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My parents came to the United States from India when I was four years old and I've been here for over twenty years now. I was raised a Christian and since my family was one of the very few Indian families in our area (a red state), they allowed me to interact with other races. I speak English without an accent, did things that a lot of the American kids in my area did growing up (played football, partied, ate American foods, etc.), and most of my friends growing up were mostly white and some were black. I ended up exclusively dating white girls in high school but no one really cared about it at all, there just weren't any Indian or Asian girls in my area.
After high school I went off to college, got pulled into Greek Life, and after a couple of years in college I met a girl that eventually became my wife. I look ethnically Indian and she is a tall blonde with blue eyes, far from being a common couple. Most people I knew growing up and a lot of my friends in college that leaned right never really cared to mention anything about us, they rarely brought it up which I liked.
After college we decide to move to a big city in a blue state where a vast majority of the voters go overwhelmingly Democrat. We lived there for a few years but things seemed to be completely different compared to what I experienced growing up.
1. People consistently told me "wow you have good English, you don't even have an accent".
2. People made all sorts of assumptions about me based on my ethnic appearance, one guy I knew who was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter even talked to me about the rape wave in India which I was completely unaware of. I remember back in 2012 when I said I might vote for Romney how an older white male who has been a life long Democrat focused the conversation on to my ethnic background, talking about how I carried the caste system with me to the USA when I said I would be voting Republican.
3. People consistently pointed out my wife and I being an interracial couple, saying how "unusual" it was. I seemed to get this a lot more from minorities than white people but even a few whites I knew who claimed to be liberals wanted to make it a topic of discussion.
4. It seemed like rather than being seen as an individual, I was seen as just another Indian guy who didn't fit the stereotype people had of Indian guys.
5. A few guys who have come on to my wife have made racist jokes right in front of my face, when I confronted them about it they clinged to the "I am not racist I voted for Obama" card and told me to "stop being so sensitive".
I have met a few Indian men who were raised in very liberal areas and it seems like to them, the idea of having white friends and dating whites is some sort of a major taboo while in my area no one cared.
Even among whites on the left and this is just my limited experience, I witnessed that they might talk about how beautiful diversity is but when it came to interacting and making friends, they almost exclusively wanted to be around whites just like them. I feel like they might like a minority group but they prefer not to interact with people of that minority group. In the big city I moved to, I witnessed a lot of segregation among the neighborhoods as well.
Almost all of the whites I have known who I would consider friends and brothers and have treated me as such have gone strongly towards Republicans. I feel accepted by them as opposed to liberals who I feel have never bothered to know me outside of my race and have always brought up my race in a conversation.
What is going on? Is my experience too limited to make any sort of an assumption?
My parents came to the United States from India when I was four years old and I've been here for over twenty years now. I was raised a Christian and since my family was one of the very few Indian families in our area (a red state), they allowed me to interact with other races. I speak English without an accent, did things that a lot of the American kids in my area did growing up (played football, partied, ate American foods, etc.), and most of my friends growing up were mostly white and some were black. I ended up exclusively dating white girls in high school but no one really cared about it at all, there just weren't any Indian or Asian girls in my area.
After high school I went off to college, got pulled into Greek Life, and after a couple of years in college I met a girl that eventually became my wife. I look ethnically Indian and she is a tall blonde with blue eyes, far from being a common couple. Most people I knew growing up and a lot of my friends in college that leaned right never really cared to mention anything about us, they rarely brought it up which I liked.
After college we decide to move to a big city in a blue state where a vast majority of the voters go overwhelmingly Democrat. We lived there for a few years but things seemed to be completely different compared to what I experienced growing up.
1. People consistently told me "wow you have good English, you don't even have an accent".
2. People made all sorts of assumptions about me based on my ethnic appearance, one guy I knew who was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter even talked to me about the rape wave in India which I was completely unaware of. I remember back in 2012 when I said I might vote for Romney how an older white male who has been a life long Democrat focused the conversation on to my ethnic background, talking about how I carried the caste system with me to the USA when I said I would be voting Republican.
3. People consistently pointed out my wife and I being an interracial couple, saying how "unusual" it was. I seemed to get this a lot more from minorities than white people but even a few whites I knew who claimed to be liberals wanted to make it a topic of discussion.
4. It seemed like rather than being seen as an individual, I was seen as just another Indian guy who didn't fit the stereotype people had of Indian guys.
5. A few guys who have come on to my wife have made racist jokes right in front of my face, when I confronted them about it they clinged to the "I am not racist I voted for Obama" card and told me to "stop being so sensitive".
I have met a few Indian men who were raised in very liberal areas and it seems like to them, the idea of having white friends and dating whites is some sort of a major taboo while in my area no one cared.
Even among whites on the left and this is just my limited experience, I witnessed that they might talk about how beautiful diversity is but when it came to interacting and making friends, they almost exclusively wanted to be around whites just like them. I feel like they might like a minority group but they prefer not to interact with people of that minority group. In the big city I moved to, I witnessed a lot of segregation among the neighborhoods as well.
Almost all of the whites I have known who I would consider friends and brothers and have treated me as such have gone strongly towards Republicans. I feel accepted by them as opposed to liberals who I feel have never bothered to know me outside of my race and have always brought up my race in a conversation.
What is going on? Is my experience too limited to make any sort of an assumption?
The entire liberal ideology is based on the idea that minorities are inferior and must have government intervention in order to accomplish anything. What you have experienced is just an extension of the racism that is ingrained in the Democrat party.
Wow, people are so hate-filled, they'll believe anything! For instance, the story in the first post...are you that gullible or do you just like a good story that affirms your biases?
What is going on, is that you have just experienced first hand how the left actually thinks. Leftists (American liberals, progressives, socialists etc) are collectivists. There are no individuals in their eyes, only groups. This is why they kept asking you about your "Indian nature" and "your race" instead of you as an actual individual, because in their mind individuals don't really exist. Many right-wingers can also be collectivist to a degree, in that many believe in a strong sense of national identity and don't want too many foreigners in the country, but they are still generally in favor of most individualistic ideas.
I am glad you had the intellect to notice this. Now you understand from experience why liberals/progressives are not trustworthy.
Your experience as an indian in a red state is the exact opposite of that of Aziz Ansari (of Parks and Rec fame) and his family in South Carolina - I think you were able to face a little less abuse and bigotry from the teabaggers because you told them you were a "Christian"
The difference in Conservative and Progressive. A Conservative might not like it, but they are going to let you be you.
A Progressive on the other hand, might not like it and they are going to let you know just how much, and try their damnedest to prevent you from ever doing it again.
After college we decide to move to a big city in a blue state where a vast majority of the voters go overwhelmingly Democrat. We lived there for a few years but things seemed to be completely different compared to what I experienced growing up.
Well of course because people in big cities just aren't used to encountering interracial couples or people with an "ethnic appearance" who speak unaccented English.
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