View source for Racial classification of Indian Americans

{{Short description|Racial classification of Americans with ancestry from India}}
{{about|the racial classification of Americans with ancestry from India|anthropological racial classifications of Indians in general|Historical definitions of races in India}}
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The '''racial classification of Indian Americans''' has varied over the years and across institutions.<ref name="Harpalani2013">Harpalani, Vinay, DesiCrit: Theorizing the Racial Ambiguity of South Asian Americans (August 12, 2013). 69 NYU Annual Survey of American Law 77 (2013); Chicago-Kent College of Law Research Paper No. 2013-30. pp. 123, 124 & 136. Available at SSRN: [http://ssrn.com/abstract=2308892 link]</ref> Originally, neither the courts nor the census bureau classified [[Indian Americans]] as a race because there were only negligible numbers of Indian immigrants in the United States. Early Indian Americans were often denied their civil rights, leading to close affiliations with [[African Americans]]. For most of America's early history, the government only recognized two [[Race (human categorization)|racial classifications]], ''white'' or ''colored''. Due to immigration laws of the time, those deemed ''colored'' were often denied the ability to become citizens. For these reasons, various [[South Asia]]ns in America took the government to court to try to be considered ''white'' instead of ''colored''.<ref name="Morning">{{cite journal |last1=Morning |first1=Ann |title=The racial self-identification of South Asians in the United States |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |year=2001 |volume=27 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1080/13691830125692 |s2cid=15491946 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3a5f/ba0bf35af9a36b2479c3c1d28af1148e9ae6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109205347/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3a5f/ba0bf35af9a36b2479c3c1d28af1148e9ae6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2019 |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref> After advocacy from the Indian American community, the racial category of ''Asian Indian'' was finally introduced in the [[1980 United States census|1980 U.S. census]].
==Initial perceptions==
[[File:Nansemond.jpg|thumb|right|Members of the [[Nansemond]] tribe, descendant of Asian Indian, Native American, and African American people, c. 1900, Smithsonian Institution]]
[[File:SinghYubaCity.jpg|thumb|A [[Punjabi Mexican Americans|Punjabi Mexican American]] couple, Valentina Alarez and Rullia Singh, posing for their wedding photo in 1917.]]
One of the first recorded [[Indian people|Indians]] in America was a [[Multiracial people|mixed-race]] girl born to an Indian father and an [[Irish Americans|Irish American]] mother in 1680 in Maryland. Due to her [[Indian Americans|Indian American]] father being classified as "Negro", she was classified as a [[mulatto]] and later sold into slavery.<ref>Francis C. Assisi (2005). "Indian-American Scholar Susan Koshy Probes Interracial Sex". INDOlink. Retrieved 2009-01-02.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Meyers|first1=Debra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XWZdM7rzAgC&q=%22Mary+Molloyd%22&pg=PA96|title=Colonial Chesapeake: New Perspectives|last2=Perreault|first2=Melanie|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7391-1092-8|pages=96|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Heinegg|first=Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH0OAQAAMAAJ|title=Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: From the Colonial Period to 1810|publisher=Clearfield|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8063-5042-4|pages=7, 123|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Assisi|first=Francis C.|date=2003|title=First Indian-American Identified: Mary Fisher, Born 1680 in Maryland|url=http://www.indolink.com/Analysis/a121403-021037.php|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031224221623/http://www.indolink.com/Analysis/a121403-021037.php|archive-date=2003-12-24|website=Indolink}}</ref> Court records from the 1700s indicate a number of "East Indians" were held as slaves in Maryland and Delaware.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Thomas |last2=Sims |first2=Leah |title=Colonial Chesapeake : new perspectives |date=2006 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=0739110926 |pages=81–97}}</ref> Upon freedom, they are said to have blended into the [[Free Negro|free African American population]] - considered mulattoes within the [[African American]] community.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heinegg |first1=Paul |title=Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware : from the colonial period to 1810 |date=2021 |location=[Baltimore, Md.] |isbn=978-0806359281 |edition=Second}}</ref> Three brothers from modern day "India or Pakistan" received their freedom in 1710 and married into a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe in Virginia.<ref name="heinegg">{{cite book|url=http://www.freeafricanamericans.com|title=Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware: Indian Families Bass & Weaver|last=Heinegg|first=Paul|date=1995|publisher=Genealogical Publishing|location=Baltimore|access-date=24 December 2019}}</ref> The present-day [[Nansemond]] people trace their lineage to this intermarriage.<ref name=autogenerated3 >[http://www.nansemond.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=30 Dr. Helen C. Rountree, "Nansemond History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723044852/http://www.nansemond.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=30 |date=2011-07-23 }}, Nansemond Tribal Association, accessed 16 Sep 2009</ref>
The earliest Indian immigrants into the United States were called "[[Hindus]]" even though the majority of them were [[Sikhs]].<!--This is on the second to the fourth line of the first paragraph of page 123 of Harpalani (2013).--> Court clerks classified these early immigrants from the [[Punjab]] region as being "[[Black people|black]]", "[[White people|white]]", or "[[Brown (racial classification)|brown]]" based on their skin color for the purpose of marriage licenses.<!--This is in the fourth to seventh lines of the first paragraph of page 124 of Harpalani (2013).--> In addition to being [[Racialization|racialized]] by their color, they were also racialized as being "[[In-group and out-group|foreigners]]".<!--This is in the third line of the second paragraph of page 124 of Harpalani (2013).--><ref name="Harpalani2013" />
The perception of Indian Americans as foreigners sometimes helped provide for better treatment, especially in states where [[de jure]] segregation was in place.<ref name="Little India">{{cite web |title=Indian Independence And The African American Struggle |url=https://littleindia.com/indian-independence-and-the-african-american-struggle/ |website=Little India: Overseas Indian, NRI, Asian Indian, Indian American |date=17 August 2007}}</ref> As opposed to being seen as black, in some states Indians were seen as outside of the traditional American racial spectrum, and consequently freed from the encumbrances which that system entailed.<ref>{{cite news|last1=New York Times|title=Negro Pastor Traveled in the South in Turban|url=http://i.imgur.com/GhmDWUk.jpg|access-date=17 March 2016|agency=New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Desai|first1=Manan|title=The 'Tan Stranger' from Ceylon|url=https://www.saada.org/tides/article/20140708-3618|website=South Asian American Digital Archive|date=8 July 2014 |publisher=SAADA|access-date=17 March 2016}}</ref>
By the mid-1950s, those who remained settled in the then vibrant black neighborhoods of [[Tremé]] in New Orleans, [[Black Bottom, Detroit|Black Bottom]] in Detroit, [[West Baltimore]], and [[Harlem, New York|Harlem]] in New York. Many started families with [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]], [[Puerto Ricans]], and African Americans.<ref name="Little India" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Bengali Harlem and the lost histories of South Asian America |isbn=9780674503854 |edition=First Harvard University Press paperbackition|last1=Bald |first1=Vivek |date=23 March 2015 |publisher=Harvard University Press }}</ref> An example is Indian-born [[Hucheshwar Gurusidha Mudgal]], who became a prominent journalist in Harlem's African American community.<ref name="Mugdal">{{cite web |title=Historical solidarity between South Asian and Black communities teaches way forward, says archive director |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/archive-solidarity-south-asians-blacks-1.5674190 |website=CBC News |publisher=Winston Szeto |access-date=27 May 2022}}</ref> Punjabi Sikhs in California found a closer camaraderie with [[Mexicans]], resulting in a unique mixed-race community in the [[Yuba City]] area - the [[Punjabi Mexican Americans]].<ref name="sikh">{{cite web|url=http://www.sikhpioneers.org/cpma.html|title=The World & I|author=Karen Leonard, PhD|publisher=The Washington Times Corporation|date=May 1989|access-date=2019-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609180326/http://www.sikhpioneers.org/cpma.html|archive-date=2007-06-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Palhotra, Nishi. "[http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2008/03/2124 The 'dirty Hindus'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630112520/http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2008/03/2124|date=2019-06-30}}." ''[[Hardnews]]''. March 2008. Retrieved on April 15, 2012.</ref>
==Identity==
===Self-identification===
Indian independence movement fighter [[Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay]] wrote of the Indian racial identity in America as being "black".<ref>America,: The land of superlatives, Phoenix Publications, 1946.</ref> After spending years studying and living with African American families, Chattopadhyay wrote Indians in America should form ties with African Americans, believing they share a common ancestry and a common struggle for independence.<ref>'I am a colored woman': Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya in the United States, 1939-1941. Slate, Nico. Routledge Publishing</ref> Following the [[George Floyd protests]] of the 2020s, some segments of the American-born [[South Asia]]n community have renewed calls for camaraderie with African Americans.<ref name="Mugdal" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jha |first1=Priya |last2=Rajgopal |first2=Shoba Sharad |title=South Asians, social justice and the black lives matter movement |journal=South Asian Popular Culture |date=2 January 2021 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=71–72 |doi=10.1080/14746689.2021.1885112 |s2cid=233916410 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349342668|doi-access=free }}</ref>
However, South Asians often try to distance themselves from African Americans and [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics]].<ref name=Morning/> Even though South Asians "insist on being called 'brown', the plea of Indian immigrants not to be called black is what is most audible".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rajagopal |first=A |title=Transnational networks and Hindu nationalism |journal=Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars |date=1997 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=45–58|doi=10.1080/14672715.1997.10413093 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This is due to considerable [[anti-blackness]] and anti-Hispanic prejudice in some segments of the South Asian population. This prejudice is often accompanied by a fear of being mistaken for black or Hispanic, described as "an almost paranoid response to even being thought of as black".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mazumdar |first=Sucheta |title=Racist Responses to Racism: The Aryan Myth and South Asians in the United States |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/cssaame/article-abstract/9/1/47/592/Racist-Responses-to-Racism-The-Aryan-Myth-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=[[Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East]] |access-date=9 January 2019 |pages=47–55 |language=en |doi=10.1215/07323867-9-1-47 |date=1 May 1989|volume=9 }}</ref>
Some [[South Asian Americans]] have identified themselves as being "Brown Asians" or "Brown South Asians",<ref name="Asia Society">{{cite web|last=Schiavenza|first=Matt|title= Why Some 'Brown Asians' Feel Left Out of the Asian American Conversation|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-some-brown-asians-feel-left-out-asian-american-conversation|date=October 19, 2016|access-date=April 22, 2022|website=[[Asia Society]]|quote=And that, unfortunately, did not include any South Asians and only one Filipino. That caused a bit of an outcry. It raises a legitimate issue, of course, one about how 'brown Asians' often feel excluded from the Asian American conversation.}}</ref><ref name="Ms. Magazine">{{cite magazine|last=Kulkarni|first=Saili S.|title=South Asians Are Asians Too. When Will Our Racial Reckoning Be?|url=https://msmagazine.com/2021/04/24/south-asian-racism-fedex-indianapolis-sikh-shooting/|magazine=Ms.|date=April 24, 2021|access-date=March 24, 2022|quote=After the shooting of Asian women in Atlanta, we rallied to express our deep disgust at the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes—yet we didn’t similarly rally for the Brown, South Asians killed in Indianapolis.}}</ref> while others, like [[Nikki Haley]], a former governor of South Carolina and of Indian descent, identified as "white" on her voter registration card in 2001.<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/07/indian-nikki-haley-says-she-is-white%20 "Indian Nikki Haley Says She Is White"]. ''Mother Jones''. July 29, 2011.</ref> Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the South Carolina Democrats, stated "Haley has been appearing on television interviews where she calls herself a minority—when it suits her... When she registers to vote she says she is white. She has developed a pattern of saying whatever is beneficial to her at the moment."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mahanta |first1=Siddhartha |title=Indian Nikki Haley Says She Is White |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/indian-nikki-haley-says-she-is-white/ |website=Mother Jones |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref> While some Asian Americans (including South Asian descendants) may not identify with the "Asian American" label at all, due to the terms association with [[East Asian Americans]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Schiavenza|first=Matt|title= Why Some 'Brown Asians' Feel Left Out of the Asian American Conversation|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-some-brown-asians-feel-left-out-asian-american-conversation|date=October 19, 2016|access-date=April 22, 2022|website=[[Asia Society]]|quote=It's one of the reasons many brown Asians do not identify as Asian Americans. Perhaps we just don't feel connected to East Asian people, cultures, and lived realities. Perhaps we also don't feel welcomed and included.}}</ref> As such, the "Brown Asian" label sees some usage to further differentiate South and [[Southeast Asian Americans]] from those of [[East Asia]]n descent.<ref name="Asia Society"/><ref name="AAPR"/>
The official classification of South Asian as part of the "Asian American" racial category represents an agreement of convenience for South Asians on where they fit on the [[Racism in the United States|black-white racial spectrum]] in the United States, as American society is largely dominated by only a "white" and "black" racial and skin color classification system.<ref name="Morning" /> Depending on the social and legal context, some Indian Americans may identify as either "white" or "black".<ref name="Morning" /> South Asian Americans and other types of Asian Americans mutually feel that there exists "profound racial difference" between themselves and the other Asian ethnic group.<!--This is in the sixth to eighth lines of the second paragraph of page 64.--> Furthermore, "Working-class or state school-educated second generation Indian Americans do not see a natural alliance or unity with other Asian American groups."<!--This is found in the block quote on page 75 of Morning (2001).--><ref name=Morning /> Many South Asian Americans have noted that their perceived differences in cultural, religious, and racial/physical appearance with other Asian American ethnic groups has often lead them to being excluded in Asian American studies, narratives and media representations.<ref name="AAPR">{{cite journal|last=Nadal|first=Kevin L|date=February 2, 2020|title=The Brown Asian American Movement: Advocating for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Filipino American Communities|url=https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2020/02/02/the-brown-asian-american-movement-advocating-for-south-asian-southeast-asian-and-filipino-american-communities/|journal=Asian American Policy Review|volume=29|access-date=April 22, 2022|quote=South Asian Americans have shared how they are excluded from the Asian American umbrella because of their cultural, religious, and racial/phenotypic differences – resulting in lack of representation in Asian American Studies, narratives, and media representations.}}</ref>
===Identification by others===
Early Indian travelers to America, including philosopher and author [[Swami Vivekananda]], were identified as black by both African Americans and [[White Americans]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arora |first1=Anupama |title=A Black Pagan in Orange Clothes: Swami Vivekananda’s American Travels |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10436928.2015.1132531 |website=Taylor and Francis Online |access-date=21 January 2024}}</ref> The racial prejudice associated with this identification created strong anti-racist sentiments in authors such as Vivekananda, which in turn influenced the philosophies of [[W. E. B. Du Bois]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Balaji |first1=Murali |title=Swami Vivekananda and his legacy of social justice |url=https://www.hinduamerican.org/blog/swami-vivekananda-social-justice-legacy |website=Hindu American Foundation |access-date=21 January 2024 |date=1 August 2013}}</ref>
In 1989, the [[East–West Center]] published<!--The publication date, "PUB DATE," is listed near the top of the 1st page as, "Jul 89." The institution is listed near the top of the 1st page as, "East-West Center, Honolulu, HI."--> a [[Academic publishing#Scholarly paper|research paper]]<!--The 1st sentence of bottom-numbered page 9, page 8/64 of the PDF document, describes the paper as a research paper when it said, "...research for this paper..."--> about Indian Americans<!--The title of the paper on the 1st page indicates that the paper is about Indian Americans.--> that said that [[Americans]] find identifying South Asians by race and [[Color terminology for race|color]] to be difficult.<!--This information is in the 3rd sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of bottom-numbered page 10, which is page 9/64 of the PDF document.--> The paper said that a 1978 [[Survey (human research)|survey]] of Americans asked the question, "Would you classify most [[Demographics of India|people from India]] as being white, black, or something else?"<!--The question is written in note 4, at the bottom of bottom-numbered page 12, which is page 11/64 of the PDF document.--> The paper said that 38% of respondents classified most people from India as "other", 23% classified them as "brown", 15% classified them as "black", 13% did not know how to classify them, and 11% classified them as "white".<!--This information is in the 2nd and 3rd sentences of the last paragraph on bottom-numbered page 11, which is page 10/64 of the PDF document. The 3rd sentence said that respondents were giving their classification of "Asian Indians," but note 4, at the bottom of bottom-numbered page 12, which is page 11/64 of the PDF document, makes what is being referred to by "Asian Indians" clear, because it states that respondents were asked about "most people from India."--><!--This information is in the 2nd-to-last sentence, of the last paragraph, of bottom-numbered page 12, which is page 11/64 of the PDF document.--><ref name="Xenos1989">Xenos, P., Barringer, H., & Levin, M. J. (1989). Asian Indians in the United States: A [[1980 United States census|1980 census]] Profile. ''Papers of the [[East–West Center|East-West Population Institute]], (111).'' Pages 1, 9-12, 15 & 18. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190726071427/https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED311119.pdf Wayback Machine link].</ref>
In 2000, a series of interviews of [[Second-generation immigrants in the United States|second-generation]] Asian American college student leaders<!--This information is in the 1st sentence, of the 2nd paragraph of page 547, which is page 8/23 of the PDF document.--> found that most of the interviewees who did not include Indian Americans as Asian Americans did not express a clear reason that was more than perceived difference in physical appearance and culture.<!--This information is in the last sentence of the 1st paragraph (not the block quotation) of page 549, which is page 10/23 of the PDF document.--><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Park | first1 = Jerry Z | year = 2008 | title = Second-Generation Asian American Pan-Ethnic Identity: Pluralized Meanings of a Racial Label | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241278559 | format = PDF | journal = Sociological Perspectives | volume = 51 | issue = 3| page = 549 | doi = 10.1525/sop.2008.51.3.541 | s2cid = 146327919 }}</ref>
Indian Americans have often been misidentified as being of [[Middle Eastern Americans|Arabs or Middle Eastern]] origin, particularly after the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name="Bhatia2008">{{cite journal | last1 = Bhatia | first1 = S | year = 2008 | title = 9/11 and the Indian Diaspora: Narratives of Race, Place and Immigrant Identity | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248998600 | format = PDF | journal = Journal of Intercultural Studies | volume = 29 | issue = 1| pages = 27, 30 & 32 | doi = 10.1080/07256860701759923 | s2cid = 73713945 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190721000756/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sunil_Bhatia2/publication/248998600_911_and_the_Indian_Diaspora_Narratives_of_Race_Place_and_Immigrant_Identity/links/55dc9abb08aeb38e8a8d22bc.pdf | archive-date = 2019-07-21 }}</ref> Assaults against turban-wearing Sikhs have become common since 9/11, due to Sikh turbans resembling the turban that Osama Bin Laden often wore in pictures.<ref>{{cite web |author=Amanda Jackson and Chris Boyette |title=In the last week, two Sikh men have been viciously attacked in central California |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/08/us/sikh-attacks-in-california-trnd/index.html |website=CNN |date=9 August 2018 |access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Being Sikh in Trump's America: 'You have to go out of your way to prove you're not a threat' |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-trump-sikhs-20170509-htmlstory.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=22 January 2020 |date=11 June 2017}}</ref> After her win in 2013, Miss America winner [[Nina Davuluri]] was taunted online and called an "Arab" and a "terrorist" due to this misconception among the American public.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/09/16/miss-america-nina-davuluri-brushes-off-racist-remarks/2819533/]. 'Miss America Nina Davuluri brushes off racist remarks'. September 16, 2013.</ref>
In 2015, [[Sureshbhai Patel]] was described by a suspicious caller as a "skinny black guy" before he was beaten and severely injured by [[Alabama]] police officers.<!--This information is in the 2nd-to-last sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of page 610. The date is 2015, because the 2nd-to-last sentence said "Just one week later," and the 2nd sentence said "February 2015."--><ref name="Harpalani2015">{{cite journal | last1 = Harpalani | first1 = V | year = 2015 | title = To be White, Black, or Brown? South Asian Americans and the Race-Color Distinction | url = https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1548&context=law_globalstudies | journal = Washington University Global Studies Law Review | volume = 14 | issue = 4| page = 610 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190803173223/https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1548&context=law_globalstudies | archive-date = 2019-08-03 }}</ref>
The 2017 book, Indians In America,<!--The title of the book includes the phrase, "Indians in America." On page x (Roman numeral 10), in the 1st sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, the other part of the title of the book, "The Other One Percent," is explained to refer to Indian Americans.--> stated that Indians and other South Asians are a part of Asian Americans, yet apart from Asian Americans. While they are admitted among Asian Americans, they are not acknowledged among Asian Americans. According to this book, other Asian Americans characterize Indians and other South Asians to be "ambiguously [[Person of color|nonwhite]]."<!--This information is in the last sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of page 179.--><ref>Chakravorty, S., Kapur, D. & Singh, N. (2017). ''The Other One Percent: Indians in America.'' Page 179. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Oxford University Press]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=H75jDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA179 Google Books link].</ref>
Some have attributed the general exclusion of South Asian Americans from the Asian American label due to the term being synonymous with people of East Asian origin.<ref name="Ms. Magazine"/><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kamhampaty|first=Anna Purna|title=At Census Time, Asian Americans Again Confront the Question of Who 'Counts' as Asian. Here's How the Answer Got So Complicated|url=https://time.com/5800209/asian-american-census/|date=March 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817222403/https://time.com/5800209/asian-american-census/|archive-date=August 17, 2021|magazine=Time|quote=But American culture tends not to think of all regions in Asia as equally Asian ... the SAT in 2016 tweaked its race categories, explaining to test-takers that “Asian” did include “Indian subcontinent and Philippines origin.”}}</ref> In 2019, it was noted that there were several presidential candidates of Asian American or Pacific Islander origin, including [[Andrew Yang]] and [[Kamala Harris]], who are of Taiwanese and Indian descent respectively. Frequently described by the media and campaigning himself as 'the' Asian American candidate,<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kamhampaty|first=Anna Purna|title=At Census Time, Asian Americans Again Confront the Question of Who 'Counts' as Asian. Here's How the Answer Got So Complicated|url=https://time.com/5800209/asian-american-census/|date=March 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817222403/https://time.com/5800209/asian-american-census/|archive-date=August 17, 2021|magazine=Time|quote=Andrew Yang, who is of Taiwanese descent, was frequently framed by the media and his own campaign as the Asian candidate, despite his rival Kamala Harris having Indian heritage}}</ref> Yang stated that his "Asian-ness [is] kind of obvious in a way that might not be true of Kamala or even [[Tulsi Gabbard|Tulsi]]... That's not a choice. It's just a fairly evident reality."<ref>{{cite news|last=Stevens|first=Matt|title=At a Historic Moment for Asian-American Candidates, Andrew Yang Leans In|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/us/politics/andrew-yang-2020-asian-candidates.html|date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729023945/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/us/politics/andrew-yang-2020-asian-candidates.html|archive-date=July 29, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
==U.S. courts==
Throughout much of the early 20th century, it was necessary for immigrants to be considered white in order to receive U.S. citizenship. U.S. courts classified Indians as both white and non-white through a number of cases.
In 1909, [[Bhicaji Balsara]] became the first Indian to gain U.S. citizenship. As a [[Parsis|Parsi]], he was ruled to be "the purest of Aryan type" and "as distinct from Hindus as are the English who dwell in India". Thirty years later, the same Circuit Court to accept Balsara ruled that Rustom Dadabhoy Wadia, another Parsi from [[Mumbai|Bombay]], was colored and therefore not eligible to receive U.S. citizenship.<ref>{{cite book|title=Postmodernism & a Sociology...(c)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnMon2RiFLAC&pg=PA143|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|isbn=978-1-61075-322-7|pages=143–}}</ref>
===''Thind'' case and attempted revocations of citizenship===
In 1923, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decided in ''[[United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind]]'' that while Indians were classified as [[Caucasian race|Caucasians]] by anthropologists, people of Indian descent were not white by common American definition, and thus not eligible to citizenship.<ref name="Thind">United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, Certificate From The Circuit Court Of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit., No. 202. Argued 11, 12 January 1923.—Decided 19 February 1923, United States Reports, v. 261, The Supreme Court, October Term, 1922, 204–215.</ref> The court conceded that, while Thind was a high caste Hindu born in the northern Punjab region and classified by certain scientific authorities as of the Aryan race, he was not "white" since the word Aryan "has to do with linguistic and not necessarily with physical characteristics" and since "the average man knows perfectly well that there are unmistakable and profound differences" between Indians and White Americans. The court also clarified that the decision did not reflect or imply anything related to racial superiority or inferiority, but merely an observable difference.<ref name="Thind2">{{cite web|title=Not All Caucasians Are White: The Supreme Court Rejects Citizenship for Asian Indians|url=http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5076/|publisher=History Matters|access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>
At the time, this decision began the process of retroactively stripping Indians of citizenship and land rights. The ruling also placated the [[Asiatic Exclusion League]] demands, spurned by growing outrage at the [[Stereotypes of South Asians|Hindoo Invasion]] alongside the pre-existing outrage at the [[Yellow Peril]]. As they became classified as colored, Indian Americans were not only denied American citizenship, but also banned by [[anti-miscegenation laws]] from marrying White Americans in the states of Arizona, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lovingday.org/map.htm |title=Loving Day: Celebrate the Legalization of Interracial Couples<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-08-22 |archive-date=2007-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231145639/http://www.lovingday.org/map.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Following the ''Thind'' case, the Bureau of Naturalization began action to strip Thind and other Indian-Americans of their citizenship, arguing it had been "illegally procured".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Coulson|first=Doug|title=Race, nation, and refuge : the rhetoric of race in Asian American citizenship cases|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4384-6662-0|location=Albany|pages=76–82|oclc=962141092}}</ref> However, these efforts were forced to end by the government's loss in court in the case against Thind's own lawyer, a Californian named [[Sakharam Ganesh Pandit]]. By the time Pandit's case came to trial in 1926, forty-two of sixty-nine citizenships granted to Indians had been revoked.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jacoby|first=Harold S.|date=1958-11-01|title=More Thind Against Than Sinning|url=https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=pac-historian|journal=The Pacific Historian|location=Stockton, CA|publisher=College of the Pacific|volume=II|issue=4|pages=1–2, 8}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Asian American history and culture : an encyclopedia|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|others=Ling, Huping, 1956-, Austin, Allan W.|isbn=978-1-315-70630-6|location=London|oclc=958107019}}</ref> Pandit, a skilled lawyer, argued that under the doctrine of [[Estoppel|equitable estoppel]], he would be irreversibly harmed by the revocation of his American citizenship, which he had reasonably relied upon - he would become stateless, lose his property and law license, and his wife would lose her citizenship as well.<ref name=":2" />
Judge Paul McCormick, the initial trial judge, ruled in Pandit's favor, accepting his arguments wholeheartedly. In 1927, the Ninth Circuit upheld McCormick's ruling under the doctrine of [[res judicata]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-sakharam-ganesh-pandit|title=United States v. Sakharam Ganesh Pandit, 15 F.2d 285 {{!}} Casetext|website=casetext.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729115103/https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-sakharam-ganesh-pandit|archive-date=2019-07-29|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> As a result of Pandit's case, the US government subsequently dropped its other denaturalization cases against Indian Americans.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Rangaswamy|first=Padma|title=Indian Americans|date=2007|publisher=Chelsea House|others=Johnston, Robert D.|isbn=978-1-4381-0712-7|location=New York|pages=27|oclc=228654847}}</ref>
In 1935, Thind relied on his status as a veteran of the United States military during World War I to petition for naturalization through the State of New York under the Nye-Lea Act, which made World War I veterans eligible for naturalization regardless of race. The government objected his latest petition, but Thind was finally granted American citizenship; yet the Government attempted to revoke it after nearly two decades from his first petition for naturalization.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Coulson|first1=Doug|title=British Imperialism, the Indian Independence Movement, and the Racial Eligibility Provisions of the Naturalization Act: United States v. Thind Revisited|journal=Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives|date=2015|issue=7|pages=1–42|ssrn=2610266}}</ref>
===After World War II===
In 1946, Congress, beginning to recognize that India would soon be independent, passed a new law that allowed Indians to become citizens, while also establishing an immigration quota.<ref name="Thind2"/>
As David E. Bernstein explains in the book ''Classified, The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America'', by the early 1970s most federal agencies identified Indian Americans as part of the white group, partly because they were deemed to be a "successful" immigrant group not in need of minority status. When the Office of Management and Budget announced proposed official racial classifications in 1976, Asian Indians were put into the white category. However, a small Indian American group based in New York City got wind of this, and successfully lobbied the government to put [[South Asia]]ns into the Asian American/Pacific Islander classification. Not all Indian Americans agreed with this change, but no other organized group found out about it until the classification was final and official.<ref>Bernstein, David E. Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America (New York: Bombardier Books 2022)</ref>
In 1993,<!--The date is in the CaseLaw citation, in the paragraph that starts, "On January 12, 1993..."--> Dale Sandhu, an [[Punjabis|Asian Indian whose origin is from the Punjab]],<!--This information is in the 2nd sentence, of the 1st paragraph, of the CaseLaw citation.--> took his former employer, [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]], to court on grounds of [[wrongful dismissal]] due to [[Racial discrimination|racial grounds]].<!--This information is in the 3rd sentence, of the 3rd paragraph, the paragraph which starts with "Sandhu worked for Lockheed...," of the CaseLaw citation.--> Lockheed attempted to counter Sandhu's claims by stating he is Caucasian, so he cannot allege discrimination based on race.<!--This information is in the last sentence, of the 6th paragraph, the paragraph which starts with "Sandhu filed a first amended...," of the CaseLaw citation.--> In 1993, the [[California superior courts|California Superior Court]] Judge overseeing the case initially accepted Lockheed's view. <!--This information is in the last sentence, of the last paragraph, of page 3, of the Baum citation.--><ref name="Baum2006">Baum, B. (2006). ''The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity.'' New York & London: New York University Press. Page 3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qoAVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3   Google Books link].</ref><ref name="SandhuCaseLaw">SANDHU v. LOCKHEED MISSILES AND SPACE COMPANY. (n.d.). FindLaw FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190731125319/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1769923.html Wayback Machine link].</ref> However in 1994, the [[California Courts of Appeal|California Sixth District Court of Appeals]] reversed the 1993 decision for Dale Sandhu.<!--This information is in the CaseLaw citation, in the sentence, "The judgment is reversed."--> Lockheed argued that the "common popular understanding that there are three major human races — Caucasoid, [[Mongoloid]], and [[Negroid]]."<!--This information is in the paragraph that starts with, "In support of its demurrer to Sandhu's third...," of the CaseLaw citation.--> The Court of Appeals denied this 19th century classification of race, stating that Indian people are a distinct ethnic group of their own. According to United States Census, "Asian Indian" is considered one of the distinct 15 [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|races]].<!--This information is in the CaseLaw citation, in the 2nd-to-last sentence, of the paragraph that starts with, "A review of census data also reflects..."--> The Court of Appeals affirmed that Sandhu was subject to discriminatory hostility, based on being a member of a distinct racial group. The Court of Appeals said that Sandhu could make a claim of racial discrimination under [[California Fair Employment and Housing Act of 1959|FEHA]] within the jurisdiction of the Court.
In 2015,<!--The 2015 date is cited to the Casetext citation.--> in ''Dhar v. [[New York City Department of Transportation]],''<!--Casetext indicates the name of the court case to be, "Dhar v. New York City Department of Transportation," where the phrase "New York City" is not being abbreviated as "NYC" like in Banks (2015).--> Dhar, a former employee and a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bangladeshis|Bangladesh]]i, alleged a violation of [[Civil Rights Act of 1964#Title VII—equal employment opportunity|Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]], based on his race, religion, and national origin. He alleged that his former supervisor, a Hindu [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]], illegally favored other Hindu Indian/Gujarati employees. The court dismissed the claim.<!--This information is in Banks (2015), in the 2nd paragraph of page 679, which is page 16/18 of the PDF document.--><ref>''Dhar v. New York City Department of Transportation.'' (2019). Casetext. [https://casetext.com/case/dhar-v Link].</ref><ref>Banks, T.L. (2015). Colorism Among South Asians: Title VII and Skin Tone Discrimination. ''Washington University Global Studies Law Review, (14),''4. Page 679. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190724034645/https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1550&context=law_globalstudies Wayback Machine link].</ref>
==U.S. census==
===Official classification===
{{Further|Race and ethnicity in the United States census}}
The [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]] has changed over the years its own classification of Indians. In the 1930 and 1940 censuses, "Hindu" was listed as a racial category.<!--The source said that "Hindu" appeared as a category on the 1930 census, and it disappeared on the 1950 census. This is the same as saying that it was on the 1930 and 1940 censuses. This is in the third line of the third paragraph of page xiv in the foreword section at the beginning of the book.--><ref>Shankar, L.D. & Rajini Srikanth, R. (1998). A Part, Yet Apart: South Asians in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. pp. xiv. {{ISBN|1-56639-577-1}}.</ref> Following India's independence in 1947, the U.S. census categorized individuals with Indian heritage, including Sikhs, as belonging to the "Other Race" category in both the 1950 and 1960 censuses, designating them as either "Asiatic Indian" or "Hindu."  In 1975, the Ad Hoc Committee on Racial and Ethnic Definitions of the Federal Interagency Committee on Education made a report. The report describes how, as it was deliberating on how to classify groups for the [[1970 United States census|1970 U.S. census]], South Asians presented a problem for the Ad Hoc Committee.<!--This information is in the last sentence, of the 1st paragraph, of the right column, of page 88.--> The report presented the classification problem as how  to classify South Asians, as there had been little discussion surrounding their unique ethnic identity. While some anthropologists classified them as Caucasian, they were non-white, from [[Asia]] and could be subject to some [[discrimination in the United States]].<!--This information is in the 1st sentence, of the block quotation, in the right column, of page 88.--> Unsure of their status, the Ad Hoc Committee failed to designate South Asians as a minority category,<!--This information is in the last sentence of the block quotation, in the right column, of page 88.--> and any respondents were classified as White Americans in the 1970 U.S. census<!--This information is in the 1st sentence, of the right column, of page 88.-->.<ref name="Kurien2018" />
Upon learning of the Ad Hoc Committee's decision, the Association of Indians in America (AIA) mobilized to seek better representation.<!--This information is in the last two lines of page 21, and it continues to the first two lines of page 22.--><ref name="Banks1998">Banks, T.L. (1998). Both Edges of the Margin: Blacks and Asians in Mississippi Masala, Barriers to Coalition Building. ''Asian American Law Journal, 5''(2). Page 22. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190728041703/https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=aalj Wayback Machine link].</ref> Indian American groups, through their own petitioning, successfully changed their racial classification to Asian in the 1970s to have themselves included in the state and federal Asian racial category.<!--This information is found in the 2nd-to-last and last sentences of the first paragraph of page 64. The term "government" is a rewording of the source text's word "state."--><ref name="Morning" /> Specifically, starting in the mid-1970s, the AIA made the argument that since Indian Americans were minorities and thus entitled to the benefits of affirmative action,<!--This information is in Kurien (2018), in the 1st sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of the right column, of page 88.--><ref name="Kurien2018">Kurien, P. (2018). Shifting U.S. Racial and Ethnic Identities of Sikh American Activism. ''RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4''(5). Page 88. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190724115401/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/702891/pdf Wayback Machine link].</ref> Indian Americans should have "minority" group status. Without their request to be designated as minorities, Indian Americans may not have been recognized as a unique ethnic group by the U.S government.<!--This information is in the 3rd-to-last sentence, of the 3rd paragraph, of page 255, which is page 14/22 of the PDF document.--><ref name="Smelser2001" />
In 1977, the [[Office of Management and Budget]] accepted the AIA's petition to have the "Asian Indian" category included in the census<!--This information is in the 2nd-to-last sentence, of the 3rd paragraph, of page 255, which is page 14/22 of the PDF document.--><ref name="Smelser2001">Smelser, N. J., Wilson, W. J., & Mitchell, F. (2001). ''America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences, Volume 1.'' [[Washington, D.C.]]: [[National Academies Press]]. Page 255. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190720105922/http://people.umass.edu/cnle/soc361/docs/ab1-8.pdf Wayback Machine link].</ref> Due to the efforts of the AIA leaders, a new census category, "Asian Indian," was introduced for the [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census#1980 Census|1980 U.S. census]].<!--This information is in Kurien (2018), in the 2nd sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of the right column, of page 88.--><ref name="Kurien2018" /> In 1977, there were so few Indian Americans that the misplaced grouping of Asian Indians with European-descent Americans attracted little attention.<!--This information is in the last sentence, of the 2nd paragraph, of page 101.--><ref>Prewitt, K. (2013). ''What Is "Your" Race?: The Census and Our Flawed Efforts to Classify Americans.'' [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]]: [[Princeton University Press]]. Page 101. [https://books.google.com/books?id=V3CYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 Google Books link].</ref><!--In the 1st sentence, of the 4th-to-last paragraph, the D'Vera source supports that "Asian Indian" was in the 1980 US Census.--><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cohn |first1=D'Vera |title=Race and the Census: The "Negro" Controversy |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/01/21/race-and-the-census-the-%E2%80%9Cnegro%E2%80%9D-controversy/ |website=Pew Research Center |accessdate=8 January 2019}}</ref>
In 1989, the [[East–West Center]] published<!--The publication date, "PUB DATE," is listed near the top of the 1st page as, "Jul 89." The institution is listed near the top of the 1st page as, "East-West Center, Honolulu, HI."--> a [[Academic publishing#Scholarly paper|research paper]]<!--The 1st sentence of bottom-numbered page 9, page 8/64 of the PDF document, describes the paper as a research paper when it said, "...research for this paper..."--> about Indian Americans that said that the term, "Asian Indian", one of the fourteen "races" in the 1980 U.S. census,<!--The information about "Asian Indian" being a listed race in the 1980 US Census is in the 1st sentence, of the last paragraph, of bottom-numbered page 15, which is page 14/64 of the PDF document.--> is an "artificial census category and not a meaningful [[Race (human categorization)|racial]], [[Ethnicity|ethnic]], or [[Ancestor|ancestral]] designation" due the vast diversity of cultures, genotypes, and phenotypes found within India.<!--The statement about "Asian Indian" being artificial and not meaningful is in the last sentence, of the 3rd paragraph, of bottom-numbered page 18, which is page 17/64 of the PDF document.-->
===Self-identification===
In the U.S. census, Indians display the highest likelihood of selecting the "African American or black" category, while Sri Lankans followed by Pakistanis are most likely to describe themselves as "white".<ref name="Morning"/> The [[1990 United States census|1990 U.S. census]] classified write-in responses of "[[Aryan]]" as white even though write-in responses of "[[Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan]]" were counted as Asian, and it also classified write-in responses of "''[[Parsis|Parsi]]''" under [[Iranian Americans|Iranian American]], who are classified as "White" along with [[Arab Americans]] and other Middle Eastern Americans.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050313073045/http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/cicdoc/cen90app/ancestry.htm University of Michigan. Census 1990: Ancestry Codes.] at the [[Wayback Machine]] (archived March 13, 2005)</ref> The Asian American Institute proposed that the [[2000 United States census|2000 U.S. census]] make a new ''Middle Easterner'' racial category and the Punjabi from Pakistan wanted Pakistani Americans to be included in it.<ref>Menon, Sridevi. Duke University. "Where is West Asia in Asian America? Asia and the Politics of Space in Asian America." 2004. April 26, 2007. [http://socialtext.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/24/1_86/55.pdf]</ref>
Some Indian Americans who were unfamiliar with the [[ethnonym]]ic conventions used in the United States, mistakenly indicated that they were "[[Native American name controversy|American Indian]]" as their race in the 1990 U.S. census, apparently unaware that this term is used in the United States to refer to Native Americans (Amerindians).<!--This is in note 12 of page 77.--><ref name="Morning" />
==See also==
* [[Asian immigration to the United States]]
* [[Political blackness]]
* [[Indian Americans]]
* [[A. K. Mozumdar]]
* [[Judicial aspects of race in the United States]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Indian-American history]]
[[Category:Race in the United States]]
[[Category:Asian-American issues]]