Seattle for Indians?

[Ira500]

There's also a fairly large Indian community in SE King County, Renton and Kent. It's less of a tech oriented community. Indian software designers may live in Redmond, but Indian truck drivers live in Kent. Within the borders of downtown Renton, there are five Indian restaurants, and then at least that number on the East Hill of Kent.

[Cedarling]

I find this thread interesting. If I were to post a thread titled, "Seattle for Americans" or "Seattle for Whites" I believe it would come across as racist. Why is it okay for ethnic groups to create their own exclusive communities yet when Caucasians seek this, it is considered racist? It's such a double-standard.

When I first moved to Western Washington from the Eastern part of the state, it did not cross mind to find where the white people live. My family ended up in a mixed demographic area and that is great for us. This past year we were considering moving to another neighborhood nearby and as part of our research, we went to the school open house. I was the ONLY white person there. I guess I didn't get the memo that people were so into self-segregation and honestly, I resent it.

Fortunately, we found a school for our son that is truly diverse. In fact, our son's best friends are of another race. We've gotten to know their parents well and one of them, specifically chose this school over the higher test score school mentioned above because they said it lacked diversity (too many people of their race).

[PollyGlott]

Originally Posted by Cedarling

I find this thread interesting. If I were to post a thread titled, "Seattle for Americans" or "Seattle for Whites" I believe it would come across as racist. Why is it okay for ethnic groups to create their own exclusive communities yet when Caucasians seek this, it is considered racist? It's such a double-standard.
When I first moved to Western Washington from the Eastern part of the state, it did not cross mind to find where the white people live. My family ended up in a mixed demographic area and that is great for us. This past year we were considering moving to another neighborhood nearby and as part of our research, we went to the school open house. I was the ONLY white person there. I guess I didn't get the memo that people were so into self-segregation and honestly, I resent it.
Fortunately, we found a school for our son that is truly diverse. In fact, our son's best friends are of another race. We've gotten to know their parents well and one of them, specifically chose this school over the higher test score school mentioned above because they said it lacked diversity (too many people of their race).

Did you read the original post? This is an Indian from India curious about neighborhoods that he might find comfortable living in. Kinda like "Seattle for Laotians". "Seattle for Midwesterners", "Seattle for Hondurans", "Seattle for Virginians" ...
IMHO, I don't see anything racist about it.
If I - as a European - had been raised, say, in Beijing, and was thinking of moving to Shanghai, I might well want to know what areas in Shanghai had a number of Europeans, just to feel more at home...

[Cedarling]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. A few years back we had European neighbors, they kept their distance despite our neighborly attempts to form at least an acquaintance-level relationship. We watched as they threw multiple bbqs for their European friends. Eventually they moved on.

Part of my dream in owning a home is to live in a neighborhood where others are interested in building community. Our adjacent neighbor is of another race, however, he was raised in the area (a native). His kids come over and play with our child. We look out for each other. We borrow time and tools. He even comes over for bbqs. This is a marked difference compared to our relationship from our former European residents.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by Ira500

There's also a fairly large Indian community in SE King County, Renton and Kent. It's less of a tech oriented community. Indian software designers may live in Redmond, but Indian truck drivers live in Kent. Within the borders of downtown Renton, there are five Indian restaurants, and then at least that number on the East Hill of Kent.

Most of these people are Sikhs and Punjabis and have different religion and culture from Hindus.. There are also South Indian and Pakistani Christians in Seattle proper.

Many people don't realize how divided of a country is India. There are more than 3 times as many people in India as in the USA, dozens of languages and dialects, ethnic groups and cultures.

There is also a lot of animosity between some groups of North and South Indians.

You will probably find that a Rajput from Kolkata will not feel very happy living in a Sikh dominated Punjabi neighborhood in Kent.

[carroll4628]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

There is also a lot of animosity between some groups of North and South Indians.

You will probably find that a Rajput from Kolkata will not feel very happy living in a Sikh dominated Punjabi neighborhood in Kent.

This was a real shocker for me as I've lived in a similar neighborhood. I did not realize the cultural differences would dictate community relationships so much. We've all heard of the caste system, but I wrongly assumed it would be left at the airport upon arrival in the US. And I thought the the folks from Georgia and Wisconsin didn't have much in common.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by carroll4628

This was a real shocker for me as I've lived in a similar neighborhood. I did not realize the cultural differences would dictate community relationships so much. We've all heard of the caste system, but I wrongly assumed it would be left at the airport upon arrival in the US. And I thought the the folks from Georgia and Wisconsin didn't have much in common.

India is almost like 30 countries in one country..

I was in Africa for half a year and saw it shared much in common in this regard. In Africa, every country is really like 10 to 30 countries or more in one country. This is because, in Africa, the tribes have their own culture, language and identity and many are fiercely loyal to their tribe and even the clan of that tribe. For example, the Buyankole in Uganda are very clannish. Many in Uganda hate the Buyankole, because they are the most affluent and ruling class of Uganda, despite not even being the majority. But, then, it is a set of specific clans in the Buyankole that have the most power. There is a lot of tension between the Buganda, Busoga and Buyankole tribes. For example, the leader Museveni will issue death penalty if any tribe considered enemy to Buyankole possess weapons. This was the same phenomenon experienced in Ethiopia between the Tigrinya and Oromo people.

Like the tribes in Africa, India has its own ethnic groups, castes and even tribes which people identify themselves with and are loyal to. Religion also provides a divide in India and Africa, in addition to the tribal, clannish and ethnic group divisions.

Yes, most Americans do not realize how unified Americans are compared to most people in the world. The monotone nature of the USA is one thing that makes it a bit bland and boring, but it also makes it much more stable and allows the country to function properly, where certain groups are not trying to empower other groups within the country at the expense of others. Even Europeans are much more divided among themselves than Americans. For example, Italians and Spaniards still identify with their ethnic groups. Just look at the Basque people who have considered seceding from Spain even through resistance. However, the divisions in Europe are not as great as in Africa or India.

Many don't realize that many Sikhs, actually want to break away from India and form their own country called Khalistan, as they have felt alienated from the Hindu majority of India.


In effect, the area of Kent and Auburn, can be considered "Little Khalistan" and is like a whole country, unto itself. This would cause great friction and animosity between a loyal Indian Hindu and a Khalistan minded Punjabi Sikh.

[misscross]

Originally Posted by Cedarling

Part of my dream in owning a home is to live in a neighborhood where others are interested in building community.

I completely agree with this. some members of the Indian community seem to only want to associate with other Indians and others thankfully seem more open minded about befriending non-Indian people. There was a poster above asking about whites not being able to ask about white neighborhoods or similar, sad to say I have personally experienced very real racism here so sometimes I wonder why do I even bother trying to befriend people of all races? I was the only non-white person in a whole group of whites on the East side and that over a period of two years one member consistently ignored me as part of the group, same thing when we happen to bump into each other at public places including once removing her child to a different area from mine when she realized they were next to each other. but she befriended many other of the white members of the group. We have never had a conflict or even spoken much, until I finally concluded it's because I'm not white so she wants nothing to do with me. Nobody else in the group seemed to see anything wrong in her behavior either.

There are those of every race who unfortunately seem uninterested in building community.

[dolphin99]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I don't think my question is obvious or strange. There are strong racial tensions and divisions of every kind in America now. I don't know if the Indians who have a presence in IT are resented.

I have no problems with white flight or flight of any kind. Race is not the only reason to flee! In considering where to live I look at a ton of factors. But yes for me there have to be some other Indians there.

Why are we even here on city data if not for this input.

[sasha77]

You are right about obnoxious Indian people. There are a lot of them and it has nothing to do with the caste system. It's peripheral and mostly tied up to who they end up marrying, not their public interactions. Like how Christians usually end up marrying other Christians and Jews - other Jewish people.
The main reason we seem obnoxious is this: you have to be pushy to get your voice heard and get thins to go your way when you come from a highly populated country. Makes us seem rough around the edges. A couple of years into living in the us, it smoothed out. Sadly it is replaced with something else. A wish to not rock the boat and an awareness that what you do as an individual always ends up creating a certain stereotype.
I realize now that being a minority means losing your right to behave badly and have it be attributed solely to your own specific horribleness. It means now you beat the responsibility of somehow screwing with people's oerception of a WHOLE country of 1 billion people.