Racism against Asians? (Indianapolis, Bloomington: school, racist, campus)

[RangerDuke08]

Yes I noticed Indiana has something like a 1% Asian population however at one visit to bloomington, there being a college town mind you, I noticed many Asians which I found peculiar but then I found out the college does enroll something around 6% Asians so I'm sure people there are used to seeing Asian and other colored people. IUPUI I would consider possibly even more as you are right in Indianapolis, which is a major city, certainly more diverse than a college town in both racial and mentality perspective. In fact I find Indianapolis one of the most interesting of places in a social perspective, I've possibly met some of the most conservative people in the nation as well as some of the most liberal of people in the nation in Indianapolis.

[Kentuckyguy]

Originally Posted by Kroop

Hello!

I'm a Southeast Asian undergrad student in the UK who's about to go study at IUPUI in a few months. I've heard lots of people tell me that Indianapolis isn't very Asian friendly (and that Bloomington is a much better place apparently), and that I should expect a lot of redneck sentiments. I'm really looking forward to studying there, but since I've never been to Indianapolis, I'm a bit worried about how bad the racism can get.

Before coming to the UK, I was living in a Southeast Asian country so it was fine, but here I get a few "ching chong ping pong/what the hell are you doing with our tax money/etc." comments. Does it get much worse than that in Indianapolis?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi Kroop! While I have never lived in Indianapolis, my wife (who is from Southeast Asia) and I (originally from Indiana) lived in a small town in Indiana for quite awhile before getting married. I can tell you that if anything you will probably be treated better because you are Asian. To be honest with you, there are not that many Asians in Indiana, in general. As a result, when people see you, many times they will be very interested in terms of getting to know you just because you are different. While I have never lived in Indy my wife and I went there a few times and never encountered any racism of any kind. Having grown up in Indiana I can tell you personally that for the most part Hoosiers embrace diversity and to me, that is a good thing! Blessings, Kentuckyguy

[ImGibby]

Originally Posted by Kentuckyguy

Hi Kroop! While I have never lived in Indianapolis, my wife (who is from Southeast Asia) and I (originally from Indiana) lived in a small town in Indiana for quite awhile before getting married. I can tell you that if anything you will probably be treated better because you are Asian. To be honest with you, there are not that many Asians in Indiana, in general. As a result, when people see you, many times they will be very interested in terms of getting to know you just because you are different. While I have never lived in Indy my wife and I went there a few times and never encountered any racism of any kind. Having grown up in Indiana I can tell you personally that for the most part Hoosiers embrace diversity and to me, that is a good thing! Blessings, Kentuckyguy

Thats a good point kentuckyguy...I always find myself being more curious and interested in people of different ethnicites. I'm just curious to know how and why they got here, and as a result, I have a lot of friends from a lot of different places around the world.

[Manigault]

Well, has anyone talked with Asians in the Indy area about how they are received/perceived?

[vemureaux]

Being of asian decent, I've encountered ignorance (the usual people assuming every asian is from China, strangers greeting me with "ni hao" trying to be friendly not knowing that pisses me off, people making other assumptions based on sterotypes and being surprised when I don't behave according to sterotype, etc) but never malicious racism. I've never felt unwelcome or threatened at all, and the ignorance I just let roll of my back.

Overall, Indianapolis is a very livable city. However, having moved here from a larger city with a more mixed population, I feel Indianapolis isn't all that diverse. The population here mainly consists of whites and blacks (any "minority" function at schools, etc usually means blacks). There are some hispanics/latinos, fewer asians and middle eastern, and fewer still native americans. That being said, there are oriental/international grocers around town, so I have no problems finding ethinic foods. I think you'll do just fine in Indy.

[Indychic]

As a fellow minority (black female) - I'd like to welcome you to our friendly city! Folks here are probably more ignorant than anything...but, not really "racist". Sadly, as someone else mentioned...if there is racism, it's probably against blacks. Even still, you'd have to travel out to rural Indiana to find a lot of that though.

[Zig'sbird]

As a student at IUPUI last year, I will also agree with what everyone is saying. There is really nothing to worry about. Every place has their fair share of idiots, but overall I don't think you'll have a problem. Also, I have noticed in the last couple of years that the school is getting a larger Asian population.

[BU191433]

Carmel has a larger Asian population than either Black or Hispanic. I think the Asian Polulation is around 5%

[Daniel Kohlman]

Originally Posted by Kroop

Hello!

I'm a Southeast Asian undergrad student in the UK who's about to go study at IUPUI in a few months. I've heard lots of people tell me that Indianapolis isn't very Asian friendly (and that Bloomington is a much better place apparently), and that I should expect a lot of redneck sentiments. I'm really looking forward to studying there, but since I've never been to Indianapolis, I'm a bit worried about how bad the racism can get.

Before coming to the UK, I was living in a Southeast Asian country so it was fine, but here I get a few "ching chong ping pong/what the hell are you doing with our tax money/etc." comments. Does it get much worse than that in Indianapolis?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

My wife is Asian and she has never encountered any racism against here either in INdy or any of the small hick towns around. The north side of town has lots of Asains, plenty of places for grocery shopping for those items you can't find at Kroger, and plenty of good restaurants. You will have not problems here.

[REM]

Not really any racism from what i've seen. Indy is getting a large influx of latinos, indians, and asians (tho i guess you could could indians as asians too) The city is nowhere where near diverse as new york, or even chicago.... but give it a few years, the diversity in the city is going up not down.