The connection between Blacks and Indian Americans in this country goes all the way back to Mahatma Gandhi, according to a very interesting blog in the Huffington Post by Rajiv Malhotra.
Gandhi learned civil disobedience in South Africa when he was thrown off a train because even though he had a first class ticket, he wasn’t allowed to sit there. Years later, it would be Gandhi’s non-violent struggle which would later inspire Martin Luther King.
Malhotra piece is an excellent argument as to why African American history month is as relevant to Indian Americans as it is to African Americans. You can read about it in more detail in the Huffington Post. Â I found it to be very thought provoking
There are so many other examples in history about how we are all connected to one another. Indian Americans and African Americans have had very different paths to this country. But like so many other people, they share a mutual interest in human rights, equality and justice. This is so easy to forget and so difficult to pass on to a new generation of immigrants and newborn.
That same argument applies to all nationalities and ethnicities.
All of us work hard to make ends meet, struggle to climb up the economic ladder or succeed in the work place. Let us not forget that we are not alone. The more connections we make with one another, the easier all our struggles will be to overcome.
