The “Hindoo” Invasion of the 20th Century – Understanding a Misunderstood Group
Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Oscar Handlin once wrote, “I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history.” The United States has served as a major receiving country for immigrants for centuries. Research about immigrants is often divided into broad categories and experiences, such as Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, European, and African. We should be careful not to group immigrants into broad categories since many of them represent different cultures, ethnic groups, etc. In this paper, I will explore the immigrant experiences of the Muslim Punjabis, an ethnic group from present day India and Pakistan, in the U.S. between 1907 and 1970.Because South Asia is a broad geographical region, I will attempt to isolate the immigrant experience of the first immigrants who came from this region: Punjabi Muslims. In order to understand this immigrant experience, it is crucial to understand conditions in the home country, such as British colonialism, conditions in the United States, immigration laws, cultural and religious practices, and their new way of life in the U.S.Muslims and South Asians have had a strong presence in American society and media, but how much do Americans really know about them? South Asians and Muslims have been misunderstood since they first arrived in this country over a century ago. By exploring the experiences of Punjabi Muslims, we will learn a part of American history that has been left out and study the experiences of this immigrant group more in depth.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Room 211 A/B
Start Date
2-5-2009 9:00 AM
End Date
2-5-2009 12:30 PM
The “Hindoo” Invasion of the 20th Century – Understanding a Misunderstood Group
DeRosa University Center, Room 211 A/B
Oscar Handlin once wrote, “I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history.” The United States has served as a major receiving country for immigrants for centuries. Research about immigrants is often divided into broad categories and experiences, such as Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, European, and African. We should be careful not to group immigrants into broad categories since many of them represent different cultures, ethnic groups, etc. In this paper, I will explore the immigrant experiences of the Muslim Punjabis, an ethnic group from present day India and Pakistan, in the U.S. between 1907 and 1970.Because South Asia is a broad geographical region, I will attempt to isolate the immigrant experience of the first immigrants who came from this region: Punjabi Muslims. In order to understand this immigrant experience, it is crucial to understand conditions in the home country, such as British colonialism, conditions in the United States, immigration laws, cultural and religious practices, and their new way of life in the U.S.Muslims and South Asians have had a strong presence in American society and media, but how much do Americans really know about them? South Asians and Muslims have been misunderstood since they first arrived in this country over a century ago. By exploring the experiences of Punjabi Muslims, we will learn a part of American history that has been left out and study the experiences of this immigrant group more in depth.