The State of New York @NYGov recognizes Diwali, but *not* that it is a Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist holiday. They refer to Diwali as “Indian” and “South Asian”.

And when Hindus (and not the other three groups) say, hey, that’s erasure, you’re erasing us, we’ll be called “Islamophobic” or “Hindu nationalist” because of the dominant discourse about India and Hindus.

Anything positive or humanizing about Hindus becomes “South Asian”. Anything negative that happens in South Asia is “because of Hindus”. Don’t think this doesn’t shape how you think about us.

This is how hegemony *appears* inclusive while actively erasing the non-dominant. The goal is to make a show of the dominant culture’s benevolence wo actually changing a thing. This is exactly what critics from decoloniality & transnational literacy call out. Do better @NYGov

@parthparihar “The statement does NOT recognize Caribbean, Af. American, white, & Latinx Hindus (& other dharmic communities) who make up a disproportionately large segment of the ppl who celebrate Diwali in NYState, vs the rest of the US. Diwali is NOT a “South Asian” festival.