American Identity

Read this as a journal entry that holds loosely fitting and partially digested thoughts and feelings on the Destiny of the American Identity...its evolving architecture, its search for self, and its promise to unite humanity. In time, I will read more history and research articles and reach out to experts to add legitimacy and rigor to the ideas. As always, I am open to discussion and collaborations (Note: for stylistic reasons I interchange "US" and "American", simply because it sounds better in some cases (eg American Identity vs US identity). I do recognize that this is incorrect because American does encompass all countries within North and South America.

My Journey through American Identity

Of Indian heritage, I was born and raised in the United States of America by two immigrants who later became US citizens. As a child, I was lost between words and worlds, with a drifting identity tethered to nothing certain. Was I American? Some people in the local Indian community as well as some people in my extended family would refer to Caucasian-Americans as 'The Americans' and often tell me that I should not 'act like an American'. At the time, as I stared into the mirror, I thought I was Indian. How could I be American? Everytime that I would introduce myself, I would be asked, "Where are you from?" And if I was feeling brave and answered, "Lexington", they would never be satisfied and ask again, "Where are you really from?" Alone, by themselves, these questions were mild, as was being incessantly teased about my perpetual smell of curry and my Apu-like accent (from the Simpsons)...however the same mild comments repeated and summed, year after year, layer after layer, eroded my feeling of belonging. Then, of course, were the explicitly racist comments that dripped with a savage sense of disgust that infected my self worth and left a festering feeling of guilt.

In the summer of 7th grade, I went to India for the first time (people actually said, "Oh, its your first time going back to India?") and it fundamentally changed me because I went alone into the unknown and met relatives that I had never known before. Over 2 months, I fell persistently sick and found a battle of languages in my mind as my inner monologue switched from English into Hindi. In India I discovered that everyone saw me as a foreigner and then a day came that I remember very clearly. I remember being driven past the American embassy where I saw the American flag and I found myself feeling pride which rapidly eroded into a growing feeling of guilt that mutated into frustration and bewildered confusion: "Does anyone even think that I am an American in the US? Do I have a right to feel pride?" That day was a formative day because I realized how deeply I was mired in ambiguity.

As I returned to the US, the airport brewed a deep sense of anxiety that persists to this day. For me, entering into the US from another country is a cold and unpleasant reminder of how unwelcome I am in the US (although it has gotten better over the years). Nearly everytime I visit the airport, I am randomly searched and often I receive the 'SSSS' on my boarding pass which leads to further searching, suspicion and scrutiny. Once in London, I was interrogated by US Homeland Security in front of all the passengers while waiting at the gate. As they searched through all of my belonging as everyone watched, they asked questions like, "Are you a felon?". I have also frequently been brought into interrogations rooms, bomb sniffing rooms and once airport security even scanned my retina. Of course, my beard, my brown face and especially my current passport picture (where half my beard is shaved) make things worse.

In the summer of my Junior year as an undergrad, I went to the Officer Candidate School for the Marines Corps. There, I met outright white supremacists who would tell me to drop out (I did not drop out, I graduated). At the end of the program, once the continuous rainfall of screaming and trying to break us down diminished, the company commander said, "...you may not understand this because you are not American..." and while he later corrected himself, it revealed a deep uncertainty of my place and identity in America.

Without a sense of my identity, I floated in solitude through uncertainty, guilt, self hatred (because of my inability to get good grades) and a feeling that I belong nowhere. But in that time, from high school into the end of undergrad, I created a small embryonic universe called SOMDEland where I incubated my ideas and my thoughts and my identity. And then, when I became a high school teacher, for the first time, I opened this universe to my students and they became my family....and it was only then that I began to see the umbilical cord of the Destiny of the American Identity. As a teacher, I was given the honor and trusted with the responsibility of guiding and growing each student's Destiny and Identity, and because of this, I was also given the ability to write into the larger narrative of the American Identity. The first time that I ever said "I am an American" was on the first day of class as I introduced myself. Waltham High school was the first place that I actually felt accepted by the public(even though in the first year, students would sometimes run by my door screaming 'Osama'). Since then, my community has grown beyond the safety of my family, friends, neighbors and WHS.

The Vision

When the Trump Administration became a valid representation of the US that was voted and supported by a significant portion of the nation, it shattered my perception of reality and reawakened a familiar and deep feeling that America did not accept me as her child. And though my mind wandered adrift as the invisible divide became visible, unlike before, my sense of self remained anchored in a bedrock made of family, friends, and community. For the first time, I began to think beyond my own identity and beyond the collective identity of my students and I started to think about the larger idea of the national American Identity. Wanting to express these ideas, I applied to give the graduate student commencement address at Brandeis University and was deeply honored to have been accepted (I talk about American Identity at 5:50, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHOpn8z3UVs). Since then, my vision has grown a small but significant amount and I share it, in its preliminary form, below.

As the diversity of the US increases and the balance of the majority changes and as each group gains more people and influence, there will be inevitable conflict that could completely destabilize the beauty and destiny of the US. The flames of this conflict will be, in part, fed by identity politics which works best with division. Additionally, as the balance of the majority changes and new immigrants come, 'assimilation' will no longer have a clear meaning. Without any direction, as it is right now, the natural tendency of society will be to form mostly segregated, homogeneous, siloed groups that will be defined by religion and ethnic background. Therefore, I believe, that unlike any other nation of the world, the United States of America must actively and deliberately plan and create programs at the local and national levels to facilitate, motivate and encourage the collaborative interaction of different groups to form a true community. Below are some ideas on how I and we can start building the American Identity.

Stage 1: Actively creating events that are diverse and promote mixing of siloed groups

Understanding people's viewpoints and the underlying psychological emotion helps minimize extremifying and demonizing groups different than your own. For example, I suppose I belong to 'liberals' and some tend to look at conservatives as being racists, however that viewpoint doesn't lead to any solutions. Instead, examining the source of the emotion is vital. For example, it makes sense that if you belong to the Majority, you experience life in a certain way that makes you feel safe and comfortable and where you develop your expectations of the future. It makes sense that once minorities groups gain more influence and no longer immediately 'assimilate', that you feel uncomfortable, left out and even disrespected because your viewpoint of America no longer matches the trajectory of the country. These emotions are intensified when politicians start hammering the divisions. Imagine walking into a community center and seeing a bunch of Indian immigrants congregating together and speaking in Hindi and celebrating their festivals and holidays. Even though they are a welcoming group, it is hard to approach a large homogeneous group. This will leave you feeling left out and you will emotionally feel like they are encroaching on your rights and on the identity of America. These sentiments are valid and there are similar valid sentiments that govern the behavior of other groups. Without directly addressing these sentiments as a community, we will all diverge from a common path, especially if we demonize rather than discuss.

Step 1: My level

I will actively participate in and create multicultural, multipolticial, multiracial and multifaith events where people from different backgrounds share their viewpoints. At the very least, this will increase interactions and humanize the different groups and viewpoints. We will focus on basic techniques of active listening rather than intense debating.
I will collaborate with analysts to create lists that summarize each viewpoint and then, with the community, find solutions that address the issues/fears. In this way we can reassure the Majority that their way of life will not fully disappear and similarly reassure the Minority that their freedom to express their way of life will not disappear and that they are welcome in the country.

Step 2: The local level

Town and city governments should promote diverse gatherings and incentivize mixing. Often, I find that people feel most comfortable hanging out with people they know and the only way to make them approach new people is to make it 'safe' by giving people a license to do that. For example, I helped organize a networking event at MIT (I'll write about it someday) and to motivate discussions between the different groups (academics, NGOS, businesses) we created a series of simple tasks/goals to encourage approaching people from different groups. We also gave awards to further add incentive. More than anything else, this gave people a license to approach others.

Step 3: The national level

The local and national levels, there should be many grants that are focused primarily on mixing these groups.
At the national level of media, there should be entertaining shows that educate the public on the different views and, especially, on how to engage and problem solve those issues through events and discussions.
In all public schools, we should have a course on American Identity, where these viewpoints are explored and where students are taught how to constructively approach them and resolve them.

Stage 2: Actively create a common national American Identity by experimentally mixing traditions from different cultures

Actively creating events that bring people with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds together will not be enough to overcome the divide. Just as stitches are needed to bind and heal torn flesh, we have to create an American Narrative that can bind the divided nation when brought together. Fundamental to this American Narrative is developing a common story, a common idealogy, a common series of values, a common series of traditions and ceremonies that are unique to the United States of America.

Even as a nation of immigrants, the United States has no clear vision or method for helping new immigrants merge into the community, which is a profoundly difficult task. As a new immigrant, what values do you instill in your children? How much of your culture do you ensure they retain? What does it mean to be American and what is the American culture?

The beauty of the United States of America is that is consists of a diverse collection of different heritages and assimilating into America should not mean forgetting or abandoning one's heritage. Nevertheless, there should be a distinct and unique American culture that consists of its own unique traditions, customs and ceremonies. One way to balance honoring our heritage and having a distinct American culture is to experimentally create new traditions and ceremonies that are motivated from each group's heritage but are not sacrilegious or considered cultural appropriation.

Step 1: My level/local level

Hold a series of gatherings with diverse groups of people on a central theme, where each person shares something from their heritage and then we take motivation from each of those heritages to create a new and unique ceremony.
- A first example is provided below, where people from many faiths (Hinduism, Wicca, Judiasm, Christianity) shared details about their Festival of Lights. We then used those ideas to create our own ceremony.
- Possible future themes: Other festivals/holidays, Rites of passage ceremonies (e.g. Objective 5 in the aging section), Cooking using convergent themes, making clothing art (read Stage 2), woodcraft (read Stage Two), dance, music composition

Stage 3: Realizing the true Destiny of America by actively providing training/opportunities for collaborations

As new immigrants arrive to the US and become more established, one common sentiment is that they take jobs and decrease the economic prosperity and opportunities of the majority. However we have one of the most valuable resources possible: connections to anywhere in the world and the capability of creating collaborations that can span the entire world. The true Destiny of the United States of America is to unite the entire world. I believe that the next major revolution that will fundamentally transform the Human Experience will come only when all of Humanity is united and its cumulative collective consciousness is focused on solving the world's problems. Because the US has a vast diversity, a young history and an identity based in immigration, the US could be one of the most breathtaking laboratories, where we mix different heritages, ideas, and cultures to solve some of the deepest problems of the world. Within the US, we can easily find people from warring nations that live together as Americans. If we bring these people together, have a discussion and figure out a way for them to live in peace, perhaps we can generalize those ideas and solutions. That is, American could be the singularity where everything comes together and where conflicts and problems can be resolved by creating new innovations that cannot happen anywhere else.

Only here can you walk into nearly any library, cafeteria, or bar and find Americans that have roots meandering into every known nation. These connections give us a truly valuable advantage, where we can easily create multinational businesses, NGOs, artistic collaborations, and scientific explorations that can spread across the whole world. Why do most Americans never use this resource? Simply because we are not taught how to use this resource or how to develop multinational collaborations and how to grow them. Therefore, to realize the true Destiny and Identity of the US, we must be taught how to develop these collaborations.

Step 1: Local and National Level

In public schools, have a course on American Identity that teaches students how to collaborate, how to create multinational groups, how to use one another's connections to reach other countries and how to incubate and grow ideas (see Stage 5 below).
Have the local and national level governments provide a very large number of small grants that are easy to obtain and motivate average citizens to form multicultural groups that spans many different heritages to explore and innovate on art, science, business, world peace and everything in between.

Stage 4: Actively collaborate with the Native American Nation to write the American Narrative and Identity

Note: I have not yet spoken to any Native Americans to gain their wisdom and thoughts on these ideas. So, I am sure that my ideas are very naive and undigested right now.

When I imagine the American Spirit and the growth of the American Identity, I see it fractured, crushed and infected by the sins of genocide that destroyed the Native American Nation. I feel that the United States of American cannot unify and cannot create a collective Identity without first bringing to brilliance the Native American Nation because our American Identity is woven into their Identity and their Journey. Therefore, it is only when we have earned their trust and been given the honor to participate in the realization of their dreams that we will be ready for the next stage of growth for the American Identity. When that happens, I imagine that they will become the spiritual backbone of the Nation, where their communities will not be forced into small reservations but rather be connected together like a spiritual neural network that will run through every city of the US. I imagine that they will be woven into our public schools and will provide students with a connection to the history and customs of the local tribes that inhabit (and that had inhabited) the same land. And, I imagine that they will provide spiritual guidance for rites of passage and a new series of National ceremonies. It is my opinion, the true American Identity will only be born when we can create an umbilical bridge connecting us to the Native American Nation and to the Earth.

Step 1: My level

Read more about Native American history and learn about which tribes inhabited Lexington and which tribes currently live nearby.
- Learn about their customs, their history, their beliefs, their artwork, their music, their dance, their mythology, and their connection to the Earth.
- Without culturally appropriating anything, respectfully include some of their ideas into my own narrative and universe (SOMDEland).
Reach out to many Native American communities and share my ideas and see if anyone is receptive.

Step 2: The Next Level

If anyone in the Native American community is interested, collaborate with them to hold a series of events that explore the ideas described above. Using this, we will build a portfolio of projects.

Stage 5: Actively apply the lessons from Stages1-4 into the collective consciousness of the US by teaching it in schools.

Even though the United States of America is founded on immigration, there is no established discussion or conversation on what it means to be an immigrant or what it means to integrate or assimilate into the larger community. As a child of immigrant parents, I had no idea whether I was American or not or how I was supposed to balance the Heritage of India with the Culture of the US.

The public school system and her teachers are one of the most vital organs of any country. They are leaders that nurture and form the social and spiritual identity of the Nation. If teachers can unite in vision, they can heal a nation and build its identity. Unlike any other nation of the world, the US must actively teach her children how to use the vast resources of human diversity to create a unified American Identity and solve some of the world's biggest problems.

I propose that there needs to be a full 4 credit class on American Identity that students take at 3 different stages of their education (Elementary, Middle and High School). Below are some rough ideas:

Part 1: The Meaning and Role of Immigration for the American Identity
- Provide different nonfictional personal accounts of immigration to the US at different stages of History. Discuss the opposition they experienced and how they added to the American Identity (eg catholic, irish, chinese, japanese immigrants, etc).
- Study and discuss the theory of immigration, the benefits and the problems and what solutions different countries have adopted.
- Interact with immigrants in the local community and listen to their story
- Have students who have immigrant parents share their journey and how they try to balance their Heritage with American Culture. Discuss and reassure that they are Americans.
- Practice different methods to deescalate situations where racist comments are made (eg What do you do when someone says something racist to you? What do you do when you hear someone else making a racist comment?)
Part 2: Creating a Common American Identity by Connecting to Shared Commonalities: An exploration of what things are shared among all Americans and can be used to define our American Identity.
Part 3: How to create collaborations that use the abundant resource of diversity in the US.
- Every student, that feels comfortable, shares their ethnic background and whether they still have connections with people in other countries.
- Students are then placed in diverse groups and told to create a project that uses different people's connections to other countries. For example, one assignment may have them start a small informal multinational business, where they import various clothing from different parts of the world and then sow them together to make eclectic outfits and then sell them here. Again, the focus is not on starting a working business...just to show how amazing it is to create a collaboration with parts of the world that are far away. This will allow students with immigrant parents to feel proud of both their heritage and of being American. This will also show the other students that the abundance of diversity is a gateway into epicness.