The Karma of Brown Folk

I just finished reading Karma of Brown Folk by Vijay Prashad. Its a look at the racism perpetuated through the idea of the “model minority” as well as an insight into Desi culture in America and how it plays into the game of white supremacy.As a second generation Desi (South Asian) I had immidiate appeal for the works of Vijay Prashad, who’s criticisms of the World Conference of Racism, and how states (e.g. India, US and Israel) have skirted some of their consistent race related issues.

In this book, however, Prashad sticks to Desis in America and their relation to India, and to the world of white supremacy. It covers a lot of basics about Desi culture, and the idea of "model minority" and how that fits into the white supremacist racial visions. Essentially how we are pitted against "unmodel minorities" like Afro-Americans and Latinos and furthermore wanted for our sharp technical skills (of those who posess them) and not so much for our lives (or culture for that matter).

The book reads like desert. Prashad is very entertaining and I look forward to reading his predecessor book, Everybody was Kung-fu fighting: the Afro-Asian connection