Deepa Iyer is the author of the new book We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, and was executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Q: Why did you decide to write this book?
A: I decided to write the book for a couple of reasons—one,
that I had been working in the environment of post-9/11 America for a decade
and a half, working with organizations and people affected by the backlash
after 9/11.
Many Americans have an incomplete understanding of the
politics and the environment after 9/11…[I provide the information in the book]
so more people can have a fully fledged understanding of the dire consequences.
Q: Your title refers to the Langston Hughes poem “I, Too”.
Why did you choose this title, and what does it signify for you?
A: It’s such an evocative poem for so many people,
especially people of color. When Langston Hughes wrote it, it referred to black
people who were marginalized in our country.
For the people I’m writing about, there has also been a
sense of feeling “other” and marginalized. At the same time, there’s a feeling
of being connected to what our sense of America is…
The Langston Hughes poem is very uplifting at the end, that
black people [are] part of the reshaping of America.
Q: You write that “after 9/11, the state became both a
champion for defending the civil rights of South Asians, Arabs, and Muslims and
the enforcer of harmful policies that led to the surveillance and detentions of
thousands of immigrants from these communities.” How do you see that dual situation
having come to pass, and what do you see as its impact?
A: I don’t know that this is necessarily unique to the
communities I write about…but definitely after 9/11, we saw components of the
federal government wanting outreach to our communities: If your children are
being bullied, if you’re a victim of hate violence…Oftentimes the same federal
agencies [engaged in] surveillance of our communities.
When you have that dichotomy, it does not do much to build
trust. When do we trust the state, and when do we not? People are often anxious
and reluctant to report even civil rights violations—they might be caught up in
a web of monitoring.
Secondly, if you don’t know whether you can trust the
government, it’s difficult to build a partnership to fight terrorism. There’s a
tremendous amount of distrust.
Q: Do you see a way to repair this distrust?
A: One way is to stop surveilling our communities,
monitoring and targeting us, detaining and deporting us. When the state plays a
heavy-handed [role] without probable cause, without making a case for why…Thousands
of people were deported after 9/11…
When they stop and we actually have a government focused on
valuing and protecting the lives of all people [that would help,] but that does
not seem to be the way we’re headed in.
Q: You note in the book that the groups you write about
constitute a diverse set of populations. Do you see these groups coming
together more in future?
A: I do. At least within the Muslim/Arab/South Asian
communities, we have definitely come together, particularly since 9/11--we feel
under attack. There is coalition-building in our communities.
That is the hope—when we hear political rhetoric that’s
divisive and xenophobic, I try to focus on the strength of our communities.
We’ve built organizations we didn’t have before 9/11. We’re also able to
disrupt many misleading media narratives. We have sharp media spokespeople.
The plan is to continue to build our political process,
and…to ally with other communities of color.
Q: You’ve mentioned the current political rhetoric around
these issues. What do you see looking ahead given the current situation?
A: One thing that’s important to note is this didn’t happen
overnight. When I traveled on a book tour in November and December, at the
height of the Muslim xenophobia, people would say, I’m so shocked at the level
of rhetoric we’re hearing.
But this has been a 15-year cycle. This has been building
since 9/11. The difference is that it’s mainstreamed because it’s part of the
election cycle. It’s going to continue to ramp up; I don’t see xenophobia and
Islamophobia being tamped down…
What all of us have to do who find that harmful is step up
and speak up. Demand that elected officials not engage in this political
rhetoric.
When people are running for office and talk about their
policies—Mr. Trump [talking about how] Muslims should be banned, or hold
special identification—all of us need to be asking analytical questions to
assess why these policies are even talked about.
Third, to demand that candidates are accountable to us. I
think we can disrupt and reshape the political cycle, but it will take a lot of
people…
Q: Are you planning to write another book?
A: No, I’m at heart an activist. I enjoy writing, but more,
connecting with people of all backgrounds on how we can shape our
neighborhoods, our schools…that’s what really excites me.
I don’t know if I’ll ever write another book, but I’m
writing shorter articles. Now, I’m focused on how we build power, especially
among communities of color and progressive white allies.
As the demographics are changing, there are opportunities to
use the numbers to our advantage—we have to build together in more effective
ways.
Q: Is there anything else we should know about the book?
A: I am on a book tour, holding community conversations
around the country. If people are interested, they could check out my website,
or Facebook page, or Twitter. I’ll be in California, Texas, Nashville, and a
few other places over the next month, and I want to connect!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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