choosing collective marginalization in harlem as a form of resistance
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While reading Chapter 5 of Bengali Harlem, I realized how embracing collective marginalization can be a powerful form of resistance. Vivek Bald highlights how Bengali immigrants were drawn to the multicultural setting of New York (Harlem particularly), because it allowed them to blend in with other marginalized communities. Of course, this didn’t shield them from the racism that loomed over American society, but it provided them with a sense of belonging. Like African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Caribbean communities in Harlem, Bengali immigrants faced societal marginalization, and this shared experience between all these communities became the basis for solidarity and political evolution.
In my political science classes, we often discuss how powerful nations (particularly in Europe and the US) historically employ a "divide and conquer" strategy to maintain control over regions or people, particularly in the Global South. This strategy basically highlights divisions among groups to make it easier to manipulate and dominate them.
In the US, "divide and conquer" has been a key tactic in maintaining racial and economic dominance within the state. By fostering ingrained racism between marginalized groups, the ruling class could often marginalize them easier. We see this when certain racialized groups are categorized by how 'civilized' they are in a white person's eyes, and that 'civilization' often heavily relies on racial or economic differences - which tends to then create a hierarchy within racialized communities as well, making them easier targets.
In the context of Bengali Harlem, this divide and conquer strategy could have worked by encouraging divisions between Bengali immigrants, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other groups. However, through the reading, I noticed that in Harlem, the community chose collective marginalization as a form of resistance, embracing that they are different from others, which makes them similar to each other. (I hope this is making sense). The people in Harlem, though from different backgrounds, united on the basis that they are similarly oppressed, which created a collective force that challenged the social norm.
The marriages between Indian and Bengali lascars to African American, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean women was a practical choice, since it was harder for Indian women to enter the US due to immigration restrictions - however, the choice to create multicultural families demonstrates how these groups actively resisted the racial hierarchies meant to keep them segregated. Systems often try to isolate marginalized groups in hopes that they 'die out' but the choice to create a multicultural society fights that. And collective strength is always effective. The collective experiences of marginalized groups in Harlem became a strategy for survival and resistance