US-born Indians embracing Indian roots more strongly: Carnegie report

Indian Americans born in the US are displaying a marked increase in cultural and identity-based affinity with their Indian heritage, with 86% taking pride in calling themselves “Indian-American”, according to a new report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

This is a significant increase from the 2020 report, when 70% of US-born Indian American respondents said that being Indian was “very” or “somewhat” important to them. At the same time, the percentage of those who considered their Indian identity unimportant was halved – from 30% to just 15%, according to the report.

The report, based on an Indian-American Attitude Survey (IASS), conducted between September and October last year, challenges the long-held assumption that successive generations of immigrant communities tend to gradually shed their ancestral identities in favour of Americanisation.

Its findings are based on a national-level online survey of 1,206 Indian American residents in the United States, the report stated.

MORE US-BORN INDIAN AMERICANS NOW IDENTIFY AS ASIAN INDIAN

The report also observed a change in how individuals self-identify. There was a decline in those using the label “Indian American” and a rise in the number identifying as “Asian Indian”.

Similarly, compared to four years ago, a greater share of US-born individuals with Indian descent reported feeling equally Indian and American (as opposed to more American than Indian), the report said.

The findings come amid the fact that Indian Americans are the second-largest immigrant group in the US and increasingly visible in politics, academia, and technology.

With approximately 5.2 million individuals of Indian descent calling the US their home, Indian Americans comprise around 21% of the Asian population in the US, according to an analysis of US Census Bureau data and the American Community Survey by the Pew Research Centre.

Chinese-Americans are the largest Asian population in the US, with around a population of 5.5 million.

The rise of the Indian community in the US has been driven by sustained migration and population growth over the past 20 years.

INDIAN AMERICANS STAY CONNECTED TO ROOTS THROUGH FOOD, MOVIES

The survey also asked whether respondents had watched Indian movies/television in the past month; had participated in or enjoyed Indian dance, music, or art in the past six months; or had eaten Indian food in the past month.

Eight in ten Indian Americans (81%) reported eating Indian food in the past month – the most common of the three activities. A total of 65% had watched Indian television or movies in the past month, while 38% engaged with Indian dance, music, or art in some form or fashion in the past six months.

Only 7% of respondents reported engaging in none of these cultural practices, according to the report.

The survey also found that 55% of respondents reported communicating with friends and family in India at least once per month.

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