Lost in Conflation: Calling in Indian Hindu Americans to talk about Black Lives Matter

Vishnu as Vaikuntha-natha seated on the coils of the serpent Sesha between his two shaktis, Shri and Bhumi Devi; a third, Nila Devi, supports his right foot. From a series of 100 drawings of Hindu deities created in South India. (Trichinopoly, ca. 1825)

As I write, sirens are wailing down the street. For the past two months, ambulances have been transporting COVID patients to nearby hospitals. Now they are joined by police cars who are rushing towards protests. I am weary from the infinite loops of emotions this year has extracted. We are all drained from the normalcy of vigilance. I keep thinking about the intergenerational exhaustion held by the African American community that has led us to this moment.

A few days ago, I commented on a Facebook post asking Hindus who didn’t understand black American rage and the current protests and destruction of property to educate themselves. The thread that ensued belied an enormous mismatch in information about American history. One comment stopped me in my tracks. It was made by a white American who was clearly trying to garner approval from the Hindu community.

“The entire economy? What are you, a leftist?”

Leftist. Indian political shorthand for someone who has force-fitted critical lenses from another nation’s paradigm (ironically, the United States) onto the Indian landscape, crafting a neo-colonizing image of liberation and equality in increasingly absurd and violent ways. At an organizational level, this isn’t innocent or ignorant; there is…