The ‘birthing’ controversy is news again. Is the President really American? He doesn’t really look it! Or always act like he is: remember the Barrack-Michelle closed-fist salute? I moved to the US from India fourteen years ago, and am still struck by the prejudices that persist in both these great democracies about those deemed natural citizens and those who repeatedly need to prove their credentials. Two decades ago, in the controversy leading up to the destruction of a beautiful 16th century mosque in the north Indian town of Ayodhya, the Muslims of India were asked to demonstrate that they were truly Indian – by accepting ‘the Hindu ethos’ of the majority religious community. Less than...
↧
