A review by szymborskasyeti
The Karma of Brown Folk by Vijay Prashad

4.0

A one of a kind book in terms of content––I don't think I've read another book that analyzes the South Asian role with so much thought and careful research. Until I read this book, I had no idea about the earliest waves of Indian and other South Asian immigration, as well as the history of Asian-black solidarity (as well as the lack of it). The ideas around anti-blackness and the model minority myth are still so resonant today, especially after the protests around George Floyd. His analysis there could have easily been written just a few months ago. I love the distinction he makes in his Hindutva chapter between religion and culture, and how he emphasizes that culture is not a static set of rules, but ever-changing and ever transforming. The parts about first-gen Indian Americans resonated very personally with me. The one thing I will say is that this is less of a unified analysis and more a collection of essays. Prashad covers many topics, from the rise of the Hindutva right to the conception of India as posed by US orientalists. Once I started treating the text as multiple essays, it became easier for me to follow the different moving parts. Prashad's language lends the South Asian American community a preciseness that our short history lacks: e.g, the 'state selection' of Indian American immigrants, 'we must commit model minority suicide' etc. But for every one of these highly resonant characterizations, there are plenty of terms that don't really fit the characterization as well. While I appreciated Prashad's perspective as a Marxist, for example, his use of very characteristic Marxist language sometimes got in the way of the precise language he would have otherwise used. His politics really show through here, and while I wouldn't expect anything less from a great analysis, it sometimes leads to digressions about Communist movements that seem to be only tangentially related to the main theme (there are exceptions, of course, the mentions of the Ghadar party and the Association for Indian Leftists really gave me a better sense of the history of the Indian left in the United States). It's a dense read, but an interesting one if you're looking for a great analysis of South Asian American history (of which, admittedly, not many exist).