"Aryan" is the Hindi/Persian/Sanskrit" word for our race, the race of the Iranians. North Indians are descendants of Iranian people who came to India long ago. We call our culture "Aryan culture". And I hate it that Hitler appropriated it, and it became the word for the German race. I have nothing against Germans. I just hate it that now I can't use it to refer to myself or my culture, without some racist European correcting me and telling me that I'm not Aryan, and then snubbing me for being a racist for using the term. If Hitler had not used the word "Aryan", people would not get so confused.
I would love to know what German people actually think of Indians. I often encounter Germans and Russians in America, and they seem curious about Indian history, and I often wonder what is really going on in their head. Do they really think we are racist and antisemitic? I hope not.
In America, I find that Americans who are of Italian, Greek, or Spanish descent, as well as Middle-Easterners are the most welcoming towards Indians.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 01:24 am (UTC)This is a sensitive subject for me.
"Aryan" is the Hindi/Persian/Sanskrit" word for our race, the race of the Iranians. North Indians are descendants of Iranian people who came to India long ago. We call our culture "Aryan culture". And I hate it that Hitler appropriated it, and it became the word for the German race. I have nothing against Germans. I just hate it that now I can't use it to refer to myself or my culture, without some racist European correcting me and telling me that I'm not Aryan, and then snubbing me for being a racist for using the term. If Hitler had not used the word "Aryan", people would not get so confused.
I would love to know what German people actually think of Indians. I often encounter Germans and Russians in America, and they seem curious about Indian history, and I often wonder what is really going on in their head. Do they really think we are racist and antisemitic? I hope not.
In America, I find that Americans who are of Italian, Greek, or Spanish descent, as well as Middle-Easterners are the most welcoming towards Indians.