Maira Temple- “Desis in The House” (Chapter 2) Response

This chapter addresses how South Asian second-generation youth (particularly Indian Americans) try to form a culture with which they can identify. Particularly through music, second-generation immigrant youth explore the different meanings of their identity. It appears that they are helping to form a culture that is somewhere between what is considered to be “white” and “black.” I found this particularly interesting because whether or not one feels assimilated into the mainstream society or whether or not one chooses to maintain certain ethnic ties changes the way society perceives and treats an individual or a group. Furthermore, this creation of a pan-Indian culture may be the dawn of a new category of classification of people. While creating an ethnic identity is important, the question remains as to whether or not this will allow segregation between various ethnicities to continue indefinitely.

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