High schoolers, Sangam address model minority at conference

By Laura Rico
Daily Bruin Contributor

As a South Asian student at UCLA, Rita Sharma, a fourth-year
international development studies student, might seem to embody the
model minority theory. But her family’s history and social
class contradict this stereotype.

“I come from a working class background and I’m the
first person in my family to go to college,” Sharma said.
“My father has worked in a factory for 20 years, and I had to
work for many years after high school to fund my college
education.”

“You just can’t compare the experience of wealthy
Indian doctors to immigrants like my family, who came from a
culture of indentured servitude in Fiji without any education or
wealth,” she continued.

Deconstructing Asian stereotypes became the focus of
Saturday’s South Asian Youth Conference in Sunset Canyon
Recreation Center.

The conference, titled “Deconstructing the Myth, Realizing
our Realities,” drew participants from local universities and
high schools. It was sponsored by Sangam, a student group that
addresses social and cultural issues of the South Asian
community.

Sociologist William Petersen coined the term “model
minority” in the 1960s.

Using Asians as an example, Petersen said immigrants could
overcome factors such as poverty, inferior educational systems and
a language barrier through hard work and perseverance, and land
lucrative jobs in engineering and medicine.

Critics say the theory ignores the role of the Immigration Act
of 1965, which gave visa privileges to professionals and scientists
whose technical skills were needed to compensate for the lack of
high-tech labor in the U.S.

But according to Sharma, the most recent wave of South Asian
immigrants come from rural backgrounds, with limited skills and
education.

Despite the idea of South Asian domination of high-tech fields,
Sangam organizers said they see disparities between incomes of
college-educated Indian men and their white counterparts.

According to a 1998 study by the Federal Glass Ceiling
Commission, Indian men with a bachelor’s degree earn
approximately $2,000 less than their counterparts who are white.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina and Pennsylvania
State University found that nearly 30 percent of all Asian Indian
men are overqualified for their current occupations, almost three
times the percentage of whites.

Despite societal expectations, some students choose careers in
fields in which Asians are often underrepresented.

Rosaalie Shah, a second-year undeclared student, is hoping to
pursue a career in the arts.

“I’m not going to be a doctor or an engineer, and I
try to make people aware that Indians can do other things,”
Shah said. “I want to direct films and work in the
entertainment industry.”

Anjali Nath, external coordinator for Sangam, hopes the
conference raised awareness and support for a South Asian studies
department at UCLA.

“We’re trying to get South Asian students interested
in historical and educational issues relating to the
community,” said Nath, a third-year mathematics and
international development studies student.

“Establishing a South Asian studies department is a
tangible goal which we are slowly working toward by circulating
petitions and networking with professors and faculty,” she
continued.

UC Berkeley’s South Asian studies program is being used as
a model for a future department at UCLA, according to Nath.
Berkeley’s curriculum includes instruction in languages such
as Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Thai, and a study of the region’s
literature, philosophy and religion.

According to the New York Times, at least 43 undergraduate Asian
studies programs exist in universities throughout the United States
““ twice the number that existed a decade ago.

Saturday’s event featured keynote speaker Muneer Ahmad,
who graduated from Harvard Law School and who now works as an
attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, which
provides legal representation and educational services to the Asian
American and Pacific Islander communities.

Sharma said Ahmad served as an example to South Asian youth that
they can use their education to help marginalized communities in
need of legal representation.

Zamana, a Youth Indo-American Culture Center, worked with Sangam
to bring high school students from Santa Monica, Diamond Bar and
Capistrano Valley high schools and from throughout Southern
California to the event.

Sona Patel, a student at Aliso Niguel High School in Orange
County, said the event was a chance to meet and network with other
South Asian students.

“I’m one of about five Indian students at my school,
so coming to events like these really keeps me aware of South Asian
culture and the issues we face,” Patel, a member of Zamana,
said.

“I always try to represent my culture by performing Indian
dances and wearing traditional outfits during cultural days. I even
get my non-Indian friends to participate,” she continued.

The conference concluded with a traditional Indian tabla drums
performance.