According to the esteemed sociologists Omi and Winant – and common sense – the immediate things people notice when they first meet are gender and race. It is fairly easy to discern that I am an Indian male. Its past this point where things start to get murky, as both specific internal and external definition becomes quite difficult. In this current environment, there are unfortunately few signs of improvement regarding this situation.

The problem I just stated was vague, as indeed it should be. To begin, it is safe to say that maintaining complete objectivity is virtually impossible; therefore, I will undoubtedly recall my own experience. Born and raised in the United States, as a child I was instilled with all of its guiding principles. We should all be tolerant of one another, since though we are all different, we can all be winners. The United States is the place where people from all cultures can come together as Americans and succeed.

The neoconservative mindset is dominant in this country. Backed by men like John McCain , Dick Cheney, and Ronald Reagan, this project claims that after the Civil Rights movement, all races are equal under this great nation. We should thus adopt a ‘color-blind’ view upon each other. Such a movement makes it socially awkward to even discuss racial issues with someone. After all, what are these advocates even complaining about? Black power?! Surely, such extremist groups are trying to elevate African Americans to a hegemonic status.

Such a status was in fact held by a specific race, for a minimum of 3 centuries. Nowadays, race is hardly brought up, but it is still just as present in the undercurrents of policy making and social behaviors today. Latinos and African Americans are linked to urban dwelling, ironically as a direct result of racist housing projects such as the Federal Housing Act and the Housing and Urban Development Act, all giving preference to Whites for home mortgages and low-interest bank loans. Not only did minorities have to deal with this unfairness up until the ‘70s, but they must now face the blame for our Federal banking crisis today. Senator McCain claims to be ‘post-racial’, but referred to Senator Obama as ‘that one’ during a national debate. These latent racial themes have been consistently present, ranging from accusations that Obama doesn’t respect (white) women, as well as the hood-like qualities of his community organizer position in Southside Chicago. Meanwhile, Palin flaunts ridiculously ‘white’ catch phrases like “you betcha” and “well golly”… statements she has oddly never used before joining the campaign.

What does all this mean to us? Depends, really. I feel it is an honor and a privilege to not only be a minority, but to have a proud heritage and culture, which serve as the backbone of my life decisions. Of course I gravitate towards others that share my passions and possibly even my style of upbringing. As Indians, we have so much to offer to the rest of our friends, this campus, the world. We also have much to learn. It is indeed quite easy to be oblivious to the plethora of racial issues that surround us. Sangam, albeit an excellent organization, has minimal contact with other groups such as the Asian Students Association, Black Student Movement, CHISPA, Arab Student Association, MOSAIC, the Hillel, etc. All of these groups are under MASALA, the multicultural umbrella organization here at UNC, but few actually use this vehicle to its full potential. Cultural representation is vibrant at UNC. Unfortunately, multiculturalism does not follow suit. Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to join Japan Club (I did) or Black Student Movement (yup) or even MASALA (obviously) if you don’t want to. If but one thing can be extracted from this garrulous article, let it be this: follow your passions, and know that there always more to be found. Note prejudice and know segregation for what it really is: self-segregation. All in all, just find your peace on campus… even if it includes dealing with that ‘r’ word.

Both girls, iliketodandiawithyou and ani51, are 22 from Chapel Hill, NC. Iliketodandiawithyou, has a bachelors’ degree in fine art and loves the creativity of the world. She is more moderate in her beliefs and is spiritual, but not particularly religious. Ani51 is more traditional. She also has a bachelors’ degree, but she, like the good Indian girl has one in medicine. She has plans to become a doctor and practices Hinduism. The rest of the information is aligned with the girl’s personalities, but the basic information is the same to prevent random bias. So, which kind of girl is preferred by those Indian lovers: the traditional girl or the rebellious crazy American?

Throughout the week I obsessively checked each girl’s profile to see how many new prospective husbands were lining up.

Here are some of the most entertaining for iliketodandiawithou. “We will be relocating to Chennai after marriage, more details when we meet,” in addition to Chennaisweetboy’s kind, compromising demeanor he loves museums and “big temples”. Using “Nd” for and, “b” for be, “nt” for not, “bcoz” for because, and “plz” for please really showed me that kinny52_gill wanted to impress me with his writing skills. In his defense he did say “I don’t get much time to write…”. Thank God. Rajiv2330′s pictures reminded me of a wanna be badass bollywood star. You know sleeveless shirts, no smile, poses that make you want to vomit. Finally, abzdude, you would think the name says it all, but no, there is more. Abzdude’s preferred partner, “… should not be assertive…” and he said, ” I have no one to share my deep feeling and would like to share lots with my incoming partner.” Well, abzdude, my suggestion would be to go out and buy a blow up doll and talk to that.

Ani51 seemed to attract more professional, sometimes more normal types, sometimes not. At least five guys who said they were interested in ani51 spent the entire personality section on their job and education. Obviously it’s because they have no personality to focus on. Two of the profiles were made my hopeful parents wanting to marry their sons off to traditional Indian girls from good families (which is what they said in the profile). Then there are the questionable prospective husbands. Krishmba asks, “I m waiting for you my sweet innocent life partner. May I have the opportunity to meet…..?” No. Next BornRomantic and his skewed vision of gender, “I do enjoy doing regular boy things like shopping, dining, dressing up for a night out on the town, and of course watching sappy hindi flicks…” I honestly have no idea if he’s being serious. Putting these guys aside, ani51 did have about five normal prospective husbands, which gave me some signs of hope for those nice Indian girls on Shaadi who weren’t writing articles.

So after a week, iliketodandiawithyou had 4 interests and 40 profile views. Ani51 had 27 interests and 116 profile views. Shocking, I know. So, what is my final conclusion? Well, if you aren’t a simple, traditional, professional, kind, obedient girl from a good respected family, Shaadi is not the place for you.

Alternative ending,

“you’re never getting married. Sorry.”

QUOTES:

“The fact that we have the means and ability to help end the crisis in Burma but choose to look the other way is the true failure of humanity.” -Niraj Shah

“Although economic sanctions can be used against the military government in Burma, a lot of times they hurt the lower class people first so there might be better means to help the Burmese people.” -Radhika Deshmukh

“I think it will be really interesting to see which country takes decisive action first or if there is a lack of action.” -Carolina Guerra

“The week following the initial monk protests, SEAIA hosted “Burma Awareness Week” to help educate the campus community about the political situation in Burma. During this week, we screened the documentary “Do-Ayay” (Our Cause), hosted a lecture by Dr. Tun Nyein (former political prisoner and leader of the pro-democracy uprising in 1974) and Dr. Susan Prague (Carolina Asia Center visiting scholar and expert on Burma), and held a candlelight vigil in support of the monk’s protests. We hope that these events are just the beginning of a more collective effort between campus organizations and local Burmese activist groups to raise awareness about the current situation in Burma and support the Burmese people in their campaign for freedom.” -Monica Shah, Co-President of Southeast Asia Interest Association

FACTS:

Current Situation in Burma, a largely Buddhist country:Pro-democracy protesters, led by Burmese monks, are being brutally massacred by the military government.Burma, now correctly known as Myanmar, faces horrible conditions resulting from the corrupt rule of many military regimes:

• 90% of Burma’s population lives on less than a $1 a day.
• 40% of Burmese children are malnourished.
• Burma received the status of Least Developed Country by the UN in 1987.
• Burma has the largest number of child soldiers in the world, nearly 70,000, some as young as 11 years old.
• There are over 1,600 political prisoners, including 38 elected members of parliament.
• Millions of Burmese are held in forced labor camps.
• The Red Cross’ operations in Burma were shut down by the regime last year after the junta called them “terrorists.”
• In the last 10 years, over 3,000 ethnic villages have been burned down in the eastern part of the country, twice as many as have been destroyed in Darfur.

*Facts retrieved from: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-10-9/60539.html and www.cnn.com.

OPINION:

When we hear about atrocities such as those occurring in Burma we often criticize the United States and countries of Western Europe for not taking a stand to eradicate the situation. These economically powerful nations have democratic systems with a checks and balances, relatively free speech, and individual liberties, and thus we often feel that they also have an obligation to help those that are suffering in other areas of the world. However, although these Western nations can make a difference, in this case the real possibility for change rests in the hands of China. China, while becoming an increasingly large world power economically, remains isolationist in many other respects. China is resisting the standards that have long existed around the world: with economic power, a leading nation also has certain moral obligations. Although communist China has internally progressed since the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, the country has still been supplying the corrupt military government of Burma with weapons, is Burma’s chief trading partner, and has been blocking many of the attempts of the UN Security Council to take effective action in Burma. China, as a growing economic world power, should join other nations to exert pressure on the military government in Burma instead of continuing to turn away from such atrocities. –Nisha Verma