Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The White Hindu

Home
Hindu
Is There Hinduphobia in America?

Is There Hinduphobia in America?

Last updated on: March 26, 2015 at 6:41 am by Ambaa Choate

Is There Hinduphobia in America? 2015-03-13T22:29:14-04:00 Ambaa Choate

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Two big tragedies in America came to light on the same day. One was the killing of three young Muslims in North Carolina and the other was police in Alabama beating a Hindu grandfather. As the media discusses Islamophobia in the North Carolina case some people have asked, why aren’t we calling the Alabama incident Hinduphobia?

Why do we talk bout Islamophobia but never Hinduphobia? (http://swarajyamag.com/commentary/from-alabama-to-american-hinduphobia/)

Personally, I do not think that what happened to Mr. Patel was Hinduphobia. I think Hinduphobia in the U.S. takes a very different form from Islamaphobia. What happened to Mr. Patel was racist for sure but he was not targeted because he was Hindu.

As someone who has a separate faith and racial identity I think I’m in a good position to see the difference between racism and faithism here.

Sadly in America when Indian people are targeted for violent attack it is almost always because the white attackers thought they were Muslim. Being visibly Muslim in this country can mean fearing for your life. I am never afraid to leave my house. I am visibly Hindu with my bindi and sindoor but I never have to worry that someone is going to attack me for it.

White Americans have a huge fear of Muslims and that’s what Islamaphobia is all about. It’s the fact that when a white American man pulls a gun out in a movie theater and kills a bunch of people he doesn’t get called a terrorist and we don’t start fearing all white American men. But when a Muslim kills people we start fearing and hating every Muslim and every person we think might be Muslim. Even our very nice Muslim American neighbors. And the Sikhs praying at their temple. That’s Islamaphobia.

What happened in Alabama is horrible and inexcusable. It is yet another incident of racism in the American police force. Some kind of reforms and education need to happen in American police forces. For months now we’ve been having our own people killed by police, young black men who are innocent and not threatening. Because to a lot of people just not being white feels threatening. And that’s what needs to stop.

This is an excellent article on the racism surrounding what happened in Alabama: http://www.firstpost.com/world/walking-while-brown-what-the-assault-on-indian-grandfather-in-alabama-tells-us-2097211.html

It was a tragic misunderstanding and the police should not have even been there since there is nothing at all suspicious about an older gentleman taking a walk in his neighborhood! It happened because he was non-white. But it didn’t happen because he was Hindu.

No one is targeting Hindus with violence. But some Americans are targeting Muslims with violence for things that they had no part of. That’s Islamaphobia.

Americans are not scared of Hindus.

But there are still problems with how Hindus are seen in America.

Americans are not scared of Hindus but they are tragically ignorant about Hinduism.

For example, the comments made by a Christian Senator who is happy to have Christian prayers said before government meetings but flipped out at the prospect of a Hindu prayer…

Government-sponsored prayer is all or nothing. That means legislative bodies that want to begin meetings with an invocation must either be inclusive of all viewpoints, or prohibit official prayers completely. But don’t tell that to one Idaho senator who seems to have a real problem with the prospect of a Hindu prayer before a senate session.

Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric from Nevada, has delivered prayers before various government bodies, including the U.S. Senate as well as legislatures and city councils in several western states. So when he asked to offer an invocation on behalf of the Idaho Senate, his request was accepted.

Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill (R-Rexburg) told the Boise Spokesman-Review that he approved of Zed’s message, which will include passages from the Bhagavad-Gita and will ask lawmakers to work for the good of others. That’s not exactly a radical idea, nor does it appear to be proselytizing.

“I reviewed the prayer,” Hill said. “It did not seem offensive in any way. It refers to ‘deity supreme.’”

But that wasn’t good enough for Sen. Steve Vick (R-Dalton Gardens), who threatened to walk out during the prayer, which is scheduled to be delivered today. Vick explained his objections, which seem rooted in a bias against non-Christians and a misunderstanding of Hinduism.

“They have a caste system,” Vick said. “They worship cows.”

–https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/hindu-hullabaloo-idaho-lawmaker-objects-to-non-christian-prayer-before (Both those statements are vast over simplifications of the truth and we’ve addressed them here at Patheos)

A Hindu friend in academia told me that when she hosts interfaith talks she sees even the Hindu students dismissing and being embarrassed of their faith. While people are vocal in supporting the Muslim students, it is the Hindu students who face the most pointed criticism. (For answers to common criticisms of Hinduism, see this series of posts)

Too many kids in America, both Hindu and non-Hindu, are growing up with textbooks that make Hinduism sound barbaric and teachers who have no knowledge of Hinduism at all. Not all schools, but many suggest that Hinduism is “backward” and “unsophisticated.”

This is woefully untrue.

It is very sad to me that young Hindus in America are not taught to have any pride at all in the religion that they were born into. They are not taught about Hinduism’s great philosophers and scholars and all that Hinduism has given the world.

I want to see young people proud of their faith. Not just Hindus, everyone. But it is Hindus who seem to be given the very least with which to build a faith identity.

Though yoga and meditation are massively popular in America, it seems that people don’t connect that to Hinduism where it came from (my colleague and friend Deepika has more information about that: )

Hinduphobia is subtle but it is present in how Hindus are silenced by people in more aggressive religions; it is present in how Hindu philosophies and ideas have been white-washed and stolen by western culture without acknowledgement of their source; Hinduphobia is present in that we are so invisible that we are mistaken for Muslim.

Previous Post

March 24, 2015

Is Widow Burning (Sati) Part of Hinduism? (Criticisms of Hinduism Series)

Next Post

March 27, 2015 India's Daughter, My Reaction

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Club Hindu Holiday How Am I Being a Hindu This Week? Inside the Life Meet a God Meet a Guru Movie Club Philosophy Corner Resources Scripture Uncategorized Wild Card

Select a Month February 2020 September 2019 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

On which mountain did Moses receive the Ten Commandments?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mount Sinai Mount Hermon Mount Ararat Mount Carmel