aliens in BC and California
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The anti-"Hindoo" sentiment in BC stemmed directly from preexisting notions about East Asian peoples, which were then transferred onto arriving Punjabi migrants. To white settlers, all cultural and racial distinctions dissolved into the broader lump category of "Oriental." This label positioned both South Asians and East Asians as backward, static, resistant to assimilation, and inherently suspicious. It reminds me of our discussion on the so-called "discovery" of the New World and how early conceptions of Muslims and Jews, as counterpoints to Christians, were later applied to Indigenous peoples.
It's depressing to see how persistent, pervasive, and corrupting this dualistic narrative remains. Everything gets forced into rigid oppositions: Western civilization versus alien population, white versus colored, laborer versus migrant worker, and so on. It's disturbing to consider how these narratives have historically functioned—and continue to function in many places—as nationalist incentives, fostering a sense of "citizenship" through the creation of a common enemy or problem. It’s obvious, but these "grand" narratives of nation-building, drenched in pride, are so fucking self-deluded, deeply ironic, and sad.
Punjabi migrants arriving in California were primarily engaged in agricultural work, which led to many interracial marriages. Often, poor Mexican families, usually mothers with daughters, would cross the border into Texas and then move into California for similar work. These marriages weren’t just for legal convenience; they were clear markers of diasporic roots, an attempt to cultivate family and residence. Oftentimes sisters would get married to men who worked or lived on the same farms, leading to complex kinship relations and networks.
What struck me was the refusal to perform cultural rites without the familiar landscape. Many of these men seemed to leave certain rituals behind or made bold gestures signaling their embrace of a new life—shaving their beards, removing turbans, and so on. For instance, “No attempts were made to carry out Punjabi marriage customs. One wife remembers that when she married, ‘another Hindu offered me money, but my husband did not accept, saying, "we are not in our country."’” I wonder whether this was an effort to integrate or perhaps a way of coping with the stark differences of their new reality.