I Guess Satire is More Difficult Than Joel Stein Expected

Joel Stein of Time Magazine recently wrote an essay on immigration entitled 'My Own Private India'. In the essay, Stein relates how his hometown of Edison, New Jersey (which for those who don't know is a town in North Jersey that is now synonymous with Indians) has been transformed in recent years, mainly with the influx of Indians who have slowly transformed the area into almost a micro-India. Now that is of course both good and bad. It's good since many Indian immigrants have found a way to have a little piece of home while living in a foreign land. It's bad because sometimes we Indians don't bring the best of our heritage to our newly adopted countries.

I must clarify that I'm born and raised in America. I have lived my life in DC and I have actually been to Edison on numerous occasions so I can relate to some of what Stein references in his essay when he talks about how Edison has transformed into a bustling version of an Indian city in America. What has raised the ire of many readers (myself included) is the fact that Stein apparently attempted to state his observations in a satirical manner and instead, he successfully managed to instead insult the vast majority of Indians who read his article. He subsequently issued an apology and insisted that his article wasn't meant to insult but rather to raise awareness of his readers to the fact that immigration managed to change his hometown. To that I would simply say, "Welcome to America."

America has been and always shall be a nation of immigrants. No people on this continent, save for the native peoples of this land (and by that I mean the varied tribes of Native Americans) no one can ever claim to be a true 'American'. We are all immigrants; whether that be our parents or several generations before even them, everyone living in what we collectively know as America is an immigrant at some point or another in their family's history. That being said, there is no excuse for anyone (including Joel Stein) to view another group of immigrants with the degree of disdain and spite that he showed. As an American of Indian descent, certainly there are times when even I feel that Indian enclaves in our country (like Edison) sometimes don't represent all the best aspects of a particular culture but then again, which enclaves ever do?

I can tell you that almost every single neighborhood in America that has been around for more than a decade undergoes change; it's just the nature of America's continued development. The neighborhood I grew up in certainly has changed from when I lived there but that doesn't mean that I view it like the plague as Stein appears to do with the changes to Edison. If, as Stein seems to imply, after leaving Edison for Manhattan, he returned many years later to find his childhood haunts to have been taken over by Indians then he is as much to blame as any immigrants. If he had that much regard for the area of his youth, he would have continually returned or at least made an effort to remain a part of it rather than returning later and viewing it as a haven for people who aren't just like him.

What is most galling to me in his analysis about Edison is the fact that he seems to ply stereotype upon stereotype and seems to view the fact that Indians have moved into the area as a sign that it is declining or that they are attempting to turn Edison (and eventually all of New Jersey) into India. I suppose by his assumption then that Chinatowns and Little Italy's all over the United States are evidence of those ethnicities taking over as well. Whatever was the point that Stein wanted to make or was attempting to make in a humorous manner ended up stinking of racism and ignorance more than anything. Stein attempted to apologize for his essay but his apology came off even more half-assed than his attempt at humor. It's a shame that a magazine as prestigious as Time would choose to run this essay as a companion piece to editorials on immigration reform.