Uncategorized

Pass Me A Samosa And Be Quiet…

October 30, 2024

It’s South Asian Heritage Month and this year’s themes is stories to tell.

When I looked at the purpose of SAHM as much as I was overjoyed to be having a month dedicated to South Asian Heritage I couldn’t help but wonder when I saw the purpose, “SAHM seeks to commemorate, mark and celebrate South Asian cultures, histories, and communities.” And how it still aligns to the model minority myth and how instinctively without realising with the best intentions it’s all about celebrating rather than using this month to also challenge ourselves to do better and the systems that harm us.

Although so much evidence shows us that the model minority myth has such negative impacts on the south Asian community we still see a large population internalise the model minority myth as a big part of their own individual identity because of its seemingly positive connotations. This was reenforced just by scrolling through twitter not so long along when discussions were sparked around affirmative actions. When internalising the model minority myth we see folks believing that they can truly achieve social mobility through hard work and determination because they are not impacted by racism, and the results of this are adopting attitudes associated with believing white supremacy is a myth and a denial of inequities, barriers and racism at all levels including systemic and institutional racism. In fact I have even seen some believe that the issue is only social mobility and race doesn’t even play a factor at all.

We were raised to be grateful, keep our heads down, be quite, get on and don’t make a fuss, but while we are busy doing that we are also navigating an incessant stream of microaggressions.

I mean if we are a model of success and we work really hard the surely we will be free from persecution right, because we are adhering to the standard of the model?

But we seem to forget, we are living in Britain, the same country that colonised our land, that displaced us (some of us twice). It is a country built on slave labour and the colonization of its indigenous people.

So we have to question if we are just using this month to only celebrate the good parts why is that? Is that just so we can keep our heads down and not make a fuss? And whose that helping?

This month I want us to have the tough conversations that challenge the barriers that we face inside and outside of our community, I want us to talk about the fact that South Asian people are less likely to access mental health support due to stigma and a lack of awareness — and when they do, there are often barriers in treatment due to services offering a “one-size-fits-all approach”.

We need to start talking about the fact that South Asians in the UK and our health and wellbeing is of an increasing concern. There is growing evidence to suggest that our community in the UK are suffering from increasing mental health problems and that we are over-represented in secondary services, but also our rates of recovery are low and drop-out rates exceedingly high which means there’s a problem that needs addressing.

Research published by the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences in 2020 found that men and women from a South Asian background are more likely to develop a physical disability than their white British counterparts, yet it’s a conversation that it still so stigmatised in our community and we are still suffering from it.

Lets use this month to question how South Asians across the globe have long maintained anti-Blackness and anti-Black ideologies. This isn’t always just always just about skin lighting cream, its more insidious than we like to realise and its systemic and it goes hand in hand with the model minority myth.

It’s about the violent colonial values that reinforce this type of thinking, I have often also seen several South Asian who have taken to social media to advocate for justice for our Black siblings, only to within moments (sometimes on the same thread) perpetuate colourism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobic and ableist ideologies without realising where this comes from and just how harmful it is.

Don’t get me wrong there is a still a lot to celebrate, there is so much beauty in our heritage, and we have given so much to the UK and beyond. I am so proud of my mish mash of heritage of Indian, Kenyan and Ugandan. I want us to continue to normalise that we are belong in every space, our voices, art, music, creativity and culture needs to be elevated and absolutely celebrated, but until we actively and honestly start to knowledge the ways in which for generations we have been conditioned to accept and perpetuate ideas instilled in white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy then we will never truly break those generational curses and be able to progress to a society where there is more equity and justice for not just us but the next generation and all those who follow.

So no this month I won’t be passing you a samosa, celebrating the nation’s favourite dish, celebrating and forgetting about the real conversations we need to have.