missing a goldenopportunity to highlight the

ancient wisdom of the Hindu traditionsas codified in Sanatana Dharma, which

celebrates religious pluralismand diversity. I know of no other faith other

than Hinduism or anancient land other than the pre-Mughal and the pre-Colonial

Indiansubcontinent which permitted the thriving of multiple faiths

anddemonstrated its hospitality to all those who came to its shoresseeking

refuge from religious persecution or trading opportunities. Even in recent

times, India has provided refuge to Tibetans fleeingfrom persecution in their

own homeland. More than two thousand yearsbefore our Founding Fathers in this

Nation envisaged a country whichshall become that "shining city on the Hill"

where religiouspluralism and diversity shall thrive so that we can remain

anexample for the rest of the world, the Indian subcontinent waspracticing it!

India continues to remain as that "shining" land massof religious tolerance

even despite the

relentless provocations ofthe arrogant factions of the monotheistic faiths. It

is not a well-appreciated fact here in this country that India'sSanatana Dharma

had always espoused such a pluralistic tradition asbefitting the peoples who

inhabited that subcontinent. Middle Easttoo was a haven for pluralism with its

pre-Christian Semitic andAfrican cultures as well as the very early Christian

churches of thefirst four centuries of the Common Era. They were all

destroyedconsequent 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 theWestern

imperialist powers to convert them into exclusivist creedsand make them become

tools in their quests for world domination.Unfortunately, the same fervor for

co-opting religion in theservice of expanding political power was

embraced by the Islamicrulers as well. The follies of all such perversions, past

andpresent are now becoming more obvious in recent years with theresurgence of

militancy among the ignorant minorities of the Abrahamic faiths who are either

willing to maim and kill forproving their exclusivist superiority and nearness

to God orbelittle and ridicule those who perceive God differently. In

thatcontext, the parents of our Indian-American children have a

stellaropportunity to show their neighbors of Abrahamic faiths theredeeming

values and traditions of Sanatana Dharma and the latter'sintrinsic nearness to

the true tenet of the American Creed, EPLURIBUS UNUM! (Dr. Alexander is a

naturalized US citizen, and a recent retireefrom the medical profession. He has

held several executive medicalpositions in both the US Department of Affairs and

the US Departmentof Defense,US Army Medical

Corps, Reserve Components, and has heldprofessorial appointments at several

medical schools during his 40years of medical career in the United States. An

earlier version ofthis article was first published in INDIA FEST ?4, Indian

AmericanAssociations, National Capital Region & subsequently in the Souveniror

Dharma Summit 2005, Aug 13-15,2005, Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, NJ)

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