Hybrid sensibilities: highly skilled Asian Indians negotiating identity in private and public spaces of Washington, DC

Abstract

This paper analyzes the expression of identities of first-generation (FG) immigrants from India in private and public spaces. Focusing on high-skill upwardly mobile professionals living in the Washington metropolitan area, the study found that despite “Indian” being a primary descriptor, these FG immigrants had developed hybrid identities that included Indian and American elements, considered themselves Westernized cosmopolitans prior to their arrival in the USA, and acculturated selectively in private and public spaces. Relatively privileged due to their socioeconomic class and anticipating little prejudice, these immigrants expected to navigate life in the receiving country with dexterity and ease by selectively expressing various aspects of their hybrid identities in different locales. Although not subjected to overt racism, they were surprised and distraught when confronted with slights that spoke of their separation from mainstream America in public and semi-public spaces, particularly when the marginalizing events occurred in spaces where they believed they belonged.

Keywords:

• Asian Indian
• immigrants
• identity
• USA
• Washington, DC

Notes

1. Unlike the earliest groups of Indians who entered the US workforce as low-skill workers, most of those who arrived in the latter part of the twentieth century, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, were professionals or initially came to the USA for graduate study. The occupations in which they are most often found are information technology, academia, and health care.