Indian American Immigrants in the Golden Age Essay

Arthur W. Helweg is known as a Cultural Anthropologist and a Professor of Anthropology at the Western Michigan University, who studied the lives and stories of many Asian Indian Immigrants in different countries around the world which includes Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India and the United States of America (Arthur W. Helweg). Through his love and passion for the people with Asian Indian origin, he worked with different publications and has already written various books that feature the tale of many Asian Indian Immigrants around the world. He also co-authored the book entitled â€Å"Immigrant Success Story: East Indians in America,† which has been awarded with the Theodore Saloutos Book Award given by the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, as the best book on immigration history category in the year 1990. More so, he has also done co-editorial task wherein he has been chosen to be a part of the editorial team for the book series entitled â€Å"Discovering the People of Michigan. â€Å" The book entitled â€Å"Strangers in Not-So-Strange Land: Indian American Immigrants in the Golden Age† is regarded as one of the most brilliant works of Arthur William Helweg in his chosen field of interest in studying the narrative of many Asian Indian people around the globe who seek for better life and fortune outside the premises of their motherland. This book is also characterized as one of the apparent proofs that signify the dedication and excellence of Arthur Helweg, as a Cultural Anthropologist and an enthusiast of the Asian Indian struggles as immigrants in different countries abroad, more especially in the United States. Currently, there are now thousands of Asian Indians who are living in the United States. Synopsis of the Book In a sense, this book of Arthur Helweg presents his own account of case study regarding the narrative and struggle of many Asian Indians in the United States. For more than three decades, the story of these people has never been in the mainstream and almost regarded as nonexistent ever since they arrived in the U. S. However, this profound community of Asian Indian is regarded to be a group of immigrants with the highest educated members and known as the highest earning average family of any ethnic group in North America. Thus, theses Asian Indians are noted as valuable members and representatives of the latest type of immigrants arriving in the United States. In a sense, the author, Arthur Helweg, has focused more about the theme of immigration of these people in the United States. This book highlights the truth and facts about the narrative of Asian Indian immigration and how these highly educated and professionally trained immigrants vary and deal with different challenges and difficulties associated to the traditional concepts of migration in the United States. Thus, this book tells about the real stories of these people regarding their journey to the land of America and how they adjusted to the new set of laws in the United States, as immigrants and foreign people. This also highlights the case study of the author about the adjustments involved in creating a new line of respect between the Asian Indians and the Native American people. Furthermore, this reading also renders a clear overview about the historical narrative of the Asian Indian in the United States and how the Indian Diaspora becomes a global tribe, which has been all over the world. This also explains the origin of these people and how their homeland is being recognized, as these people continuous to create good recognition across their names internationally. With the fact that these people is now recognized as one of the well acknowledged group of immigrants in the United States, this book also highlights the real happenings as to how the ethnicity of the Asian Indian survived in a relatively new world and volatile nature of the United States. More so, this also depicts the apparent pictures with regard to the efforts and hard work of these people in laying the foundation of their ethnicity in the United States. The Critique From a personal point of view, it is of reasonable grounds to say that Arthur Helweg, as a cultural anthropologist, professor and author is indeed a master and specialist of what he does best, which is that of studying the narrative of Asian Indian immigrants in different areas around the globe, more especially in the United States, as evident in the excellence of this book. More so, this book is observable to be cohesive and reliable in presenting valuable and factual accounts of the Asian Indian ethnicity and their journey towards instituting their equal position in the American society. Starting from the fundamentals and discussing the significance of the main story, the writing style of Arthur Helweg for this book is indeed informative and at the same time profoundly entertaining, as he also incorporates most of his distinct humor in presenting and discussing some of the light aspects of the book. Though writing a case study type of book is a bit tricky and complicated to do, the author, Arthur Helweg, has done a good job in presenting a well researched and comprehensive readings with regard to the life and struggle of these people, as valuable refugees in foreign countries like the United States. The way Arthur Helweg highlights and reveals both of the minor and major issues that these people are experiencing in the United States, as immigrants, is really one of main factors of that has made this book cohesive and well informative, not only for the member of Asian Indian community in U. S. but also for the people who wants to know more about the narrative of these ethnic people. Relation to Class Material As for this book, the topic about ethnicity and race of the Asian Indian in the United States is what I really understand the most. As a part of the class discussion, I learned that though people from other countries with specific ethnicity or cultural background prefers to live and start a new in a foreign outside of their original home turf, they can still be classified as an individual according to their culture, as seen evident through their beliefs, actions and language. Thus, as for the case of Asian Indian, depicted in the book of Arthur Helweg, it has become more understandable that these people, though they traveled so far and miles away from their homeland, still remain as a recognizable ethnic society in the U. S. because of their cultural background and racial origin, which can never be easily altered though they are already living in a relatively strange world. More so, through the materials we have discussed in class, it made me understand better that racial inequality in diverse countries like the United States is one of the most significant and common issues as well as dangers that typical ethnic immigrants like the Asian Indian in the United States are facing as a group of people living a strange world. Lastly, it is of my well established knowledge that migration of different of ethnic group in particular country helps alter the cultural background and/or orientation by the people involved in the process. In the end, this book of Arthur Helweg, has helped me better understand the issues and facts as to how migration of different ethnic groups of people around the world is changing the world cultures and influencing the formation of various policies both local and international. More so, through this book, I learned that in the end, race and/cultural differences should not be the main basis from which one would draw the importance and superiority of ethnicity. Instead, people should value the worth of one another according to their abilities and help for the betterment of a given country, regardless of race or cultural background. Works Cited Arthur W. Helweg. 15 may 2009 Helweg, Arthur. Strangers in a not-so-strange land: Indian American immigrants in the global age. California: Wadsworth, 2004. Miller, Barbara. Cultural Anthropology in a Globalizing World. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2007. Profile of Asian Indians in the U. S. A. spindlepub. com. 15 May 2005