Who Were The Bengalis Of Harlem?

It so happens sometimes that entire communities and their existence fade away from the collective consciousness. More often than not these accounts happen to be those of the working class. Such was the case of the South-Asian men from India, Pakistan and now Bangladesh who immigrated to the USA starting in the 1800s.

These men who were seamen and peddlers of textiles and handicrafts brought with them chikankari and silk and other such handicrafts that had captured the West’s imagination of the Orient. While they loved the oriental goods that made them look cultured and worldly, they didn’t extend the same feelings towards the men that brought them into their lands.

What is particularly interesting about these immigrant men who evaded immigration officers and sneaked into New York during the Asian Exclusion Era, was the way they didn’t form enclaves or their own little settlements. Instead in a way to avoid deportation, they assimilated into the pre-existing communities of colour, oftentimes marrying Black and Peurto-Rican women in areas like Harlem, Detroit, and New Orleans. By virtue of necessity, these men lived quiet lives away from the spotlight, and hence their story is different from other sets of immigrant groups who would settle and create ethnic enclaves, leading a life of significantly more visibility.

In Harlem, these South-Asian immigrants would start their own restaurants but they would be a part of the communities that they had joined. Some of the earliest Indian restaurants were in Harlem. They catered to the local communities in the area and were a direct result of these men living and becoming a part of the African American and Puerto Rican families. This opening of restaurants also led to the invention of the ‘Harlem Curry’.

Even though these South-Asians were a part of communities of colour, it does not take away from the inherent anti-black sentiments and racism that have been ingrained in Asian mindsets. Many South Asians who migrated to the U.S. for blue-collar jobs would never associate themselves with these Bengali men, for they were an anomaly; those that had integrated themselves into the black and Hispanic culture and lifestyle.

But despite their proximity to black and Hispanic life, these men would claim themselves to be ‘hindoo’ and white as they roamed about doing business. It was only in times of evading immigration authorities that they would call themselves ‘Black’ or ‘Puerto Rican’.

An entire South-Asian community of mainly Bengali seafarers thus existed in Harlem; living life in close quarters, averting suspicious gazes, and largely forgotten for the most part.

In 2013, Vivek Bald, an associate professor of comparative media studies and writing at MIT, published a book called Bengali Harlem. His focus on the
lives of these South Asian men mean that the legacies they left behind in America and the migration patterns they followed are now far better known and documented by history.

Vivek Bald has now co-directed a feature documentary In Search of Bengali Harlem alongside director Alaudin Ullah which will premiere as part of CAAMFest40 on May 14, 2022, at San Francisco’s historic Great Star Theater.

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