Racism in the USA (fit in, how much, schools)

[timsamerica]

I'm a gay 19 year old dark-skinned Indian guy from Switzerland. I'm considering moving to the US for an extended period of time and living with some distant friends (one on east coast, one on west coast).

I'm deeply worried about how things are there for Indians. I don't want to feel depressed or lonely.

I'm very open and most of my friends are of a different race to me, I feel like I've assimilated into Swiss culture very well.

My biggest worries are about fitting into US culture and sexual racism. Unlike Switzerland the USA tends to overlook Indians/Indian culture, and you fail to portray Indians as sexy.

If I keep getting rejected by many people I will feel depressed, and being confined to one's own race is not thrilling to say the least. Would a gay Indian be able to get an asian/latino/white boyfriend in the USA?

I'm also worried about three cultural aspects of the USA:
1) Devoid of Indian culture. Even in Switzerland we have native 'Indian' culture from the Arabs and Gypsies, Indians occupy high political positions, and we're stereotyped as middle class. A lot of Euro-Indian culture also comes from the UK, we have a lot of Indian temples, and I generally feel good about my race.
2) Will Indians be targeted for terrorism by US authorities? I keep hearing so much hate coming from American Indians who were targeted for terrorism checks by US authorities.
3) Swiss culture is still very white and unamericanized. How bad will it be for me in the USA? Will the difference be shocking? Is soccer popular there?

To give you an example of what racism is like in Switzerland, I rarely have to talk to an Indian person or go consult an Indian sorority.

Anyone care to help? Am I missing anything that I might find a problem?

[thedirtypirate]

Well to try to answer your concerns.

1. You can definitely find Indian Culture. It really depends on where you end up. However if you go to a diverse city or state, you shouldn't have much of a problem. As the number of Indians grows the more prominent they are becoming in politics.

2. In my opinion, No. If you aren't doing anything out of the ordinary than you are just another face in the crowd

3. People in the US come in many different shades of color, probably a ton more then in Switzerland. It also depends on where you live, but most major cities you will see many different races all hanging out with eachother. Soccer is becoming way more popular with people following the European leagues and the MLS slowly making gains.

I don't know why you think we over look Indians as being "sexy".

[MemoryMaker]

My biggest worries are about fitting into US culture

IF YOU WANT TO FIT INTO U.S. CULTURE, you have to become Americanized. I've found that a lot of immigrants to the US want to retain their culture AND THEY END UP only having friends and socializing among those of their culture. I see this a lot especially with South Asians in colleges; While the whites, latino's, blacks, asians, etc, were socializing with other groups...the Indians would only stick to themselves.

Also- I don't want to sound rude but I don't know how else to put it...but a common issue that I see with many (not all) South Asians fresh off the boat is that they also don't adapt to American hygiene standards. You must take 1-2 showers a day, wear deodorant/cologne and wash your clothes after every use.

I'm a gay 19 year old dark-skinned Indian guy from Switzerland. I'm considering moving to the US for an extended period of time and living with some distant friends (one on east coast, one on west coast).

Unlike Switzerland the USA tends to overlook Indians/Indian culture, and you fail to portray Indians as sexy.

If I keep getting rejected by many people I will feel depressed, and being confined to one's own race is not thrilling to say the least. Would a gay Indian be able to get an asian/latino/white boyfriend in the USA?

Here in NYC, you will see all groups intermingling with each other and dating each other ALOT. My best friend who is a dark skinned gay black man (of african descent) is dating a white guy and this is very common in the gay community. Racial mixing is very very common here for both straight people and gay people.

The West Coast and NYC are seen as the more open-minded parts of the country. So you would probably fare much better here as opposed to the American South or Midwest when it comes to race.

2) Will Indians be targeted for terrorism by US authorities? I keep hearing so much hate coming from American Indians who were targeted for terrorism checks by US authorities.

This is not an issue at all unless you're an obvious Muslim with cultural clothes. If you're a dark skinned Indian then you wouldn't be stereotyped in this manner.

[claudio-claudio]

I don't think you will find racism as the US is a very PC place, but I think you probably will be more rejected by other gay men (especially the white ones) that you would be in Europe, this is because Indians are not portrayed as attractive in the US and gay culture in the US is very white centric.

Indians in America are portrayed as middle class, educated, but foreign and geeky and sort of cheesy looking

however keep your head up high and don't base your own worth on how much others accept you!!!

[bruhms]

Why not a black boyfriend?

[notsogradbrad]

I never got the indians being unsexy stereotype. Plenty of indian guys I have known can easily pull off the tall dark and handsome appearance and get attention from all types of women, except for maybe the WASPy types that only go for white men. Other than that, the only Indians that get made fun of are the immigrants with the very heavy accent.

[dxdtdemon]

Unlike most other Asian ethnicities that often stick to the large metropolitan areas and California, Indian people are spread out everywhere. One of my college roomates was a gay man of Indian descent, and he seemed to be able to pick up a new (usually white) guy every other week.

[timsamerica]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Well to try to answer your concerns.

1. You can definitely find Indian Culture. It really depends on where you end up. However if you go to a diverse city or state, you shouldn't have much of a problem. As the number of Indians grows the more prominent they are becoming in politics.

2. In my opinion, No. If you aren't doing anything out of the ordinary than you are just another face in the crowd

3. People in the US come in many different shades of color, probably a ton more then in Switzerland. It also depends on where you live, but most major cities you will see many different races all hanging out with eachother. Soccer is becoming way more popular with people following the European leagues and the MLS slowly making gains.

I don't know why you think we over look Indians as being "sexy".

1. Thanks.
2. Thanks for the confirmation. Even though I live in Switzerland, the USA can give off this extreme attitude against Arabs/Indians. The USA was generally portrayed as more 'evil' in Swiss media during the past decade since it was more accepting of war than the EU was.
3. I've learnt that it's not the racial make-up of the country that makes somewhere good to live. I can imagine rural white Sweden being more friendly than rural white Texas, despite Texas having more immigrants.

The USA tends to overlook Indians in general, I expect American media to obsess over white/black and come across the odd East Asian. I would never look to the USA to find an Indian in the media, and I expect this is due to the lack of Indians who reside in the USA.

I'm used to living in a predominantly white culture so I'm tolerant not seeing Indians, my biggest worry is the feeling of being the only race left out.

Originally Posted by MemoryMaker

IF YOU WANT TO FIT INTO U.S. CULTURE, you have to become Americanized. I've found that a lot of immigrants to the US want to retain their culture AND THEY END UP only having friends and socializing among those of their culture. I see this a lot especially with South Asians in colleges; While the whites, latino's, blacks, asians, etc, were socializing with other groups...the Indians would only stick to themselves.

Also- I don't want to sound rude but I don't know how else to put it...but a common issue that I see with many (not all) South Asians fresh off the boat is that they also don't adapt to American hygiene standards. You must take 1-2 showers a day, wear deodorant/cologne and wash your clothes after every use.

I am a Swiss citizen by birth and I consider myself to be well assimilated/integrated into Swiss culture. (A bit like going to McDonalds with everyone else but being able to choose a more spicy sauce for my fries instead of plain ketchup).

I'm not one of those who socializes only among Indians. I celebrate Christmas more than Diwali. In fact the culture shock is more likely to come from the difference between Switzerland and the USA. I can imagine myself having a breakdown over the differences between the sushi flavors in Swiss Japanese restaurants and American Japanese restaurants.

I went to Swiss schools and I doubt European hygiene standards fall below American hygiene standards.

Originally Posted by MemoryMaker

Here in NYC, you will see all groups intermingling with each other and dating each other ALOT. My best friend who is a dark skinned gay black man (of african descent) is dating a white guy and this is very common in the gay community. Racial mixing is very very common here for both straight people and gay people.

The West Coast and NYC are seen as the more open-minded parts of the country. So you would probably fare much better here as opposed to the American South or Midwest when it comes to race.

I'm dark skinned but I'm not black and wouldn't consider myself black. This would help in Switzerland but Black people have a different image in the USA. Thanks anyway.

Originally Posted by MemoryMaker

This is not an issue at all unless you're an obvious Muslim with cultural clothes. If you're a dark skinned Indian then you wouldn't be stereotyped in this manner.

Hopefully things go well.

Originally Posted by claudio-claudio

I don't think you will find racism as the US is a very PC place, but I think you probably will be more rejected by other gay men (especially the white ones) that you would be in Europe, this is because Indians are not portrayed as attractive in the US and gay culture in the US is very white centric.

Indians in America are portrayed as middle class, educated, but foreign and geeky and sort of cheesy looking

however keep your head up high and don't base your own worth on how much others accept you!!!

Thanks. The 'geek is bad' is generally something I associated with the USA, I don't usually come across 'geekism' in Switzerland or Europe.

Originally Posted by notsogradbrad

I never got the indians being unsexy stereotype. Plenty of indian guys I have known can easily pull off the tall dark and handsome appearance and get attention from all types of women, except for maybe the WASPy types that only go for white men. Other than that, the only Indians that get made fun of are the immigrants with the very heavy accent.

Thanks. The USA has different stereotypes for the races. Blacks are more liked, blonde hair is rare, color is less important, etc... I hope Americans start liking Indians for who they are.

Originally Posted by dxdtdemon

Unlike most other Asian ethnicities that often stick to the large metropolitan areas and California, Indian people are spread out everywhere. One of my college roomates was a gay man of Indian descent, and he seemed to be able to pick up a new (usually white) guy every other week.

My friends like in metropolitan areas so this doesn't really matter but thanks... your friend's good fortunes are positive news for me!

I don't really seek Indians for friendships, I just run around and talk to the first person possible. I've never understood the concept of confining oneself to one's race for racial reasons. (I can understand going to a hindu temple and mainly talking to Indians, but surely one would still keep a diverse range of friends from one's job? or sports?)

1) I'd still like to know if Asians and Latinos, along with Whites, are likely to be interested in Indians. As I said, it's not nice feeling totally unsexy and ****. If I keep getting rejected by many people I will feel depressed, and being confined to one's own race is not thrilling to say the least. Would a gay Indian be able to get an asian/latino/white boyfriend in the USA?
2) Is there anything I should be aware of about the 'culture shocks' I'd have being a gay Swiss Indian in metropolitan coastal USA? I'm going for a holiday and there'll be no working, but it's for more than a few months so I want to be certain that I'll be happy.

[flashes1]

I think the OP has it all backwards. Indian Americans have great influence in this country, particularly Banking, Medical and Technology. Additionally, the writer I respect the most is Indian:

About Dinesh D'Souza

[Kar54]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1

And don't forget Louisiana has an Indian-American (I'll be PC) governor, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal as does South Carolina, Nikki Haley.