AMERICAN-BORN CONFUSED DESI

'American Born Confused Desi' ('A.B.C.D.') is an offensive ethnic slur that refers to people of Desi origin (of South Asian, especially Indian, descent), raised in the United States. Its use by other races, recent Indian immigrants in particular for coming up with the term is regarded as offensive. It is a close relative of the term Jook-sing or "A.B.C." for American-born Chinese. The ethnic slur was developed out of immigrant/non-immigrant hostility.
"Confused" refers to a hypothetical confusion regarding identity, having been born in America or lived there since childhood and been closer to American culture than their ancestor's native culture. The notion of this identity crises comes from differences in accent, dress, and etiquette between recent immigrants and American Born Indians.
Most modern day "American Born" Indians have very strong ties to India. They frequently visit friends and family in their ancestor's native land. They typically cherish their Indian heritage, and observe both American and Indian cultural traditions, but usually don't know enough about either to fit in fully. The typical American Born Indian is usually fluent in English, and can understand an additional Indian language (although (s)he may not be able to properly communicate in it or write it). They also tend to understand both the American cultural value system and the Indian cultural value system, although they often do not participate in either culture as adequately as someone who is native to that culture. Most integrate into American society easier than recent Indian immigrants.
This idea of the well documented confused identity is not unique to Indian Americans alone - Hostility toward British Asians (the term used for Indians and other South Asians raised and living in Britain) have dawned similar ideas of struggles.
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Contents

Cultural references

Notes and references

Cultural references

★ ''ABCD'' was the title of a 1999 U.S.–made movie about the cultural struggles of a young American of Indian ancestry.

★ The term is also used in the '' episode "", about the death of a young second generation Pakistani-American woman and her Italian American boyfriend.

★ The term appears in The Namesake, the second novel of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, which was recently made into a motion picture of the same name.

★ The title of the book "Born Confused", written by Tanuja Desai Hidier, is also a reference to 'ABCD'.

Notes and references

1. V., Smitha. "ABCDs: American Born Confused Desis". March 5, 2002. Boloji.com. Accessed 11 January 2007.
2. Hidier, Tanuja Desai. ''Born Confused''. New York: Scholastic Press, 2002. ISBN 0439357624.
3. Kurella, Vidya. "From Confused to Confident: How do you say your name?". April 2005. ''ABCDlady: A Magazine for the American Born Confident Desi''. Accessed 11 January 2007.


★ Hoque, Maher. "A Former Coconut's Guide to Getting Cultured". Fall 2006. ''Sapna Magazine Online''. Accessed 11 January 2007.