I read a sentence in an article that stated,

“As John Y. Fenton (1988, 232) postulates, Asian Indian Christians lose touch with their ethnic culture more quickly than do those of other traditions because culture is deemphasized” (Park, 2001).

I first questioned if this statement was an over-generalization of “Asian Indians” Christians, or “East Indian” Christians as they are termed in Canada. Can Asian Indian/ East Indian Christians all follow the same assimilation pattern? And if so, is it really because they place less emphasis on their culture?

This was definitely the case in my situation. My parents are firm believers that when you come to the U.S. or Canada you should try to fit in. We attend a multiethnic/multicultural church, we’ve moved away from a predominately Indian diet to a mixture of quick and easy foods that fill you up and last a while in the fridge, and we converse in English. My parents definitely have held onto some Indian things and have had to let go of many due to the assimilation that my sister and I underwent. For the most part, it was a losing battle for them. The church we attend wasn’t always multicultural – it used to be predominantly white and over time became more mixed. Another case of white flux (I think that’s what the term is). Anyway, in comparison to other Indians I have definitely noticed that my family is more accommodating of Canadian (read: white culture) practices than some other groups. But I wonder – is this because we’re Christian in a post-Christian society?

When I look at my cousins’ families, I can see how they have held onto certain Indian-Christian elements while also accommodating to Western-Christian and Canadian/American elements as well. But it’s interesting to see the mentality that these parents have in comparison to my non-Christian Indian friends’ parents. I guess the interpretation of religious doctrine and the historical ancestral context would influence the way one assimilates into North America. But I still wonder, why don’t we value our culture more?

REFERENCES
Park, Soyoung. “The Intersection of Religion, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Identity Formation of Korean American Evangelical Women.” Korean Americans and Their Religions. Ed. Ho-Youn Kwon et. al. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001. 201.