False Dreams
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“After welcoming more than 12 million immigrants to our shores, Ellis Island is now a poetic symbol of the American Dream.” This statement from the website of Ellis Island (https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/), written alongside pictures of mostly white immigrants, is almost laughable when considered in the context of the experiences of Indian immigrants during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The legal frameworks that shaped immigration policy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries created significant barriers for Indian immigrants seeking entry into the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 marked the beginning of a wave of restrictive immigration laws that set a precedent for excluding Asian immigrants, effectively barring them from entering the country. This was followed by the Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885, which aimed to prevent the importation of foreign labourers under contract.
Despite these barriers, Indian immigrants, including Bengali Muslim lascars, found ways to enter the U.S. East Coast by cleverly navigating immigration loopholes. Capitalizing on the "India craze" of the late 19th century, Bengali lascars sold goods that appealed to the Orientalist ideal, including exotic textiles, intricate handicrafts, and ornate jewelry. By aligning their products with these Orientalist fantasies, the lascars successfully positioned themselves as merchants of cultural allure. They evaded restrictive immigration laws while tapping into the desires of American consumers seeking a taste of the exotic. The immigrants' established networks, rooted in transnational trade and kinship, provided support systems that further facilitated their journeys and resettlement.
New York City, particularly neighbourhoods like East Harlem, were attractive to new Indian immigrants. By the mid-20th century, East Harlem was home to a variety of stablished immigrant communities, including Puerto Ricans, Italians, and African Americans. In a space of what historian Earl Lewis termed “overlapping diasporas,” Indians shared much in their pasts and present with the other groups around them. Barred from officially becoming part of the U.S. nation, Indians sought to disappear into the communities around them in East Harlem, aiming to pass or even gain new identities as Puerto Rican for the promise of the legal and social capital it would provide. The presence of an established African American muslim community in East Harlem provided additional grounds for an interaction between the two communities, and for the expansion and integration of Indian immigrants into the fabric of the neighbourhood.