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Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
USAMEDDAC & DENTAC
May 2, 2007
Keynote Speech by Col. G.B. Singh
General Chambers, Mrs.
Chambers,
General Hodge, Mrs. Hodge,
Fellow Colonels
Commanders, Command Sergeants
Major, Fellow Soldiers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome
to the celebration of Asian-Pacific Islander American Heritage Month
Last
February, COL Carter, DENTAC Commander, informed me that he was proposing my
name as the guest speaker for this heritage celebration.
The
cordial verbal exchange over the telephone rushed me to the wall mirror in my
office-—wondering at my facial features! Am I an Asian American or an African-American?
You see for a number of years I had considered myself a black man. To his
credit, Col. Carter pointed out that I originally hailed from India whose
boundary falls well inside the continent of Asia.
Yes I was born and raised in post-British India. In my upbringing I was led to believe I am a product of an ancient superior racial civilization. The impetus to verify how great this civilization was, never occurred. In fact the idea of racial and cultural superiority set me up for another jump.
Early
on after landing in the United States in mid 1970s, I was filing papers in the
Chicago immigration office. One particular page asked me to identify my race
from the following narrow spectrum of categories
Not
knowing how to handle this problem, from that office, I telephoned my relative
and asked him what category I belonged.
The
answer was “CAUCASIAN.”
I
filed my papers and the immigration official accepted it without questioning my
checking off the square box next to Caucasian.
Later
that day I checked my dictionary on the meaning of CAUCASIAN. Hardly a
surprise: I walked out somewhat puzzled thinking that I am a WHITE MAN. Young
man that I was this new finding reinforced my cultural superiority that I
inherited from India.
Joining
the U.S. Army in 1979 and what transpired thereafter brought me to the
forefront: I began to question just about everything I had learned over the
years in India. Within the next few years I began to align my identity as a
black man and felt comfortable with the African-American social grouping. For
this radical transformation in me the credit really goes to the black soldiers
and officers with whom I closely associated.
Given
my openness to all ethnic and racial groupings, and my close identity with the
African Americans, I live under no illusion that I am indeed genetically an
Asian American. Today the Asian-Pacific Americans constitute a wide range of
cultural, religious, and geographical groupings. To name a few we often
encounter: Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino
Americans, Indian Americans, Pakistani Americans, and Arab Americans. Frankly
the list is a long one. So complex is this grouping that just to name other relatively
smaller ethnic groups constituting within the broader category of, let’s say
for example, “Indian American” will take another hour.
From
that “Indian American” category, I happen to be a
Sikh American. Today the
Asian-Pacific Americans excel in the academic institutions particularly in
various science subjects and their high per capita income inspires other ethnic
groups, making me to say: American
Dream Is Alive. Their rich cultural Asian-Pacific heritage has
immensely contributed to the American landscape as well as to our Army. I give
you just two great examples:
1. First Lady of the MEDDAC,
Sang Hunte. She is one example among thousands who had married an American of a
totally different background. Such widespread examples in America underscore
the liberal, open, family-oriented captivating example of these Asian-Pacific
cultures.
2. The second example is of
the 34th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Eric K. Shinseki. I remember back in 1999 while stationed at Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, I received the news that General Shinseki becoming the
Army Chief of Staff.
I knew then that Gen. Shinseki was the first Asian
American four-star general to occupy that high office but hardly anybody knew
of the historical precedents. General Shinseki’s news flashed me back in
history remembering the struggles of the first generation of Asian Americans
joining the U.S. Army. Keep in mind the times were tough for this generation.
The racial and other prohibitive laws prevented these new Americans to pursue
their American dream. In spite of the roadblocks, a group of Japanese Americans
and Indian Americans had joined the U.S. Army on the U.S. West Coast during the
First World War. Not much is known of their early experiences inside the Army.
And fortunately not all is lost. There, in history, is one name that truly
shines: Bhagat Singh Thind, who was
a catalyst in laying the foundations for great successes that we often
associate with the current generation of Asian-Pacific Americans. Amazingly only
a very few people know of the
contributions and struggles of this remarkable
man.
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Before you leave this facility, please take time
to see the displays: You will see two photos of Mr. Thind in the Army outfit
taken in 1918 at Camp Lewis, Washington; another photo of an aged Mr. Thind
along with his lovely gracious wife, Vivian.
Today we gather here in celebration of
Asian-Pacific Month. Today is also the day to express our gratitude to Mr.
Thind and for his tenacity and audacity to make sure that all Americans are
equal before the law. And every American has the right to claim his or her
citizenship.
Born to Sikh parents in 1892 in the Punjab region
and raised in British-India, Mr. Thind landed in America in 1913. Recognizing
his own obligations to serve America, his new adopted home, he joined the U.S.
Army in 1918 in the course of an ongoing First World War. After attaining the
rank of Acting Sergeant, he was honorably discharged soon after the war
ended.
His
story would have ended there but it didn’t. What transpired during the course
of his short military career and thereafter turned Mr. Thind’s name into
prominence in the annals of legal profession dealing with the issues of equal
rights and the U.S. Citizenship.
Sergeant
Thind applied to become a U.S. citizen in July 1918 in the State of Washington.
In those days the task granting U.S. citizenship rested with the immigration
officials as well as with the district courts--provided you follow the narrow
definition of the law and the established guidelines. One big hurdle to attain
citizenship for an Asian American was that one must be CAUCASIAN, which for all
practical purposes meant “White.”
Apparently
for Mr. Thind being Caucasian was not a problem-—he filed his citizenship
papers. Lo and behold, the district court issued him the U.S. citizenship on
December 9, 1918. Recognizing something had gone wrong the immigration
officials challenged the court and were successful in revoking SGT Thind’s
citizenship on December 13, 1918. That is only four days later!
No
doubt, the immigration officials had underestimated SGT Thind’s resolve. Thind
applied for citizenship for the second time, now in the State of Oregon on May
6, 1919. Despite the immigration service’s entrenched interventions, in the
end, Judge Wolverton granted Thind the U.S. citizenship on November 18, 1920.
Not
pleased with the decision that Thind had received his citizenship for the
second time, the immigration service appealed the judge’s decision to the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals—-which after due deliberations referred the case to
the U.S. Supreme Court for ruling; the crux of the case rested on the meaning
of CAUCASIAN.
In
what is called “United States versus
Thind,” Veteran Thind valiantly fought his case in the Supreme Court. In
the end he lost his case for simply one reason: his skin color happened to be
different. The ruling devastated the Asian Americans not only in their faith in
an American dream but also economically. Immigration Service rescinded Thind’s
citizenship in 1926 and then initiated proceedings to rescind the citizenship
of some fifty other Asian Americans who had earlier attained their
citizenships.
You
will agree with me that when you lose your case in the U.S. Supreme Court that
is the end point. Well that was not for Veteran Thind. He was determined to get
his citizenship come what may. An opportunity struck. In 1935, the 74th
Congress passed a law allowing citizenship to U.S. Veterans of the First World
War. Veteran Thind quickly jumped and applied for the citizenship—-but can you guess
at what place?-—in the State of New York. Yes finally Mr. Thind, in 1936, took
the oath and became a proud U.S. citizen for the third time. This time the
immigration service decided not to interfere.
SGT
Thind’s resolve for equal rights as a U.S. citizen had a far reaching
implications. His story inspired next generation of new Americans. In late
1950s, another Sikh American by the name of Dalip Singh Saund was elected from
California to the U.S. House of Representatives, making him the first Asian
American to the Capitol Hill. Keep in mind, parallel to these momentous changes
was the beginning of the American Civil Rights Movement that finally brought
our esteemed black mothers to the forefront in leading a victory march for the
civil rights for all Americans.
Mr.
Thind, based upon his Sikh spiritual and humanistic heritage, believed that
every human being is equal irrespective of our outer appearances and other
superficial differences. Yes our ethnicities are diverse and yes whenever and wherever
we travel we import as well as export our rich cultural heritages.
Given
all that, we know about the bottom reality of our existence: that we are all
one species, one race-—human—-living
on this planet and making the best of our experiences to what we call LIFE, however mysterious that it is. The
Asian-Pacific Americans are indeed the best example of what LIFE is and America
has given to them the unfettered opportunity to excel. Just look around in
America and witness for yourself the incredible rise of the Asian-Pacific
Americans. Their success story needs no storyteller.
Let
me close by saying with a consented voice of all Asian-Pacific Americans: Thank You America!
And
thank you for inviting me to speak.
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Copyright© G.B. Singh. About the author
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