A year as Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Madras in 1969-70 provided a fascinating introduction to Indian history and culture.
Research about an Indian religious group and its incipient chapters in the United States followed Indian immigrants to the United States. Rapid growth in numbers of immigrants resulted from dramatic changes in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 proposed by President John F. Kennedy and passed after his assassination. That is the most important law passed during my lifetime.
American immigration stories begin with arrivals from northern Europe and continue with Irish and then southern and eastern Europeans. The history of enslaved African Americans is seared into the American story. Chinese came in the late nineteenth century to build the railroad westward. A few Indians from western Canada established themselves as farmers in California in the early 20th century. A few university students arrived in the 1950s. Each group carried its story, culture and religious tradition on their shoulders.
Nevertheless, prior to 1970 very few Asian Indians and others previously banned entered to became permanent residents or citizens. For example, the annual report from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (1982) recorded that from 1820 to 1960 only a total of 13,670 persons emigrated from the Indian subcontinent, and an unrecorded number of those left.
The image of America as a country of immigrants glosses over the peculiar period of American history between 1915 and 1965 when the open door was closed. Exclusionary laws and administrative rules kept Asians and Africans out, and low annual quotas kept numbers of legal immigration very low. During the Great Depression and disruptions of World War II more people left the United States than arrived.
The 1965 immigration law reopened the door. A nondiscriminatory quota for every country and the accompanying highest preference category identified those with professional qualifications needed in the American economy for early immigration and permanent resident status. Thousands of scientists, engineers, physicians, nurses, computer specialists entered, and other thousands waited for years in India and other countries to receive a green card signifying permanent resident status and access to the American dream.
Most early post-1965 immigrants were top graduates of English-medium schools and universities with Western-style curricula. They constituted the brain drain, a phrase coined to describe this new group in Britain and the United States. High-flyers arrived from the best universities around the world. So many physicians came that India threatened to exact payment from the United States for each one who studied medicine at Indian universities and then migrated here.
These new immigrants quickly placed their feet firmly on the rungs of the ladder of success. They encourage and support their children to excel in school, and those youths win top awards, entrance to the best American universities, and graduate with honors. Harvard and Yale have faced threats of law suits for setting artificial limits for Asian students, to avoid entering classes top heavy with Asian Americans. One result is that Asian Indians now have the highest medium income of any ethnic group identified in the U.S. census. They secure visibility and influence in medicine, industry, commerce, research, and government. A recent report from the Pew Research Center highlights 11 million Asian eligible voters.
As these immigrants gained citizenship, family reunification provisions open the door to more. Recently, temporary work visas have been issued to those with skills needed in the economy, especially in computer science and related areas. Some temporary workers have been forced to leave by pandemic layoffs. Other forces push the door shut against both the high-flyers and the disadvantaged, who also work very hard to establish their feet on the lowest rungs of the ladder to the American dream.
Some of our neighbors in Montgomery County are part of the brain drain, and others are working very hard to establish themselves against significant odds. Most are committed to the freedom of American democracy and yearn for the promise of the American dream for their children and grandchildren. They increase our social capital and enrich our community, our economy, our understanding of the wider world, and our quality of life. Their lives and work among us are a blessing.
Lest we forget the Statue of Liberty and what it means to be a nation of immigrants!
Raymond B. Williams, Crawfordsville, is a Wabash College LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus.
