Yves Desharnais
Anil DashOn this day in 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court *unanimously* decided that people of South Asian descent could not be American citizens, and retroactively stripped citizenship from many who had already been naturalized. Years of organized persecution followed. https://www.saada.org/explore/publications/tides/articles/united-states-of-america-vs-vaishno-das-bagai
Taran Rampersad@anildash yeah. The US census history is an amazingly silly bunch of stuff.
Duckbilled Plattypus.@knowprose @Katiemorag @anildash
Both Thind and Ogawa used racism and racist tropes to prove their whiteness. Sigh. Hit the wall of racism. No, we're not special, we're not exceptional, we're not white, when it comes to racist America. South Asians, East Asians, Asians of all stripes will face the racist belief that we are "unfit" to be citizens, no matter what. Unless and until we see ourselves aligned against racism directed at African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans none of us will ever be equal.
@pattykimura @Katiemorag @anildash not sure if that 'we'.
I exist outside of those categories.
But I understand the point.
Of course, the Iranians made a better case.
But there everyone is, competing for an imagined status by a metric born of slavery .
@pattykimura @Katiemorag @anildash seems to me you came in to be the reply guy.
Duck billed platypus have no standing in the US Census last I checked.
Your move, anonymous.
@pattykimura @Katiemorag @anildash and I see you are on beigeparty, which seems to host some unpleasant people who are quick to insult others.
I'm sure there are good people there. We have some on social.
Thank you for telling me who you are by your manner. 🙃
@pattykimura @knowprose @Katiemorag certainly anti-Blackness was a poisonous and immoral path for them to choose in their pursuit of citizenship; only solidarity can lead to freedom. I did a talk with this as a central pillar a decade ago: https://youtu.be/y1SrFctEYY4
I Am #Transformed: Anil Dash celebrates Prince — June 7, 2016
ahimsa@anildash Such a sad day in history. I first learned about this from a PBS documentary years ago.
Thanks for sharing this link so I could learn more about this story, including what happened to Kala Bagai and her family.
Edited to add an interesting link I found after I did a bit more searching.
Berkeley is Set to Name a Street After Kala Bagai a Century After it Drove Her Out. This is her Story - American Kahani
My name is Rani Bagai, and I am the granddaughter of the late Kala Bagai. My grandmother tried to make Berkeley her home a century ago, only to be driven out of the city because of her race. But if all goes well, Berkeley’s City Council might be welcoming her back by naming a two-block…
draNgNon
Pieter Kuiper 🌍🇳🇱
VHG 🇪🇺🇺🇦
Ramesh #NotGoingBack⬆️ Institutional #racism in #US is not limited to #black people.
'That #SouthAsian Americans were able to successfully naturalize was an anomaly. Other #Asian immigrants had already been barred from naturalized #citizenship on the grounds that they were not #white as required by the nation’s naturalization laws dating back to 1790. It would not be until the #SupremeCourt ruled in the #Thind decision, on February 19, 1923, that South Asians were not considered "white”'
⬆️ >> Institutional #racism in #US is not limited to #black people. …
>> It would not be until the #SupremeCourt ruled in the #Thind decision, on February 19, 1923, that #SouthAsians were [also] not considered "white”
Many #latinos still identify themselves as #white.
Many of them who voted for #Trump in 2024 now seem to have buyers' remorse.
@anildash A fascinating and complex story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Bhagat_Singh_Thind
Before this decision, they also ruled against Takao Ozawa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozawa_v._United_States
In both cases, the court relied on the Naturalization Act of 1906, which restricted citizenship to "free white persons" and "persons of African descent".
In 1946, the Luce-Cellar act was signed into law. It permitted South Asian citizenship, but limited immigration to 100 persons per year.
Thanks for this. Another thing my school never taught
Elias Mårtenson@anildash 'that's when america was great' /most maga guys, very likely