Beyond token

As New York organizations struggle to be more inclusive, the focus is on Bangladeshis because of their high profile in the city's daily life. Over the last decade, partially due to the diversity lottery, Bangladeshi immigrants have been one of the fastest growing new groups in New York. Concentrated heavily in service industries such as restaurants, street carts, shops and taxis, they are a daily reminder of the "other" for many city dwellers. As one of the city's working class populations, they have also come in for a large share of poverty-related violence (two Bangladeshis were killed in Brooklyn last year).

In the newspapers, Bangladeshis are a frequent topic. The New York Times started the trend with human-interest stories written by Somini Sengupta (although of West Bengali origin, she focused on the Bangladeshi community). The Times stories included the Mujibur-Sirajul duo on David Letterman's TV show, Bangladeshi dominance in the city's building repair business (from one district), Bangladeshi migrants' financial contribution to their homeland, dominance in the diversity lottery, troubles under Special Registration and economic hardship. Many other newspapers followed the Times lead. When these outlets are not running these kinds of stories, they focus on quirkier fare like a popular Belgian Beer Bar (owned by a Belgian-Bangladeshi Sufi devotee), snooty lounges in the Village (owned by a Bangladeshi who is a small legend in New York nightlife), the Sylheti-Bangladeshis who own most "Indian" restaurants and the NYPD cop who claims to be a "prince" in his Bangladesh hometown. Columbia University's South Asian Journalist Association (SAJA) has also pushed for Bangladeshi representation in news stories, especially after 9/11.

Within grassroots activist organisations, the Bangladeshi representation is more structural. Asian networks like SAKHI, Workers 'Awaaz, Asian Women's Federation, Taxi Workers' Alliance, SAMAR magazine, 3rd-I Film Collective, and Asian American Writers' Workshop, as well as non-Asian organisations like WBAI Radio, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), and Not In Our Name, all have Bengali representation. Bengali language translators are now a feature in organisations like Asian American Legal Defence & Education Fund (AALDEF). The Asian American Federation and others have advertised specific jobs with duties among the Bengali communities. Some of these positions are filled with Bengali speakers from West Bengal, who are enthusiastic about working with the Bangladeshi community.

While all this representation is a positive step for the community, there is one significant weakness, glaringly obvious in activist circles. In seeking Bangladeshi voices, the people who are approached are often those with pre-existing connections with the South Asian and larger mainstream. A large number of these activist-artists come from middle class backgrounds, even though the vast majority of our community in New York is working class. Often the activists are second-generation immigrants, with a degree of acculturation not present among the rest of the community. This became obvious after 9/11, when most of the mainstream media's queries went to two websites -- drishtipat.org and shobak.org -- ignoring the numerous Bengali language newspapers.

Activists need to start building much deeper connections to the community. This includes reaching out to traditional organisations like cultural groups, political organisations, mosques, temples, churches and shops. This is not always an easy task. Some of these institutions have parochial and conservative politics and are resistant to outreach attempts. In cases involving abuses within the community, there is conflict of interest, as there was with a recent Andolan campaign. The activists of Andolan were fighting a case against a Bangladeshi diplomat who abused his domestic help. The diplomat was a member of many local community organisations, which all closed ranks around him and stymied Andolan's efforts. Similarly, domestic violence cases are complicated by community organisations that protect abusive men. This also extends to cases of sexual abuse. Two years ago, a mosque official in Queens was accused of sexually harassing a student. The mosque board effectively blocked all efforts at investigations into the allegations (in this they were not that different from the Catholic Church in recent abuse scandals). In situations like this, activists will have to step gingerly to find and work with organizations that do not have these conflicts of interest.

Recently, some positive steps were taken to build deeper connections within community organisations. Nahar Alam is a long-time activist who now leads Andolan and has deep connections in the community. Cultural group Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (BSK), a branch of the famous Dhaka Kendro, is run by Ashraful Bulbul who has secular politics and roots in the community. Bulbul was a vibrant presence at a dinner for Committee to Protect Journalists' honoree Tipu Sultan. He was able to bring real-world experience about complex political and geographic rivalries within Bangladeshi groups in Queens. For those of us working on coalitions with other South Asians, it is a necessary reality check to hear about the tensions between organisations representing even the smallest districts in Bangladesh. When most people ask me where I'm from, my answer is "Bangladesh." But many community members will answer "Sylhet," "Noakhali," or "Chittagong" to the same question. The man who answers "Sylhet" is far more representative of the community than middle class organisers who subscribe to a pan-South Asian politics. Clearly, connections with organisations like BSK are needed to build a bridge between activists and the larger community.

It is tempting to anoint middle class professionals and college graduates as Bangladeshi spokespeople -- they are in our midst, highly visible and "share" our politics (or at least use the lexicon). But to truly represent New York's Bangladeshi community, the next generation of cultural and political activists has to come from the working class population that helps to run this city.

Naeem Mohaiemen is a media-technology consultant and activist.