Racist flyer incident in Edison brings light to “Model Minority’s” often-ignored issues
Edison, New Jersey is a township which, according to the last U.S. Census in 2010, had a population of 100,000, 43% of whom were of Asian descent. Within that percentage, 28% are of Indian-American origin. By all means, this town is an embodiment of the United States’ “melting pot” moniker and a testament to the diversity specifically in the state of New Jersey.
Despite all of that, the town was host to a horrifying racist incident targeting these same groups of people who very nearly make up the plurality of the town’s population. In the wake of this month’s elections, a flyer with racist statements directed towards an Indian and a Chinese Board of Education candidate was sent out in the town. The fliers proclaimed, “The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town. Chinese school! Indian school! Cricket fields! Enough is enough!” alongside pictures of candidates Falguni Patel and Jerry Shi. The flier also said, “Make Edison Great Again!”, a slogan reminiscent of the often-xenophobic sentiment and hysteria which President Trump’s election campaign ran on.
Many within the Indian community of Edison were shocked at an incident like this happening in a town like Edison. Jay Raval, current junior at Rutgers University and long-time Edison resident, was among the many who were shocked at both the incident itself and its relative lack of publicity in mass media.
“I was genuinely confused at first because I thought Edison was a generally racism-free area since I grew up and went to school there,” Raval said. “…I later discussed it with my South and East Asian friends and they had the same sentiments.”
When asked about the coverage of the event itself, Raval said, “From what I’ve seen, only my Asian friends are concerned/have shared their views about this topic… So I think it definitely needs more coverage.”
His response to the last question, along with the reactions of the Indian community in Edison, brings up a very interesting question about the struggles of Indian-Americans. Are they overlooked by the general public?
Over the years, Indians have earned the reputation of being one of the “model minorities” in the United States. And understandably so. On average, Indian-Americans tend to be more formally educated (70% of Indian-Americans having a Bachelor’s or higher vs the national average of 28) and better off financially (9% living in poverty as opposed to the 12% national number) than say their Black or Latino counterparts. To go along with that, Indians have by far the highest median income in the nation, with a median income of over $100,000 against the national number of just under $52,000.
In addition, the Indian community tends to not have the same history of oppression and discrimination in the United States that some of the other minorities in America have. Indians were not brought to America forcibly and enslaved for 400 years. There were never any set of laws known as the “Brown Codes” designed to segregate and keep Indian-Americans marginalized in society the way there were with Blacks in the aftermath of the Civil War. There was an “Indian Removal Act” passed, but it was directed at Native Americans, long before there was an established Asian Indian community in the country. Considering this, and the relative privilege Indians seem to be enjoying in the country, it is understandable how many are unaware of issues the community may face.
Saad Mansuri, another Rutgers student from Edison, is of the view that the public’s “model minority” perception of Indians has made them ignorant to such pertinent issues.
“In my opinion I don’t think the general public understands the struggle of the Asian community,” said Mansuri. “I feel the general public view the Asian community greatly with the defined stereotypes that exist nowadays.”
Raval shared the same sentiments, saying, “I do think though that people are under the assumption that we don’t have any major problems because of the lack of coverage.”
They certainly have a point. Yes, Indians live in relative privilege to other minorities. Yes, Indians never had to endure some of the horrible things that some of the other minorities in the country have had to over the years. But at the end of the day, they are still a small minority in a country with a strong history of racism that now has a president feeding off strong xenophobic rhetoric throughout the country. Thus, they have their own set of individual struggles that should not be marginalized.
Another question this incident brings up is this: if such an incident could happen in a town with such a strong minority population, what does that spell out for minorities in areas without such a large community alongside them?
Mansuri said, “Overall it’s sad to see this kind of behavior and stuff happening in our society… it existed before but definitely on a higher level I am witnessing. This kind of hate was also high during 9/11 times. But the difference now is it’s being validated by people in higher power.” He went on to conclude with, “In towns where the majority is White and the Asian community wasn’t as strong, it would have worse impact on those Asians…Here in Edison we are lucky since we can fight back against things like the flyer. There is a loud enough voice here.”
We can only hope that it will not take an incident of even greater magnitude in a town with less voice for the public to acknowledge some of the issues this community faces.
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