How A Supreme Court Case Redefined Whiteness
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- In 1923, the Supreme Court revoked an Indian man’s citizenship which would go on to have devastating consequences for other Indian immigrants as well. The reason? He wasn’t white. What does this case, United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, tell us about the larger history of race, white supremacy, and citizenship in America?
Hosted by Harini Bhat, Ph.D., In The Margins is a series that covers the history they didn’t teach in school, exploring obscure, yet captivating tales that offer unique insights into their time and place.
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We are very grateful for our Subject Matter Expert Hardeep Dhillon, whose original research contributed greatly to this story. Dhillon is an educator and historian of US immigration & law. She earned her doctorate at Harvard University in History with a secondary field of study in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. You can read more about her work at: live-sas-www-h...
Erika Lee is the Bae Family Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at Harvard University. She has written "Made in Asian America: A History for Young People" and "The Making of Asian America: A History". You can read more about her work at: www.radcliffe....
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This happened in apartheid South Africa as well. Japanese people were deemed "honorary Whites" and thus granted 1st class citizenship. Chinese were labeled Asian and given 2nd class.
And in Nazi Germany too, Japanese people were labeled as 'honorary Aryans' meanwhile all other East Asian people were called 'Mongoloids'.
And Indians were also labelled as Asian under colonisation due to indentured labour and racially classifies as Indian during apartheid
Excellent example of how race is a social construct.
Just like money is yet there are real life consequences. The power of mass acceptance of a belief is powerful. Live or death powerful. @@pqunit
As a South African myself, I'm can't wait for the Constitutional Court case where a person who looks white claims to be black for BEE purposes. This would force the ConCourt to legally define what constitutes "white" or "black". In my opinion, BEE laws in SA have become so extreme that they now count as racial discrimination so it's only a matter of time before we have white-looking people claiming to be black.
I was hoping this would mention the 1909 case of Lebanese immigrant George Shishim. The government tried to argue that he wasn't eligible for citizenship because he was of the "Mongolian" race. His lawyer argued that he came from the same part of the world as Jesus, and if Mr. Shishim was Mongolian, so was Jesus, _but_ if Mr. Shishim was found to be white, then *Jesus must also be white.* I WISH I WAS MAKING THIS UP.
👆🏾 This!!!
Interestingly, at the very same time there was a similar case in South Africa!!
There were Lebanese Americans at the very founding.
It’s so humiliating to be from the U.S. sometimes. I always say…half German when I hear stuff like this…🙄 my mom immigrated from Germany…I get so angry and disgusted…truth is the conservatives will fight the civil war forever …
According to all recorded accounts, Jesus was White.
I took a DNA test, and one of the results showed that I had someone in my family from Bengal. This was a surprise to me. With a little research,
I discovered men from Bengal came to the Ststes as merchants, selling their wares. Because of their brown skin, they lived among African Americanc and Puerto Ricans. Now I have to find a connection. Oh, I am an African American. One of the books I found was "Bengal in Harlem.
We have indian bengal and Bangladesh
Many Indians were also brought to the USA as slaves alongside the Africans, and eventually mixed into the African community. So many African Americans have indian DNA because of this
Look up who the first rasta was in Jamaica and who he saw keep dreads and smoke ganja... Even the word ganja is sanskrit
Wow read the book . I am Bengali, from Hooghly, let me know if you need any info.
Indians, including from Bengal, were also brought the US as slaves. It's totally ignored history.
When Tolkien was negotiating for a German translation of the Hobbit in the 1930s, the publisher wrote and asked him, "Are you sure you're of pure Aryan blood?" He wrote back, "Not at all, as far as I know I have no Hindu ancestry."
I've heard this before. Bravo Mr. Tolkien.
@@helenaconstantine people lose the meaning of words over time.
Stories of human tenacity!
Technically only Iranians, Kurds and Ossetians are Arian/Alan. It's a term used for themselves by speakers of Iranian languages. Speakers of the closely related branch including Sanskrit and it's nearest relatives and their descendents are not Aryan.
@@AutoReport1aryan is the word specifically used by Hindus in their literature to distinguish themselves. Why is it so hard for everyone to accept? Word cognates exist but this is silly trying to rob people of their heritage in such blatant ways
As a 70 year old white man that grew up in the south, I am sorry that this is history that I was totally unaware of . Keep up up these beautiful informative videos!
History's narrative has always been told by the people who rule over it!
Growing up under racism, it's disturbing how much they lie.
If the Internet wasn't invented, nightmares would have been happening from 9/11 until now.
I know. It's shocking that we never learned this stuff, isn't it? I'm 50 and only learned 5 years ago about the Asian immigration ban because of an exhibit in my local library.
The true story of history can only truly be known by doing your own research.
A 70 year old white man that grew up in the south would be very aware of this kind of history unless you lived a very privileged and sheltered life.
Sure but wasn't Bhagat Singh Thind a Sikh not a Hindu? You guys might've been confused when doing research because at the time Hindu was used as a term for South Asians in general, but Bhagat Singh wasn't actually a Hindu.
You yourself said the word Hindu denotes indians, sikhs were called hindus as they are also indians. Guru grant sahib ji talks about Hindu religion and Turkhi religion, here Hindu and turki both refers to ethnicity or race.
@@bharatyaswaraj5641 sure but it's confusing to use that in a modern context when people who don't have that kind of knowledge will assume it means Hindu the religion. To use your comment, it'd be like calling a Moroccan guy a Turk because it used to mean Muslim in a specific context, people who don't know the context will just think that guy's Turkish, not knowing he's a Muslim Moroccan.
@@dayalasingh5853 i think this video just quotes what that sikh person wrote/said.
He wasn't a 'Hindu'. He belonged to Sikh religion, Punjabi ethnicity.
@@breezeanonymous6034Hindu also meant people from India - which gets its name from the Indus River and valley (Sindhu, Hindu/Həndu etc). And all people from the subcontinent were also often referred to as Hindustani regardless of religion. It’s quite messy, but very interesting.
"I am white because I am high in the caste system in my country and am better than other low caste Indians" is such an insane thought process.
Sad that it's still seen today. Strange that there are a lot Indians supporting the Republicans though. Seems that they think they are like them good Ole boys
And unfortunately caste system and sub-caste system still present. Even to this day some parents from India with children born in western countries still try to impose/force caste system on their children, very sickening.
Google indo-European migration, dravidian politics and the north-south divide within the Indian subcontinent. You are missing a lot of context here. Sikhs aren't even a part of the traditionally Hindu caste system.
White doesn't have to mean caucasian, anglo-saxon or European descent. For many people it just means "top of the hierarchy".
@@hazardousjazzgasm129 Maybe on 4chan and your social groups.
I had no idea that citizenship could be revoked so easily. Truly frightening given the rhetoric of one of the major political parties these days.
1.5 Million + Americans were illegally deported to Mexico after WWI/during the great depression. They were Mexican Americans, but American citizens none the less.
me ne frego
Most Black Americans never filed for citizenship tho. So we don’t care if they revoke it. We can’t be deported
Well, things change. At the time even "liberals" would be shockingly racist to modern sensibilities. Its only socially acceptable to disparage and discriminate against transgendered people today the way pretty much any "other" group (non-WASP) was back then.
What rhetoric? What party?
In the old days, immigrants around the world came to the US and immediately learned about the terrible bigotry black Americans had to deal with. They soon realized that claiming and proving their whiteness was their hope to become Americans and hopefully be accepted.
They also engaged in anti-blackness as part of the process.
@@nwadi6408 Funnily enough the only reason they enjoy the same rights as other Americans is because of what black people fought for
@@ВадимВадимович-ь6т What the hell did you clowns fight for that made it possible for others to come here when y'all were still slaves? Non White immigrants were coming here for centuries. The people mentioned in the video arrived in the early 1900s. That had nothing to do with any damn black Americans.
Still the same
Yet they will never be white
So sad to hear about the man who lost all hope after having his citizenship revoked.
President Herbert Hoover forcibly removed from the country about 2 million people of Mexican ancestry. It turned out that about 1.2 million of them were birthright citizens of the US. (Hoover somehow blamed them for the Great Depression.)
I am concerned that an over-zealous second Trump administration will do something similar or worse.
It's either gonna be way better or way way worse
They were not being blamed for the Great Depression. Their labor wasn't needed due to the Great Depression. Money talks garbage walks.
I would not be concerned in your place. I would be certain.
@@kerwinbrown4180 You appear to be saying that
1. You support the unconstitutional deportation of US citizens and legal permanent residents
2. Legal permanent residents and birthright citizens of Mexican ancestry are "garbage"
You are wrong about Hoover blaming Mexican-Americans for the depression. Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for undeserved blame and negative treatment. Mexican-Americans were definitely scapegoated, and therefore blamed.
@@Singh.Randhawa You better be prepared for it to get way worse under a new trump administration that has been given king like powers by the Supreme Court. It’s already been stated by the GOP that they want to mass deport 20 million people and that’s just a start. The next phase is to do away with birthright citizenship. The third phase will be to retroactively deport non-white people associated to birthright citizenship born from illegal immigrants. The kicker is that none of this will be able to be challenged in court as long as trump calls it an official act.
Unless of course you were South Italian (which most Italian-Americas were), Greek, Arab, or Armenian, then you classified as black or negro. That is according to the Immigration Act of 1924. An Italian-American man, a Sicilian, was hauled into court in Mississippi (or Alabama?) in the late 1920s for marrying an African-American woman and violating the miscegenation laws. His lawyer argued that according to both Italian and U.S. law that his client was classified as a "negro" and therefore was not guilty. He won the case.
Correct I'm a descendant of two half Sardinian Great-grandparents and this was very common in the south. I'm from Mississippi and there were a lot of southern Italians who married into black families because they were considered "negro"during the time of Jim Crow.
Don’t tell Italians this.
Forgot to say you were brown skinned. Brown skin Ed because your ancestors came from North Africa....makes you part African. 👀
I mean there is a huge disparity between south and north Italy but southern Italians being considered "negros" in Italy seems like far stretch.
I've never heard of such a thing
@@artemys5197 in the USA Southern Italians were considered to be so. No clue about how the Italian north and south interacted with each other on their dislike for one another.
He wasn’t a hindu but a sikh. It’s like introducing a christian man as a muslim, or a muslim man as a jew.
Same difference.
@@lisabrightly Actually, Christianity and Islam are far more alike, they are both Abrahamic religions, as is Judaism. The Sikh religion is very different.
Sikh religion comes under dharmic and indic belief. So there is lot of similarities but calling him hindu was still silly@@avsystem3142
Those days everyone from India regardless of his/her faith was called a Hindu
Any religion born in India is the same family group called sanathana dharma… so you can call Hindu
This is absolutely fascinating. I think a big issue that people downplay (for obvious reasons) is how intentional "whiteness" was to the identity of the United States, up until relatively recently. There's historical context to this stuff, and I don't think we can move forward without understanding this.
Yes!
Some people are still trying to make “whiteness” the only identity of the United States.
In spite of British dominance over India, India is still Indian to this day.
Yet Whites are a minority globally and in their own nations.
yeah the context is genetics lol
@@myname604 yeah a sad irony honestly
He was a Sikh not Hindu 0:03
This should really be corrected in the video.
@@jinsarangi First ask USA news paper back then to fix it , fact is Sikhs identified themselfs as Hindus those times
@jinsarangi the video people know this. You know this. I know this. Wanna know who doesn't understand the difference? The supreme court of the early 20th century. That's who. They are the ones who kept getting Sikhs and Hindus mixed up. The video people merely reported it
There was no real difference between Sikhism and Hinduism until about a 100 years ago until British created the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee
@@shamanthjillaNo, you're not aware of the terminology of the past, like the original comment, except in addition to that you are spreading belittling misinformation.
"Hindu" as a term was used as term for the people from the subcontinent, derived from the Indus/Sindhu river that serves as a cultural border to the subcontinent. India is also, obviously now, derived from the same.
When India became a full fledged nation, "Indians" became the standard and the term "Hindu" fell out of fashion, increasingly so as on the other hand a national Hindu identity had emerged during the British Raj that did not exist prior (Hinduism was rather decentralized with a general continuity but not being one community).
People like you know nothing about your own religion and then have the audacity to make judgements on that of others.
I don't understand why this series doesn't mention that because of work of Black Americans the restrictions for immigration from Foreign Countries was lifted. It makes it look like it just happened because those in charge just decided to lift laws. Just sad....
That is so right, no one gives us
Credit for anything !
Like the Chinese working to destroy
Affirmative Action because they believed
It gave Black Americans an advantage.
So now they want it back !
That won't happen ! 😏
While I'm sorry this happened to anyone, and I understand why these people choose to use that legal argument. But the fact that the argument boils down to " we're better than the other brown people" makes me sick to my stomach and makes it hard to empathize. And the fact that some still make that argument today is just sad.
That is in my view a negative way to look at it. A more pragmatic view is that by doing that they stretched and questioned what white actually is, and therefor , over time, making the idea of race less sustainable.
Erecting your own walls in opposition to walls is not a good idea, usually.
ruclips.net/video/-eMLAFV4cx8/видео.htmlsi=LF94LeON0Emz5gWG
@ttaibe I've never had a question about what "white" actually is. It's a tool of oppression used to merge different groups into a ruling class based primarily on phenotype. It's not really a "race" or a "culture" it's just a tool for power. They could've just asked Black people if they needed to know that.
While erecting walls may not always be right. Not every wall is worth infiltrating. They did what they felt they had to, and I get that. But I don't have to respect the method. And the fact that it failed completely shows that they were never wanted inside those walls.
the alternative is to never become a citizen because of racist laws.
@@ttaibeexactly. Consider Plessy v Ferguson, where the Supreme Court ruled states could exclude people based on race. The plaintiff lost but the idea was to demonstrate that race was a social construct, in that Homer Plessy was 1/8 black and basically looked white (that’s how he got on the train in the first place - he just walked on) but was legally determined to be black.
It influenced public opinion on how race should be viewed.
Don’t forget to mention that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, particularly the developments in 1965, led to significant changes that benefited not only African Americans but also other minority groups, including Asian Americans. Here's an expanded view:
1. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act) was a crucial piece of legislation that particularly impacted Asian Americans. This act eliminated national-origin quotas, which had severely restricted immigration from Asia since the 1924 Immigration Act.
2. This change in immigration policy led to a significant increase in Asian immigration to the United States, dramatically changing the demographic makeup of Asian American communities.
3. The civil rights legislation of this era, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, provided legal protections against discrimination that benefited all minority groups, including Asian Americans.
4. The movement's emphasis on equality and anti-discrimination helped create a social and political climate that was more open to addressing the concerns of various minority groups, including those of Asian Americans.
Sad how many Asians come to this country and push the same narratives about blacks that was ironically enough used to keep them out ironically enough!
That is not entirely true. The Hart-Celler Act was influenced by the broader civil rights movement and the progressive changes happening in the United States during the 1960s, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but it was not a direct result of it. Both acts were part of a larger effort to address systemic inequalities and discriminatory practices.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 aimed to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in various aspects of public life, including employment, education, and public accommodations. This landmark legislation was part of a broader movement towards greater equality and justice in American society.
The Hart-Celler Act of 1965 similarly sought to eliminate discriminatory practices, but in the context of U.S. immigration policy. By abolishing the national origins quota system that had favored Western European immigrants, the Hart-Celler Act aimed to create a more equitable and non-discriminatory immigration system.
The civil rights movement helped to create a climate in which discriminatory policies were increasingly seen as unacceptable. This shift in public sentiment and political will contributed to the passage of the Hart-Celler Act. The desire for a fairer and more just society, as embodied in the Civil Rights Act, influenced the legislative environment that made the Hart-Celler Act possible.
@@tecumseh4095 Sounds like a distinction without a difference. 🤔
@@TommyStrategic Read it again!
@@tecumseh4095 I did, and my statement stands. The misperception was that the civil rights movement resulted in broadening immigration policy. Your correction was that there was a separate movement to broaden immigration policy, and that it finally broadened during a period marked by the influence of the civil rights movement. I appreciate the info (it was new to me) and the nuance, but it doesn’t substantially change the fact that civil rights activism led to more non-European immigration. In fact, I can think of a few reasons it probably only happened after the Civil Rights Act.
I laugh when people long for "the good old days" when we were violent, uncivilized, ignorant and brutally racist.
"MAGA"
What do you think WW2 soldiers died for?
@@101-q6t Yet the country is close to electing a fascist as POTUS.
As opposed to now when we are - still violent, uncivilized, and ignorant, but at least not brutally racist.
U just described black people
Something tells me that Vivek Ramaswamy and Usha Vance are unaware of these stories.
😂😂😂😂 c’mon bro. He only cares about money
And Nimrata Kaur Randhawa, aka Nikki Haley. She shares a Sikh background with Bhagat Singh Thind (and me).
People can be informed and horrid simultaneously
nope. they are just grifters and opportunists.
Didn’t this page of American history get covered at their schools? I would hope it was at least touched on at Yale. I know the basics were covered in the Civics class I was required to take in 9th grade and the history of immigration was part of high school American history. Sadly I don’t remember it being part of some of the more recent history curriculums that seem all the rage these days (if it’s in there I’d be gladly wrong!). This video does put a very human face on this aspect of our history.
Might be interesting to see what my grandfather's path was. Came over from Syria prior to ww1. At one point he had a doctor try to tell him to move to Nevada for health reasons, reasoning that Nevada was a desert "just like Syria", which is not the case. He didn't go there, he moved to Oregon because Nevada wasn't a state at the time and he was worried he wouldn't be let back into the US. I know he naturalized but I don't know when, but it would have had to be before the Ottoman empire fell because he had to swear to give up any allegiance to the Ottomans... which wasn't hard, since anti-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiment was on the rise as the ottoman's fell. Thats why he left.
As far as "whiteness" we've got a wide range. We run from passably white to passably black; some of us also swing wildy back and forth depending on how much sun we get. My dad would always wear long sleeves and a big hat, didn't know why until after he died and my mom told me; he was afraid of getting dark. I never actually met my grandfather, so I don't know much about him as a person and I've only seen one photograph of him.
So many are like this. They didn’t know that melanin would end up being worth more than GOLD, literally, on the stock exchange. So sad.❤️🩹
Just curious and no disrespect to your grandfather, did you grandfather ever use sunscreen instead of just hats and long-sleeved shirt during summer? It would be more comfortable dressing appropriately to top and weather plus is guaranteed to prevent you from getting darker and or sunburned.#JUST SAYING
i am embarrassed to admit i was never aware of this restriction to citizenship - also embarrassed this restriction ever existed
Nimrata Kaur Randhawa, aka Nikki Haley, needs to learn her history.
She's a Christian name now, she ain't no Sikh.
Across the Atlantic, Sunak, Patel, Braverman.
As a Punjabi Sikh, not sure we want to claim her though.
She does look racially ambiguous to the extent one old barber I met thought she's American Indian
@@Nonamefriendshe is part of your group. I'm not sure how it is in other parts but a lot of the Indian people I've met and grown up with on CA act like a clique and are very entitled.
I'm appalled. Not surprised, but appalled nonetheless. Thank you for talking about this.
You’re a good person for caring about this topic!
Ann Coulter and friends are still watching that gate. Meanwhile Nimratha, Vivek, Sunik, still dancing hard
So whiteness is something we came up with to create in groups and out groups. That's why the Irish and Italians at one point weren't white and when it became politically expedient for the largest in group they became white. I didn't learn any of this in school. I first learned of it in a Mel Brooks movie called blazing saddles. A RUclipsr named thought slime filled in the remaining gaps for me
Typos detected
❤😜❤
In 1491, the last remnants of Muslim control in the Iberian Peninsula were defeated and Catholic monarchies gained total control. When the Catholics had removed the Arab influence from the Iberian Peninsula, the existing Jewish and Muslim communities were given the option to convert to Catholicism or be expelled. Most chose to convert. However, soon there was doubt as to whether many of these converts were still practicing their previous religions in secret. This started the Inquisition. An inquisition was a trial to prevent ‘heresy’ by confirming that a convert had truly converted to Christianity and given up their previous religion a. Only the “Old Christians” who had the “Limpieza de sangre” -purity of blood, could hold most of the high public offices and not the newly converted “New Christians”. Catholic notions of superiority and purity of blood that was part of European culture and Inquisition, was the beginning of the Sistema de Casta or Caste System.
Only the “Old Christians” who had the “Limpieza de sangre” i.e. "purity of blood", could hold most of the high public offices and not the newly converted “New Christians” of Americas. Catholic notions of superiority and purity of blood that was part of European culture and Inquisition, was the beginning of the "Sistema de Casta" or "Caste System".
It was under these British and larger European colonial experiences of invasion and imposition of casta-system in the Americas; a full-fledged study of India was established, in order to rule India.
In a model based on the European invasion of the Americas, the Anglican and Catholic academic establishment developed the "Aryan Invasion Theory" that postulated that the pure white Aryans from Central Asia had come into India and mixed with the dark-skinned natives to create the various castes.
In 1901, the then commissioner of the British census in India, Sir Herbert Hope Risley, son of a rector, and firm believer in the “science” of race and superiority of the white Aryan Castes, conducted the first census of India and classified the thousands of Indians into castes. Caste was what the Europeans knew and experienced, and they promptly applied that framework onto India as well. The original Christian ideas and European experience like Limpieza de sangra, Casta and Biblicalviews (of tribes and languages) had by now been morphed into secular scientific truths of Race, Caste and Language to understand and classify India.
In old South Africa Japanese was given the position of "Honorary whites".
Today "Jews" are considered "White".
That is why today we have the "Global South". All those who are not considered "White".
Link to Slime's video plz.
SO WHITENESS AND GROUPING CAME COMES FROM EUROPEANS AND THE CLOSER TO THEM THE MORE YOU CAN NAVIGATE EASY ON THE GLOBE. IRISH & ITALIANS GOT LEG UP BEING CLASSIFIED WHITE. AND WE ALL KNOW THE GROUP IN USA WHO DONT WONT AND NEVER WILL GET THAT. No hate just truth
Yeah I'm shocked it isn't widely known that race is an arbitrary category of human made with express purpose of systemizing social groups based on appearance.
I remember when I got my first US visa that there was a form where you'd have to state your country of origin (obviously), then your nationality (for people with dual citizenship, maybe?) and then your ethnicity. Under ethnicity there were only a few options, and it told you to choose the one you most identified with, something like: Asian, Hindi, African American (not African, mind you), Latino, Native American and White. The catch is that only "White" specifically stated that you must be from North America or Europe between brackets.
Some conclusions that I drew from that form:
1) A white person suddenly stops being white when they are born outside the US and Europe.
2) Either there are no black people outside of America or every black person in the world is African American.
3) Elon Musk is apparently African American.
4) Australians, both native and of European descent, must be Asians.
5) Latinos are supposedly one single race, encompassing everyone south of the US, including "whites", blacks, natives, asian descendants etc. Whatever!
6) For the purposes of US immigration, people can actually claim to be whatever they want, as long as they don't claim to be white. That's too far.
I had an Indian friend growing up who claimed he was south African because he was born here but ethnically Indian. The thing that pissed me off though was he put down African for college applications
The most peculiar thing from that for me is that apparently
7) You can even identify as a language.
(Seeing as "Hindi" is an option for ethnicities that you cited in your comment). Might also just be a typo, though.
Im Hispanic with dark skin and I used to put “white” in those documents because I felt like that Lmao
Elon Musk is 100% African American, he is just not black.
German speaking bolivians of menonite communities are classified as latinos for the US immigration department.
It's horrible and not surprising...the USA has a history steeped in racism. This was new to me and I appreciate knowing it.
The WORLD has a history steeped in racism and tribalism.
All countries have system of racism. India has a caste system based on color and wealth. USA was settled by England-
The United States is the only nation whose founding document recognizes all people as created equal.
No one has ever tried what the US is trying in its experiement. Integrating people of different races and cultures. No nation is more diverse. Everyone was too racist to even try at the time. If the US is racist, then everyone else is worse.
@@morbidvisi0nsnope. Indian caste system has nothing to do with colour. It is the british version of the Hindu Varna system which was on the basis of job/profession. You will find both Brahmins and shudras whiter than Europeans and blacker than africans as well in India.
How different from Japan, Korea, China, etc?
I found pointless and a bit hypocritical asking not to be considered a second class citizen in the US by arguing you were considered first class citizen in your home country (high caste). I can understand that was the only viable strategy to earn the citizenship at the time and empathize with his struggle.
It’s great that the racial conditions were removed from the law so he can gain his citizenship 🙂 because “proving you’re actually white” seemed to me a dead end solution 😔
Thanks for the video. This appalling story must be known and never repeated
White people can’t admit a caste system exists
You clearly did not understand. His claim wasn’t that he was a first class citizen back home. The claim was that he belonged to a caste in India that directly descends from the Aryans, and because that caste is “higher up” it meant his ancestors never mixed with other people who weren’t from the same caste (aryans). He was thus proving to be fully aryan, which would allow him to become a citizen.
@agme8045 Unfortunately no one in India have this racial knowledge until Westerners inject this ideas through Hollywood recycled Bollywood & modelling trends where biological superiority looks became an attention,Indians Wether Hindus or Muslims are more concerned with their religious mythological rituals and holy book cum their chronicles of feudal status role,no.one talk about biological racial ancestry! Putting neo western secular centric definations into Indian minds and passing judgement is absurd.
Same goes in Asia no Chinese,Korean,Mongolian or Japanese call themselves as Yellow race. A Chinese can't b e a Korean,A non Japanese can't be one.Because it is the Korean Ness culture not because someone is Yellow or having similar slant eyes. Same goes in Afghanistan a Tajik can't be a Pashtun or vice versa. In Iran a Persian can't be a Kurd .But in the west many Irish and Scott became English, many German ancestry spoke English so does in S.America many N.Europeans became Latinos. America is the worst with racial defination! A Hispanic is define non white or coloured despite he was one of the old settler.But a Polish or a Scandinavian just arrived will be given more privilege since they are " White "
While you have a point but Anglos themselves created such a system in uk.anglo aristocrats & nobility who were beneficiary of feudal oppression were the founders of usa.why not criticise that?
George washington was a aristocrat who benefited out of feudalism and slavery.why not criticise that?why was he or other Anglo aristocrats considered citizen of usa despite his oppression?also you sound spaniard.spanish had their own castas system too.spaniards has castas,feudalism,slavery etc why were Spaniards given citizenship in usa?.even in modern era Spaniards have monarchy and aristocratic castas and feudalism.why don't you Spaniards talk about that?Latinos still practice anti red american racism .why don't you talk about that.
It's ironic that someone that considered himself superior to others, was upset people considered themselves superior to to him.
I don’t think he considered himself superior to others. He was using the existing laws to argue that he was white and therefore should be granted citizenship. If anything he continued to maintain his cultural identity by not cutting his hair and forgoing his turban. Sikhs do not typically follow the caste system.
Castism is very real man not so much in Sikhism but in Hinduism it's rampant, the upper castes do consider themselves superior.. it's a saying here in India, the upper caste will tolerate a dictator or colonial power over themselves as long as they have power over lower castes.. it's sad but true @@KimathiTheLeopard
@@dr.k1012 makes sense. It amazes me how humans always find ways to focus on our differences rather than similarities.
@@dr.k1012 he did specify "Sikhs do not typically follow the caste system."
@@LangRieper all tho sikhism denounces castism sikhs practice it. otherwise how would Thind know his caste?
I visited texas, they had three groups: whites, blacks, & mexicans. I asked what if someone were from china? He said, i suppose they'd be mexicans. I found it very confusing.
not so confusing to me ig. but ig it's hard for whites & blacks to understand it.
That's funny but has a grain of truth. I grew up in Texas in the 1950's. Texans hated "Mexcans" way more than Blacks. Black people didn't storm the Alamo and kill Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, et al. The Texas History textbooks were paper backs with lots of illustrations. Pictures of the battle of the Alamo and the later battle of San Jacinto depicted the Mexican army soldiers as little black face monkeys.
Nice. Mexican is a color now.
They are obsessed with categorizing in a basic way. If they insist, they should go by this: Mongoloid, Negroid, Caucasoid-Pale, Caucasoid-Dark, Polynesian. That way, it is easy to identify who to confer more privileges on.
Can't Fix Stupid
this is kinda timely coming out after what happened to the Sikh republican woman at the RNC.
She's J. D. Vance's wife.
@@rridderbusch518 no he is talking about Dhillon.. the sikh lady who recited a prayer.
@@tindrums Oh, I forgot about her.
What happened to her?
@@rajthapar online abuse by Christians upset at a Sikh prayer during Republican Party Convention.
Finally, a story that I can claim I knew before. Atleast the basics. Thoroughly fascinating.
Are you here first, too? Was TISS, not enough 😂
He was a Sikh not a Hindu. The way all "Asians" were lumped together, and then deprived them of citizenship, this video also lumped multiple religions and thus deprived him of his identity. I wonder why? And then I heard a 'debunking' reference to Aryan Invasion theory, and understand the Hindutva underpinnings here. How shameful for PBS to let this happen!
Exactly!
He wasn't a 'Hindu'. He belonged to Sikh religion, Punjabi ethnicity.
Hindu was used as a term to describe people of the race of the Indian subcontinent back then.
During that time at least one member of a hindu family practice Sikhism
@@vanshrana321 If that was the case, then there would be hundreds of millions of Sikhs.
You're describing a limited practice among some syncretic Punjabi Hindu Sikhs who would raise one son as a Gursikh, that doesn't have much to do with what Sikhi or the Gurus taught.
He was the"Indo" in Indo-European
there is no such thing as a indo european.
@NEILSINGH-mh3ub so the historical scientist and proof of Aryans in India are wrong.
@@amperlicious9897 I thought they went by bone structure and they fall in that group
@@truthteller313 aryans are indian not white and the word aryan derives from the word ARYA .that's a hindu indian sanskrit word it has nothing to do with white people you are mlecchas.
While his Paternal ancestry is almost certainly Caucasian, almost all Indians have Australoid Maternal ancestry, that distinguishes them.
This completely omits why he wanted to be white and not classified as “colored” which was another option. This fight was over being anything other than associated with Black people.
probably because the law at the time required African Ancestry or birth .... besides why should people have to lie about their origins?
No sympathy this upper castes are far worse than White's they just got a taste of their medicine.
@nanszoo3092 He lied about being white though....
Exaclty...its ok though
@lannak21 Not according to the established definitions at the time. This case redefined Whiteness.
as a person of african descent its hard to understand fighting so hard to be a part of a system that hates when you actually have a place and a people to go back to
Because hardworking people can succeed in America
@@KNemo1999 Nobody never said they can't. White people will not allow a Indian to claim they White in America, i don't care how hard you work or what delusions you tell each other.
This is a really interesting point of view and cool perspective.
I started reading about Zoroastrianism, which obviously led me down the path of Iran's history like, Cyrus The First, and the history that led to the sacred fire temple being re-located out of Iran and into India.
Now I am curious about India's history and have my eye out for legit books about their past.
Thank you for making this video. I used to wonder how knowledge was passed to future generations in situations like these? Now I know, it's from people who know how to make the most of every crisis.
😂😂🤣👍
Interesting. I have always known about the first case. As an African American we had to deal with a US racist Apartheid system along with racial violence by white supremacist. It is hard to have empathy for people who choose to immigrate to a white supremacist country like the US. I think you left out in your report that the country at that time was run by the KKK in many states across the US.
I was thinking the same, because we didn’t have a choice to come here, all of them did! And it took us 300 + years to be recognized as citizens, and we suffered death to become citizens. And after becoming citizens, the lynchings continued unabated until the late 1960’s.😢
@@marjorjorietillman856
Many Americans are not aware of half of the country's history, what with so many thinking it's a "Christian nation" founded by gawd, so why would those immigrating know more?
Perhaps the common and main reason is the wealthy rulers of the United States where then and still are full of $#it????
Reason why most people immigrate is for economic opportunities, but all the systemic racism, bigotry and antisemitism was purposely left out of the brochures.
There’s a Black American thread running through this story, from the fact that Black media was used to source the history to the fact that it actually resolved “when restrictions loosened” due to the Civil Rights movement. The theme of chasing whiteness as a means of inclusion is ironic, since citizenship was eventually won due to the human rights work of Black people.
Also, the whole idea of race and discriminatory practices based on race originated out the caste system from India which they still practice to this day. You’ll have to miss me with feeling sorry for Indians getting mistreated by a system based on their own discriminatory caste system.
@@kingtremaine6232 : BS
He wasn't a high class Hindu. He was a SIKH. These are two different religions
you have no idea about the origins of sikhism, he was not stupid to call himself HIndu, brain dead radicalized khalistanis speak this language, not true believers of Khalsa, remember its ek OMkar Satnam
Doesn't matter, his lawyer used that argument on his client demand and to back that he must have proof.
So yes he was high caste Sikh .
it is not the host calling him Hindu, but rather the lawyers and supreme court
@@sarahlee19879 Got it ! Thank you
SIKHI is not even a religion! It is, in the world of the founder, a PANTH. And a SIKH is just a Hindu with uncut hair.
Seems he would have had a better chance arguing that he had African ancestry, but was probably better to lose citizenship than to be considered black
Even today Kamala Harris finds it better to promote her "black ancestry" over her "Indian ancestry". She is a pragmatic politician who is aware of the ground realities of factual racism in the US.
Back then it was better to promote "white ancestry" to find acceptance in the same society.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
@@odomangulati7079 Kamala Harris finds it better to promote her "black ancestry" over her "Indian ancestry" How many people in the U.S. are of Indian descent? How many Indian-descended people vote Democratic? Strictly speaking, she's not even black. You're not really black, unless you were born in the United States. Her father is West Indian and her mother is East Indian. She's not a descendant of American slaves.
The idea that the current supreme court is disreputable would require a complete lack of knowledge of it's history. They can't be fair and ethical in an inherently unfair and unethical system/country.
lol..🎯🎯 the Frame of the society was built based on Discrimination, bigotry.. what U can expect !?.. Now, today that's a house of "the Trump" Cards.. if U want to Fix, u can't do that by pulling out a single card !.
The early migrants from India came primarily from Punjab province and they were predominantly Sikh men.
In Canada and USA those early migrants were all labeled Hindus regardless of the fact if they were actually Sikhs or Muslims.
To cope with this ruling many Punjabi men married Mexican women in California and started farming.
Tragic
I just wish everyone would try to understand that race does not exist, only ethnicity. We're all only one species of human, himo sapien. We just all have different ethnicities and culture but doesn't change that we're all basically genetically identical.
if we were identical we would look identical but we don't.
@@Jambudvipa-ug6ygso you believe someone who looks different from you to be genetically different from you?
> genetically identical
then what do dna businesses like 23andme do? 😂
everyone have different genes but genes doesn't define character of a person.
@@Jambudvipa-ug6yg compared to most life on earth, at the genetic level, we are almost clones. compare to our closest relatives, chimpanzees: the two most distantly related humans on earth today are still genetically more similar than your average two chimps in the same troop.
between any two humans, our DNA is 99.9% the same. all the variation you see is the result of that 0.1%.
@@Jambudvipa-ug6yg he's talking about how humans are by far one of the least genetically diverse species on the entire planet. "identical" is probably a stretch but we really don't have much genes that are dissimilar from one group to another
That man was not Hindu, he was Sikh.
There are more hindus with the surname Singh
Wikipedia agrees: "Thind's nationality was referred to as 'Hindoo' or 'Hindu' in all legal documents and in the news media despite being a practicing Sikh."
@@crobinso2010 There is no historical event that separates Hindus from Sikhs.
True. But back then, I think western goverments lumped all sikhs into hindu group. I am not sure as of now, but in India when Sikhs get married in front of Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the marriage certificate stills says "Indian Hindu Marriage Act" or something like that. Appology if I have this wrong.
This is american media .truth is never spoken in american media
I had an Indian person argue with me that they were white and I was like no you’re not, you’re INDIAN. You’re not European. I think what makes it insane to me is she thought she was better because she classified herself as “white”. Just mind blowing to me
The year right before this there was a case with a Japanese American who said basically “my ass is whiter than anyone on the Supreme Court, I am white” and they were like, yeah but not from Caucasian. And that’s where this case comes in saying I am literally from the caucus mountains. Lol
'Racial purity' 🤢
kinda like what they are doing in china ,middle east and africa. try flaunting your whiteness in those regions .
Caucasian is a race so what is White? The Supreme Court makes up things to fit the justices personal ideologies.
@Michael-kb1gq mid
@@frankjames7272Lmao what's that got to do with anything?? Why don't you move there if you love it so much
@@frankjames7272Of course people existing is what you'd call "flaunting"
he was a sikh not hindu
What an unbelievable story. They need to teach this in schools
Why how is it relevant lol
There's a lot of "American" history not taught in schools as well as attempted negative revisionism.
If the wealthy ruling elites and neocons have it there way, it would be America was a Christian land founded by a white Aryan conservative/libertarian Jesus and native Americans were actually the invaders.
Don't think such a thing I mentioned is absurd.
This is not to far off from how the founding of America and Jesus is depicted in Mormonism (a U.S. based Christian religion)
I recon the 'subversion or attempts of subversion of American history' needs to be taught alongside history as well.
@@luisfilipe2023 : it is relevant to show the World what exactly meaning of "Democracy, Secularism" !
@wonderworld7721 It uses social science to discriminate genetics,but for political correctness create critical racial theory
@@sivaratnamasabaratnam8946 : well, it's a tool or whatever, but stop dancing around, it is relevant for discussion !.
Excellent and interesting presentation. My grandfather immigrated from Punjab in the late 30’s, when it was still illegal for women from these countries to immigrate. At the time, many men left families behind to earn money until the laws changed- meanwhile settling in and eventually remarrying and starting new families with women of color (Black, Hispanic, or otherwise mixed) here in the states.
He wouldn’t be a Hindu, Singh thind is a Sikh name.
Sikhs are Hindus and Singh is also a Hindu name.
Yeah he's a sikh
For real he was a Singh. Stop saying high caste born Hindu. Thind is a ghot a Punjabi Sikh northern Ghot , fuckery gotta stop. Stop associating Hindus and Sikhs together there is nothing in the common ground for us other than we might be from the same part of India. Those that are from northern India and are Hindu themselves can attest to that as well. So you saying it’s a common name and it was taken by Sikhs in 1600 is false information. The term Singh was initiated by GURU Gobind SINGH JI. Do your homework because all the other guru jis before him did not have that Singh last name. So please stop the fuckery with that.
@@guppal3349 thank you, couldn’t have said it better
@@guppal3349may be you can do your own homework singh surname was used in north India before sikh adopted it eg Maharana Pratap Singh (a famous king you may have heared about him if you have even a small knowledge about history of India) was born much earlier that Guru gobind singh ji.
Thank you for this video. I had no idea about this part of our history. As a nation, must continue to educate ourselves and learn from our past mistakes.
He wasn't a 'Hindu'. He belonged to Sikh religion, Punjabi ethnicity.
He was NOT a Hindu, but a Sikh. But in spite of Guru Nanak's teaching, Sikhs do practice the malpractice of casteism as well, to various extent.
Arguing to be accepted as white in a racist country is sus. Thind knew being anything other than White in America came with socio-economic and political struggle. He should have argued for Asian and minority recognition rather than follow the Aryan argument.
#FACTS Technically if he were alive to day when he filled out an application, under the racial demographics ?, he would have to check mark Asian or Asian American because India is in Asia!
He came from high caste in India. He was used to the majority being beneath him and mistreated. Why would he fight for different in the US if all he cares about is his own comfort
This is the future MAGA wants. Along with the revocation of birthright citizenship. This means the children of immigrants status citizens will also come into question. Which will be awkward for Nikki Haley and the Hindu wife of J D Vance along with their children.
Bear in mind in this 21st Century we also have DNA tests. You can be sure MAGA will use it to their own evil end.
Why don’t democrats make citizenship inalienable? Just write it into the constitution or something
you forgot about Ajit Pai and Vivek Ramaswamy
Most "MAGA" do not want to go back that far, unless they are like some full on rural conservative who has 50 Jesus posters. Most usually look at the time when the working class could own a house and have a family and there there wasn't as much cancel culture. Usually the late 60s/70s is the prime era that most MAGA people want again, which is when many issues had started to be fixed.
I would actually say that the views of most middle-class MAGA is actually quite leftist as they want a better standard of living for workers. Trump is the only Republican whose favourite president was a Democrat.
As they should they aren't white
As a brown Indian, this made shed a tear. Our world was terrible back then. I hope it never goes back to such explicit discriminatory state again.
Brown Indian 😂😂😂😂
As a white Indian i read your comment
My husband is Malaysian and Egyptian, in the UK, he was not treated well….yet in America, they see him as “white”…. people are insane….
Really? Is he light-skinned with a more Eurocentric look just curious?
Why was he not treated well in the uk? That sounds bizarre.
In the UK, a mild tone person is Pakistani
Same person in america would be seen as white
@@creativesource3514
Why does it sound bizzare? Does racism not exist in the UK? The british couldnt possibly be racist could they?
@@MohammedKhan-gn1qv I'm dark brown and on my 50 yr life have never faced racial discrimination here. Not saying it doesn't happen but uncommon in 2024.
Please correct your mistake, Bhagat Singh Thind was a Sikh and not Hindu. His family still there in USA.
There was the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
Bhagat Singh Thind was SIKH, not Hindu. PBS won't tell you that.
Every Sikh' s ancestors were Hindu.
That doesn't change the fact that he was Indian
@@jeffinjoseph6801So lets call American Christians muslims instead. Doesnt matter, still American.
@@jeffinjoseph6801 That's fine but don't call him Hindu cause he's not that.
Earlier Hinduism and Sikhism were quite close actually.
My great grandpa's uncle identified Sikh. His Dad was Hindu
America keeps entering other countries illegally but hates it when somebody from the same country tries to enter theirs
Are you saying Americans are migrating en masse to other countries? Preposterous!
What's funny is this is one storey Hispanics in the Americans has tens of thousands of stores like this
The indigenous population in Canada and the USA were not considered citizens and could not vote until relatively recent times.
Stories!
"We hold these truths to be self-evident..." that was not honored by this sad story. God Bless "Mother India" for her courage and determination
Yes, fight the power, but also ew casteism.
Yeah, those old cases on race get really uncomfortable.
I’m reminded of the 3/5ths Compromise. The enslavers wanted enslaved people to count 1 to 1 for population metrics, so their states would have more power. Free states didn’t want enslaved people to count at all. The free states were definitely better, but the compromise was about power, not the humanity of the enslaved.
@@jessjmanns Maybe viewing things through an historical lens rather than an ahistorical one will help.
@@growingmelancholy8374 Loads of people thought (read: knew) casteism was wrong at the time too. Especially those at the bottom of the barrel as well as educated, "high caste" freedom fighters like Karsandas Mulji. It was 100% two wrongs don't make a right and it sucked then liked it sucks now.
@@jessjmanns since when is being white a liability now? lol get over your victimhood bs.
@@tc2334 that's wrong but higher castes can also face discrimination & injustice at the hands of whites. That's the point.
my dad, his 3 sisters, and father in the 1930 census are listed as Native American. All subsequent censuses listed all 5 people as white. My dad's appearance as the rest of the family are blonde haired and blue eyed. The reason for the designation was my granddad had a grand mother who was 100% Northwest Native American (well documented my state's records) and finally in the 1920's Native Americans were recognized as US citizens. the 1930's US census took great pains to list everyone remotely Native American because of it. It's funny the federal census to great pains that decade and then federally showing blood quantum was another story. Still all in all I'm very proud of that side of my family tree.
It went opposite, on the other side of the country. Why so many people think they could be Cherokee?
All of the other, smaller tribes (as well as mixed people who could pass, one way or the other), were re-labeled as "colored", in some states.
no that's a 5 dollar Indian
@@mariejane1567 That expression sometimes relates to the Dawes Roll back in the late 1800's, this relates to the regular US census in 1930 where no one gets paid but every US citizen is required to participate in.
It's very easy to say you are proud to have native American blood, because it is still looked upon as being exotic. However presenting as a "white" person in America gives you all the perks of having "White privilege". As a Black person- dark skin, who grew up at the ending of 'Jim Crow_ segregation' , I fully understand the racial issues in America. As a child attended a segregated school for " colored"_ not yet Black, but Negroes. Retired in California now, very diverse population, had a long chat last evening with neighbor from India= Sikhs😅. Hard for my children, grandchildren to realize I had to sit on the back of the bus, plus so many other things! 😮
@@bjwilliams my comments said my dad had blond hair and blue eyes I never said that I had blond hair and blue eyes. Yes I am proud of my indigenous heritage it roots me to my home state, have a good day.
So immigrants from India and China face similar hurdles today.
H1B lotteries and out of country renewal, Green Card quotas and casual racism. Guess we’re simply not white enough or black enough.
So, "upper caste" racist from India wanted to be declared 'white' and were treated with racism... Sounds more like a karma than an injustice
But was Sikh not Hindu
@@crimsoncrysolite5056 He still believed in caste, and when oppressed didn't believe in it but when in India he praised it. Double standards ass. The only thing that saved him and for which I think he should have been granted citizenship earlier is for serving in the army, and that should have been his focus.
And shows just how racist America was and still is. It's a country built on racism, can't wait for the fall.
@@greatwolf85 @jay23cr "You clearly did not understand. His claim wasn’t that he was a first class citizen back home. The claim was that he belonged to a caste in India that directly descends from the Aryans, and because that caste is “higher up” it meant his ancestors never mixed with other people who weren’t from the same caste (aryans). He was thus proving to be fully aryan, which would allow him to become a citizen." someone wrote this in the comment section i hope this helps
Are you intentionally describing a Sikh guy as "High caste Hindu"?
The name,the turban,the state of origin literally all indicate he is Sikh.
If you want to know if you're white or not, just ask a non-city-dwelling European descendant Trump voter. 😂😂😂😂
Says the person who voted for someone who claims if you don't vote for them, you're not black
😋🤣
As a Panjabi-American woman, I'm grateful the story of Bhagat Singh Thind is being told. However, I am disappointed PBS has misnomered Bhagat Singh as a Hindu, as he was clearly Sikh. Hindu may be used to generally refer to people of the subcontinent of south Asia in this case, as it still is in some parts of Europe today.
Back then Sikhs were Hindus.
It was only in 1920, after the British created the "SGPC" (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) to ensure sikhs remained loyal to the british and help them rule the "empire" the they Sikh became a "separate religion". The new Anglo-sikh religion of "Mac sikhs", who like the Anglo-Indians, are eager to abandon punjab and follow the white man to their homeland and continue to expect favorable terms and treatment in exchange of their loyalty.
I know it my horrify you to find a Hindu call you a fellow Hindu. But you might want to consider why Hindu god "Ram" is mentioned 2,533 times in Sikh holy book, "guru granth sahib". While wahe guru is mentioned only 17 times.
Hari, which refers to Bhagwan Vishnu in Hindu scriptures, has been used as the word for God 8,344 times in Shri Guru Granth Sahib. Similarly, Ram has been mentioned times, Prabhu 1,371 times, Gopal 491 times.
Ram, Hari, Gopal, Prabhu are ALL names of hindu god Vishnu. (Avatars)
@@odomangulati7079 dont u realise...she is from bikharistan.stop replying to such
@@truthteller2991 either bikharistan or khalistan.
In those days they referred to Indians as Hindoo/Hindu regardless of religion
@@odomangulati7079 Laughably impertinent discourse based on the assumption I'm Sikh. Assumption pitfall, I'm Muslim. The vast majority of ethnic Panjabis in the world are Muslim, so it's incredibly shortsighted and presumptuous on your part. East Panjabi Muslims exist. Further, I already mentioned in my comment above that I live in a country where the word Hindu is used in the native language to describe all South Asians, regardless of religious background or affiliation.
All of this history forgotten. It is heartbreaking as an American who knows no other lands but these.
I wish we learned about things like this in school!
You must live in Florida or Texas. In other states, some teachers are actually allowed to reach reality.
My mom was the attendance clerk in the 1980s at the middle school in Florida that my sister attended. She told me that a student had to be 100% to be considered white in school records. If they had anyone in their family tree that was not white, then the couldnt be considered as such for the records.
High caste Hindu? You started off wrong. He is Sikh Punjabi we are not high caste Hindu. Please search up Sikhism which is its own separate religon from Hinduism. We are not a mix of Hindu and Islam. We are a religion of its own and this man should be seen as a Sikh Indian man.
He is white clearly. Not sikh or hindu
@@mrbutishHe isn’t white. He was a smelly, hairy, dusky Dikh (oh sorry Sikh). 😅
He fights his case as "Hindu', why are all Sikhs so butthurt in the comments.
This video is really interesting given the movement around anti-caste discrimination in various States.
I see you in almost every channel I'm subscribed 😭
@@sarahcristina4656 Nice to see you here!
@@sarahcristina4656unfortunately it's a real problem. In the US and Canada, a lot of Indians are bringing their caste system and also hiring predominately only other Indians
@@rudysal1429 lmfao you people already have a caste system against black & brown people. Don't act like higher caste Indians are the only ones doing.
I want to make one correction to the video. Singh was a Sikh. He wasn't a "high caste Hindu"
hindu was used to describe all Indians at that point. the British also implemented hindu common law on Sikhs, jains, Buddhists etc.
@@AutriBanerjeeNo what he meant was the Western journalist when using " High Caste Hindu" is to pin point a fascist type branding! Beware of the sarcasm from Western journalist
I see he wanted to gain the same rights as citizens, especially in serving our country. One thing I don't understand; there are a lot of Indian people today who list themselves as white, and their skin is just as brown as mine. I see it a lot in my line of work. Very sad!
@pbsorigins Bhagat Singh Thind was a Sikh, not a Hindu. Not once in this video was there any mention of him being a Sikh-American (one of the earliest documented cases). In an age where Sikhs are commonly being misidentified as Hindu or Muslim - I am extremely disappointed in the mis-information provided here by an esteemed publication such as PBS. Do better - check your facts and the history books.
Wow, as an Indian, I didn't know about this! Then I am not in the US. I don't understand why anyone would even want to be a citizen of such a racist country. No country is perfect but if they don't want me because of my race, their loss.
Do you think India would be cool with having a white leader?
@@-----GOD----- as long as he or she was a Native Indian Citizen? Sure! There would be some detractors of course, but it is possible.
@@sureshmukhi2316 Wow. That sounds pretty racist. Over here in the most diverse country on the planet, we don't care what color our leaders are.
@@sureshmukhi2316yeh true especially congress rahul gandhi mother was italian it reason why mohmmad singh was as pm even though he do not want to be pm
Indians are any better to their countrymen?
My mom became an American citizen in 1964 in NOLA and on her papers there was mention of her medium tone complexion!
Bhagat Singh was a Sikh from Punjab, not a ‘High-Caste’ Hindu. One would expect PBS to do their homework and not perpetuate right-wing Hindu propaganda.
Sikhs in Punjab & all South Asia also literally have their own caste system as Hindus do,so as Muslims in all South Asia as well!! Even if she was wrong about the Hindu part, she's right about him being a shitty Casteist here.
@@soumyas5576 Muslims and Sikh’s do not have caste system though in South Asian culture they do have Tribe that they associate themselves to example Jatt, Arain, Memon etc this has no relation to hierarchy segregation that is associated with Hindu Caste other than being proud what Tribe you belong to as do N number of humans that associate themselves to Tribes around the Globe. There is hierarchy status association in some according to financial or power status example Mian in Arain is someone who might own a swat of land containing multiple villages people would start calling him Mian or Nai someone who’s family is associated with being barbers for generations or butcher families but it has no correlation with Hindu Verna Hierarchy Caste system neither is it prevalent in Muslim or Sikh societies.In Muslims culture all are equal color,height, status, caste, race doesn’t matter. And No most northern Indian that includes Afghan, Pakistan, Burma are not one race coming from Hindu system they are mix of Aryans,Mongoloids,Negroids, Sherpas, Sogdians, Persian, Greek, Mongolian, Arabs, Pashtuns, lost tribes of Israelites lol believe it or not but DNA 🧬 does show signs of people of that origin and many other breeds over the centuries inter married and became what is now Souffle.
@@soumyas5576 Also point to note Hindus think Sikh are a form of Hinduism that’s actually not true they do perform and accept a lot of Hindu rituals as there own that’s due later Guru’s and codified scripture started using terminology and references since most Punjab people were familiar with these spiritual concepts.Sikh Origin from the time of Guru Nanak Sahib is different from Guru Grant Sahib scriptures and the rites established by Guru Gobind Ji.
It's a quote from the supreme court.... do you lack brain cells?
@awesome8702 The “high-caste Hindu” terminology comes from the original 1923 case. She’s just quoting from the original.
as a 1st gen indian this was such an informative video!! thank you so much and keep up the good work!!
7:08 that is not exactly debunked. The aryan invasion is more accurately described as an aryan migration, and the Proto-Indo-Europeans probably didn't consider themselves one group, but they had very similar genes and shared one common original language.
Indian/Indian origin people's history around the world is ignored even by Indians themselves. Only few parts of Indian/Indian origin people's history is used by politicians around the world (even in India) for their own gains. Comment section shows how Indian/Indian origin people's history is ignored and people from various backgrounds try to overshadow Indian/Indian origin people's history with their own historical realities. This will improve if Indian economy becomes better. Money is everything at the end of the day.
He wasn't a 'Hindu'. He belonged to Sikh religion, Punjabi ethnicity.
I'm glad to see that he kept wearing his religious turban and didn't feel compelled to abandon his culture to become an American.
Yes. That was very brave. It’s brave even today.
10:48 Kala is a legend.
She sounds like an amazing woman.
He’s a Sikh NOT Hindu, most people that come out of Punjab are Sikhs not Hindu, also your a Indian so it baffles me why you called him Hindu when you know the difference, I don’t want to assume anything but fix this in your video
@@Khanshah_here true i agree but she should have cleared that up in the video, the racism was rampant in those days, they lumped everyone together as Hindus, but most immigrants that came to the united state were Sikhs from Punjab, I have nothing against Hindus all I’m saying this is because the Hindu but Indian government defines Sikhs as just another caste of Hindus not a different religion, Sikhs are different religion she called him a high caste Hindu in the video and she being an Indian should have cleared that up so people don’t get confused in further.
Another fun fact the first Asian congressman was a Sikh also but he to faced racism but still was elected I believe 2-3 terms by the people of his state until he retired and began to farm his land. Because farming is in the DNA of Punjabi Jatt Sikhs
I wasn’t aware why my father who fled Korea during Japanese occupation and came to the US in about 1917 never became an American citizen until after passage of the McCarran-Walter Act. I remember I was about 11 years old when I saw his naturalization certificate.
When my neighborhood was seeking an HPOZ I researched the restrictive covenants of our neighborhood. These weren’t ruled unconstitutional until the early 1960’s. I also reviewed the history of changes of the naturalization restrictions. Thank you for presenting this…..it is history that we should know.
He was a Sikh not Hindu ... Pls Know the difference.. & correct your mistake
What difference? A Sikh is a Hindu with uncut hair and a turban!
@@avirdee5421 what an ignorant person u are ... U are clearly not a Sikh .. I am, so don't try to justify
Asian Americans, especially Indians, are still struggling to become naturalized, Americans are still punishing legal immigrants.
Racial quotas were replaced by national quotas, which still carry bias against Indians. Bhagat Singh set the trend and gave hope to next generations of Indian Americans
@0:00: The opening question of the video seems odd. The person in question was Sikh, not Hindu.
The quotation marks suggest it was a quotation, but no citation is given. (The narrator merely states that it was a question posed to the U.S. Supreme Court.) In the future, please cite quotations.
His father is from a Indo-European line that came out of Sumeria (around 2600 BC). The Lower Egyptians pushed them towards Indus Valley as they took control of the region. Then Overpopulated it creating Arabs and Jews. Most peoples from this region in India belong to a Chromosome group of Yamnaya / Russian descent. So yes. He's technically part EASTERN European. Afghanistan is a common source for this type of "white". Do you consider Afghanis white?
Assimilate is a western concept
Those Afghans are proud of their tribe like Pashtun,Tajik,Uzbek whether white,tanned olive,yellow,rosy,swarthy they are not bothered apart of Islam they have strong Chivalrous culture! They don't idolise the West rather look down them as " Ferangi " or Frank Barbarians
We are Pashtun, we don't care about skin color. Whether they're on this side of the border or in Afghanistan. The Tajiks, the Uzbeks and the Hazaras are all our brothers.
@@moin7427
Thats wonderful to hear. You folks can take your migrants back then.
It's scary to think but the way this country's going we may be back to 1920 era immigration laws.
Absolutely ridiculous!
This helps me understand my great-grandmother better. My grandmother and her siblings were only allowed to speak perfect English, to dress like Americans, eat like Americans, do American things. And they were white, but the fear was always there, especially because they came from a country that ended up being deeply affected by WWI and WWII.
First off he was not a high cast Hindu. He was a Sikh following Sikhi started Guru Nanak Dev Ji
Show me just one Sikh following Guru Nanak jee. 😂😂😂😂 You call Sikhi stealing knowledge from others 😂😂😂😂
"He argued he was white"
Based, lol.
😂😂
"Whiter than you Muhammed"
- That Sikh guy probably
/pol/ irl
this is very relatable and clears up something I had questioned about my paternal grandparents from Barbados, one of whom, my grandfather, was an ancestral African, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1915-16. I guess it also helped my grandmother, who was not African; she was mixed race, a native Bajan whose father was a white man from Great Britain. Apparently they were let in as both of the two protected races.
Not Hindu Miss, he was a Sikh, Hindu and sikhs follow totally different faiths....Please correct
Totally agree 👍 I think it’s very silly of her to summarise
He wasn't a 'Hindu'. He belonged to Sikh religion, Punjabi ethnicity.
They are essentially the same. Sikhs are just negatively influenced by Abrahamics to hate themselves and their roots. Sikhs were from Hindu gurus who were all same sub group and they just made a resistance movement and religion trying to Coopt Abrahamic influences as a shield but at the cost of they are now confused and self hating of theie own Dharmic people's and are manipulated by others to be against their own brothers. Hindus see Sikhs as brothers Sikhs are unfortunately so cult minded they don't live their own Hindu family...... It's a real shame. Learn to love Dharma and the followers of Dharma instead of trying to kiss butt to the Abrahamic supremacists.. Here are the commonalities between Hinduism and Sikhism:
1. **Belief in Karma and Rebirth**: Both religions believe in the concepts of karma (the law of cause and effect) and samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth).
2. **Moksha/Mukti**: The ultimate goal in both religions is to attain liberation from the cycle of rebirth. In Hinduism, this is called moksha, while in Sikhism, it is referred to as mukti.
3. **Dharma**: Both emphasize living a righteous life according to dharma, which involves ethical and moral duties.
4. **Meditation and Prayer**: Both religions practice meditation and prayer as a means to connect with the divine and achieve spiritual growth.
5. **Vegetarianism**: There is a tendency towards vegetarianism in both religions, although it is more strictly observed in some sects than others.
6. **Festivals**: Some festivals are celebrated by both Hindus and Sikhs, such as Diwali, although the reasons and ways of celebration may differ.
7. **Respect for All Life**: Both religions emphasize compassion and non-violence towards all living beings.
8. **Community Service**: Seva, or selfless service, is a significant aspect of both religions, encouraging followers to help others without expecting anything in return.
Additionally, here are the commonalities shared by Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism:
1. **Belief in Karma and Rebirth**: All four religions believe in the concepts of karma (the law of cause and effect) and samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth).
2. **Meditation**: Meditation is a significant practice in all four religions, used as a means to achieve spiritual growth and connect with the divine.
3. **Compassion and Non-Violence**: Emphasis on compassion and non-violence towards all living beings is a common thread.
4. **Vegetarianism**: There is a tendency towards vegetarianism in all four religions, although it is more strictly observed in Jainism.
5. **Community Service**: The idea of selfless service (seva) is important in Sikhism and Jainism, encouraging followers to help others without expecting anything in return.
Same brown religion lol
Ah we finally see what the conservatives want to conserve. Which era they want to bring the us back to.
According to DEI policy at my college, Asians are White. Asians (from Japan to Yemen) do not have a lived experience of racism. Asians are on the same grading system as Whites. This is hardly a “conservative” policy. The five year DEI plan was ordered by the regional accrediting body.
@@npgibson69so ur college is racist like the backwards people in this video. Seems like you don't want to fix the problems with DEI to prop up Asians aswell, but actually take away the policies from other groups of POC
This reminds me of the time I learnt more about races in med school and how caucasians are everyone from Europe across Persia all the way to Bengal… really changed how I viewed races… it’s not about colour but common ancestor… heck if we go back enough… the concept of race simply doesn’t exist.