The American Desire for Eastern Goods
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Where acts like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 are quite well-known, the history of South Asian immigration has been forgotten as Bald shows in Bengali Harlem. In chapter 1, Bald writes of Bengali lascars who came to the East Coast of America to sell their handcrafted goods. He writes of the 12 men who came to Ellis Island to sell their goods, but were sent back to London and labeled "laborers" rather than "merchants." These men had come to the US to sell "Oriental" goods that were in high demand in the US, while those same goods had declined in demand in India due to the British's control of the market and their import of cheap textiles. With no more market left in their own country due to imperial rule, Bengali men traveled to areas where their goods were sought out. As a result of the Alien Contract Labor Law which formed strict rules against contract workers and then later, the Exclusionary Immigration Act of 1917, the immigration of Bengali merchants was restricted even further. Therefore, these merchants had to rely on their connections with communities to continue to sell their goods in the West.
The desire for "Eastern" goods in the US was so strong that these merchants could pass through such unforgiving migrant laws. Bald remarks on how complicated the dynamic the Bengali merchants worked within was. The men had to navigate borders, consumer desires, and more within the spheres of two empires: Great Britain and the United States. The desire for the "Eastern" goods also extended to food as seen in the desire for Indian food amongst theatregoers in New York. Indians like K.Y. Kira opened the Ceylon India Inn to attract non-Indians to Indian food. These Indian restaurants became meeting places for many ethnic groups. They were also the first halal restaurants, leading to conversation between South Asian and African American Muslims.
The interesting thing about the US was that they felt exempt from the responsibilities of holding colonial power over India, so they appropriated through other avenues such as entertainment, design, and self-improvement. Bald writes that "ideas about India took on new life and meaning in a society in which people’s identities and social standing were increasingly defined by what they consumed and displayed." By owning "Oriental" goods, Western individuals identified themselves as well-traveled, worldly, and hence of a higher class.