August 06, 2007
Is New Jersey unfairly targeting DBDs? [Updated]Issues
Today’s New York Times carries an article about DBDs who live in Iselin, NJ (which is near Edison), who are being affected by the same anti-boarding house ordinances which Virginia is using against Hispanic day-laborers. Complaints from neighbors, usually about things like litter, imperfect lawns and the like are being investigated vigorously— but are they being pursued a little too vigorously? How much of this is icky bias and how much is ignorance regarding brown proclivities to live in extended family arrangements? And really, what is it that four DBDs living in a four-bedroom home could be doing, which is so suspect?
With the workweek behind him, Deepu Dass focused on a pesky bald spot in his front lawn here. As he sprayed the patch with water, urging the grass toward the perfection achieved by several neighbors, he said confidently: “I planted seeds.”
Two of his three roommates chatted behind Mr. Dass on the porch…The men — all Indian immigrants here on worker visas without their families — rent rooms month to month in this white, four-bedroom Cape Cod, where the kitchen shelves are stocked with food in bulk and the walls are decorated with reminders of home. “That’s Kerala,” said Mr. Dass, pointing to a silkscreen of a village fishing scene from his home state. “They call it God’s own country because it’s so beautiful.”
Absolutely. But that snide pride in the state from whence my parents came is for another post. Or five.
There have been up to six men sharing the house, whose owners include Suresh Kumar, president of NexAge Technologies USA, a nearby software company where the tenants work. But the unusual arrangement — and the unsightly lawn — caught the attention of local housing inspectors, and in May Woodbridge Township cited Mr. Kumar for several violations, including an unauthorized boarding house and an illegal multifamily dwelling. He has until Aug. 16 to resolve the situation, which may mean kicking his workers out.
I don’t get it. Everyone I know owns a rental property. Many of us rent such properties. A good number of us do so with roommates…where is this arbitrary line which divides the bad from the good? On the flawed lawn, which is apparently what got poor Deepu et al in trouble?
Mr. Kumar’s were among more than 300 notices of violation that the authorities handed out from January through May to homeowners in the 10 communities that make up Woodbridge Township, part of a stepped-up inspection effort the mayor announced last year…But in a twist to the familiar tales of suburban authorities breaking up illegally subdivided homes crowded with Hispanic day laborers, the mayor’s crackdown here has hit another group of immigrants: middle-class Indians who rent rooms or parts of rooms to Indian students, technology workers and others seeking a first foothold in this country.
Desi homeowners have been gifted with almost a quarter of the notices.
(The mayor) said that housing inspectors were not singling out any ethnic group and that none of the inspections had prompted arrests by federal immigration authorities or the police, as they have in places with many day laborers. Indian-American community leaders said they had good relations with the mayor, and there has been no suggestion that the residents of these houses are here illegally.
But the mayor’s rationale for the crackdown — to clean up potentially dangerous living situations, like a house in Iselin found to have as many as 10 people living in a basement, and another house that was used as an unlicensed day care center — is similar to those cited by leaders in heavily Hispanic areas.
Like Northern Virginia!
Sharmila Rudrappa, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of “Ethnic Routes to Becoming American: Indian Immigrants and the Cultures of Citizenship,” said it was common for Indian families to live in joint households both in their homeland and in the United States…
“It’s a way to ease immigration,” Professor Rudrappa said. “You help family out. Family members coming from India might not know how to drive, and grocery stores can be unnerving.”
This entire zeal to get up in peoples’ bidness is unnerving. Taxpayers should have the right to have three generations under the same roof, period. Landlords who rent homes to young single people aren’t doing anything illegal, either (and if they are, the Davis city government has a lot of work to do, since that’s how many of my friends spent their final years at college— in a house with a few other students). Littering the neighborhood is inexcusable; so is being an inconsiderate jerk about parking too many cars around one’s home. Those issues are valid, unlike the issues some of Iselin’s old-timers have with these furriners. Anyone in NJ want to tell us more than the grey lady did?
::
They are affecting desi families:
Rakesh Patel, 34, a technology worker at a New York investment bank, said he had his three-bedroom, two-story house built here seven years ago “for family and friends.” He and his wife, two children and his parents moved from a cramped apartment in Edison. Mr. Patel’s cousin’s sister has joined the household, and Mr. Patel’s sister and three family members may soon come to stay for a while. Other relatives often visit for months at a time.
While my parents never had the opportunity to do that, most of my other cousins, especially my family in Murrrland and New York, did. I remember those three bedroom apartments in the boogie down that had just as many siblings. The eldest was married with two children, the middle sibling was half of a newlywed couple and the youngest sib was single. That’s seven people. They didn’t even have cars. How was their share-and-care arrangement harming the nabe?
Such dwellings are part of our history as second gens. My father used to tell me that he came to this country alone, and if it hadn’t been for the kind white people who befriended him, he would have had no resources for figuring out the most basic questions. That’s why he said that it was our moral duty to do whatever we could to help the “new”, once we were established.
“Why not?” asked Mr. Patel, noting that he also stayed with his uncle when he first came to the United States from India in 1996. “I pay $9,000 a year in taxes.”
Tom Rokita, who lives across the street from the Patels and several other large South Asian families, said that cars had lately clogged the neighborhood, and garbage had drifted onto his well-tended garden.
“The mayor is clamping down on the violations very nicely,” said Mr. Rokita, who has lived in Iselin 45 years. Of his neighbors, he said: “I have no problem with them. Except for the litter.”
After an anonymous complaint, inspectors paid three separate visits to Mr. Patel’s home in May. Mr. Patel was surprised by the visit and said he had had a good relationship with town officials in the past, when he worked with them to make sure his basement met local regulations. It is now a place where his children play, and where his father, age 59, does his morning yoga.
Finally, inspectors determined that everyone living in the house belonged to one family, and found the property to be “in compliance.”
No shit.
Mayor McCormac conceded that many of the complaints had been unjustified and, as in Mr. Patel’s case, turned out to be cases of cultural differences in the definition of family more than illegal subdivisions.
I apologize for not including that part of the NYT story in my post— especially when it tickled my umbrage nerve and would have provided more context.
anna on August 6, 2007 01:45 AM in Issues, News, Politics · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
¤ uber desi dot com said: Be Indian, Boink Indian.
Before anyone asks, DBD = desh born desis, i.e. the artists formerly known as FOBs.
If we 2nd gens have beef with the "C" in ABCD, we have to play nice, too. At some recent point on an SM comment thread, we decided on "ABD" and "DBD" as respectful and accurate alternatives. :)
I dunno--on the one hand one does suspect the impetus to enforce there is linked to discrimination--on the other hand--should a homeowner's association or a coop or a condo be able to enforce some rules about people per unit (even if they seem "arbitrary")--methinks yes--so, what's the boundary between the latter and a suburb--I dunno--isn't that why people leave the city for the suburbs...
Anna, what are you doing posting at the ungodly hour of 1.45 AM EDT on a Monday morning? Only people from the Desh(es) post at such hours.
/thinks about that statement, considers the nature of this blog, looks at current time
Er, nevermind.
Anyway, to get on the story, I have known several cases (not in NJ) of too many people squeezed into too small a house (or apartment), which plays merry hell with the civic amenities even if there are no cars or littering. The most common symptom I knew of where I used to live was that the sewage pipes would clog and back up under the extra load. (To quote Dave Barry, I swear I am not making this up). In one memorable case, I know of an electrical fire in a house with a joint family that started when multiple people were cooking at the same time (the fire started, not the joint family). Some were on the real kitchen stove, and some were using hotplates scattered around the house. To the extent that it could prevent such incidents from arising, I would favor the landlord actively preventing gross overcrowding among his tenants. The safest and best way to avoid misunderstandings is to stipulate the maximum number of occupants on the lease. For house owners themselves, I have no objection to 3 generations as long as everyone knows the infrastructure limits of the house and nobody tries bright ideas like starting fires with hotplates. While I do advocate the landlord ensuring his property is not overcrowded, I don't support local government doing the same.
In one memorable case, I know of an electrical fire in a house with a joint family that started when multiple people were cooking at the same time (the fire started, not the joint family). Some were on the real kitchen stove, and some were using hotplates scattered around the house.
On a lighter note, I lived with 6 other desi dudes in a two-bedroom apartment, each with their own PC, 2 sound systems, a turntable, PS2, Xbox and 2 mini-fridges in addition to the regular one that stays in the kitchen. Can you say POWER SURGE?
And I'm not complaining, it was the best time of my life, clogged sewage pipes and all. There came a point when we started pouring Draino down with every flush as a precaution.
It can depend upon the legal classification of the house, I think, or so I remember from my days renting a room in a house...single-family vs. multi-family vs. boarding and what's allowed in different neighborhoods and how one can plausibly be argued to be another. This was in Massachusetts. Though I'm no expert on the subject.
just pick up the local newspaper in the area. and look at the editorial page when 'little india' in edison is the topic of discussion. the resentment is pretty strong from white folks who are seeing more and more brown faces come into the their community.
as much as i dislike peter kothari, aka the indian jesse jackson, he said it best in this nyt article:
“It looks like something is not right,” Mr. Kothari said of the high numbers of Indians receiving citations. “I’m not going to say the mayor is discriminating. But the guidelines should be very clear and loud. People should not have any perception that selective enforcement of the law is taking place.”
great careful choice of words peter.
Hell, I'm an ABCD and my lawn (ok, the small garden/landscaping area in front of my townhouse) is pretty unsightly.
Perhaps I have better things to than spend my time pulling up weeds?
More generally, the rules are still vague:
Mr. Kumar, the owner of the house where Mr. Dass lives, said he was unsure what he was supposed to do. There is no outright ban on unrelated roommates cohabitating. Owners can register with the township to use their homes as rental properties, but questions remain as to what makes such an arrangement a rooming or boarding house, which requires a separate license.
In my view, if you have five or six roommates, you can still call it roommates...
sidenote:
Princeton University is located in Mercer county which has a population of 350,761 (2000) and a land area of 229 square miles. This works out to be 1,532 people per square mile. This is somewhat above the average for all of New Jersey of 1,174 people per square mile. Note that New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation.
By contrast, Seoul (10.356 million people) has a population density of 44,310 people per square mile. Central Paris (2.154 million people) has a density 64,186 people per square mile. A better comparison is Urban Paris with a population of 9.645 million and 9,173 people per square mile. Greater London has 7.7 million people and 12,644 people per square mile. [link]
I'll throw this out there...these informal, perhaps illegal, joint tenancies arrangements won't go away so long as you have a steady flow of migrants. What impedes the process is the location of the arrangement, ie. suburbia, single family homes, where the signs that the house has multiple tenants or families are more apparent. Where these arrangements succeed are in "urban" rental markets with low vacancies, lots of turnover, short or no leases (hence Davis qualifies despite being in the boonies). It's near impossible in such markets to squash informal tenancies unless you have an extra, extra vigilant neighbor. So if new migrants want to keep on keeping on they need to find non-middle class housing, more populated areas, or a friend who owns an apartment complex. I lived in a college town where apartments were adjacent to single family homes (1/2 of which were occupied by students) and it was the homes that overloaded that were busted; whereas, I took in 3 extra guys for a total of 7 for a whole year in an apartment complex without a hitch other than strategically parking our cars.
I wonder if they were just citing houses with "too many" occupants, or only those houses with more than a certain number of unrelated occupants? In many cases zoning law distinguishes the issue by stipulating a maximum number of unrelated individuals in a house, in order to prevent boarding houses in single-family neighborhoods. This sort of law impacts roommates, but not extended or joint families.
I suppose neighbors in a single family neighborhood might not want four, or six, or twelve unrelated individuals rooming together in a house. While I personally think such zoning laws are invasive, if that's what a community has decided to do, so be it. So long as they are enforcing the law evenly, that is.
I guess there is the issue of not keeping the house matching community standards. While whether it makes sense or not is a different discussion, a lot of neighborhoods are quite particular about the same in American suburbia and so if these people have been asked to clean up their act lawn, I don't see too much of a problem or a city organized anti-immigrant bias or anti-brown bias. Regarding the notices, it would be interesting to know how many of these notices were for such kind of issues like improper lawns and also whether corresponding white resident houses with similar state of disrepair were given such notices too.
Another point is that like it or not American suburbia is super paranoid about property prices and thus if a community starts getting over crowded or unkempt, people do get over enthused in fixing it. When a large number of people live in a house and that too unrelated, house maintenance also goes out of the door and so I suspect there may be some correlation there. Plus if a community is designed with say an average of 5 people per house kept in mind and it starts becoming a norm for multi families and thus 8-10 people living there instead, it will stress the community resources and thus can be detrimental to the community.
Just playing the devils advocate for raising points which could be relevant....
Desi dudes living together in one house..check. House owned by their employer.. check. Employer is an Desi owned IT firm.. check. Smells like body shop to me.
There's an another aspect to this. Students and work-permit based immigrants are not issued social security numbers when they get a visa. This is also a major factor in the overcrowding. It takes a long time for the number to be assigned to an applicant. I know some people who had to wait 4-5 months for theirs. No SS number, which means no one will rent you an apartment.. at least in most places. You end up living with 5-6 people. And once you get used to it and make new friends.. few people ever move out.
There's an another aspect to this. Students and work-permit based immigrants are not issued social security numbers when they get a visa. This is also a major factor in the overcrowding. It takes a long time for the number to be assigned to an applicant. I know some people who had to wait 4-5 months for theirs. No SS number, which means no one will rent you an apartment
That is a good, interesting and valid point. I am especially glad you commented. What ARE these people supposed to do, if they don't have a soc (pronounced like "Ghosh"!) yet?
I should have posted more of the article-- there was a multi-gen Guju family that was part of this charlie foxtrot, despite "the dad" doing everything he could to follow rules re: his basement. Will try to update soon.
Good morning, everyone. :D
I know some people who had to wait 4-5 months for theirs.
Interesting. I got mine in a week in Minnesota. Have heard about this from another friend in NJ, where for whatever reasons it takes a lot longer.
note to ping pong:
Anna, what are you doing posting at the ungodly hour of 1.45 AM EDT on a Monday morning? Only people from the Desh(es) post at such hours.
Ankle. :(
Trust me from someone who lives in the area, there is a LOT of jealousy and resentment from the older, white "establishment" towards the desi community. Much of it has to do with the success of the desi community, and part of it is the realisation by the white community that things are changing. Edison High School, for example, is offering Hindi next year as a language. Things are changing and there is a light of struggle against it. It's sad, but every immigrant community must go through these things from time to time as they arrive in greater numbers and start to achieve success in a given area.
That is a good, interesting and valid point. I am especially glad you commented. What ARE these people supposed to do, if they don't have a soc
I've known kids who don't have a 'soc' even a yr after they've landed ashore. The new lawws say that unless you have some type of job offer(on campus employment in case of students) you don't get a soc. No soc => no lease, no lease=> no residence proof, no residence proof=> no credit card, no credit card => no cell phone, no soc=> no drivers license/state ID.
Now without a lease, credit card, phone, drivers and soc what do you expect these kids to do? Its just long hours in the computer labs and crash at a frnds place who was lucky enough to be wrkin in the library. Hence he can rent, has a DL, has SOC, has 3-4 CC's, has a phone and all his frnds are in a family plan wid him....
PS: I've had over 10 blokes crash at my place at times.....
Trust me from someone who lives in the area, there is a LOT of jealousy and resentment from the older, white "establishment" towards the desi community. I grew up in this community and this has been an issue as long as I can remember (early 1980s to present). kyrial, could you shed some more light and provide more examples of how this "jealousy and resentment" is manifesting itself NOW? (I haven't lived in Edison, NJ for three years, however, my family still does.)
Trust me from someone who lives in the area, there is a LOT of jealousy and resentment from the older, white "establishment" towards the desi community. Much of it has to do with the success of the desi community, and part of it is the realisation by the white community that things are changing. Edison High School, for example, is offering Hindi next year as a language. Things are changing and there is a light of struggle against it. It's sad, but every immigrant community must go through these things from time to time as they arrive in greater numbers and start to achieve success in a given area.
Absolutely. I grew up in Woodbridge and have cousins that were raised in Iselin. The whole area has enough angry racists to go around. I was hoping to set up some sort of racist exchange program so that areas with low concentrations of racists would be able to experience the joys of racism, but it never worked out. Lazy ass racists.
RE: 6 As for Pete Kothari, he used to buy the random fundraiser crap I used to sell as a kid when my parent's store was in the same strip mall as his travel agency, so even though I don't agree with him most of the time, I do have a soft spot for him. :)
Just got back from Austin, and from getting my Fresh-off-the-tarmac cousin an apartment. He didn't have a SS#, but was able to lease a place. Not sure if laws in TX are different. They used his passport and I-20.
I have had to deal with a white slumlord. So, renting to too many tenants isn't a brown phenomenon. The article states that a quarter of the citations went to desi renters. Is that disproportional? From what I have heard about NJ, that might be too LOW! ;-)
In my view, if you have five or six roommates, you can still call it roommates...perhaps it was the month-to-month rental situation that defines - e.g. not signing a lease of a specific term, which means that 'lease' term lasts one month and can be terminated at shorter notice (or with no real renters' rights).
i have yet to read the full article, but it seems that this may not be an anti-desi issue - if desis are a substantial part of a larger population that employs this practise, naturally they would also be cited. if 1/4 of those receiving notice were desi, it only hints at discrimination if less than 1/4 of those eligible to be receiving notice were desi.
as praveen99 pointed out, the specific zoning laws are the issue (though here they seem to be somewhat undefined). as for it being invasive, i don't think it is, since most muncipalities take into account the availability of other types of housing in the area - e.g. my parents' town is strictly single-family housing - but there are several multi-unit, two-family etc dwellings nearby, such that even if single- family houses exist for a particular village/municipality, there are other options in the general vicinity. i think this is a good balance of keeping some areas single-family while not ruling out the whole community for other types of residents. on a side note, a desi family got busted last month for having boarders (the only time anybody has even had boarders in the 30 or so years we have been here).
Have heard about this from another friend in NJ, where for whatever reasons it takes a lot longer.this could have to do with population and demand - places like NY/NJ have several fold the applicants for any given administrative issue - immigration, SS etc. my friends chose to move to a different area because the local office for his greencard had a real-time application status, whereas other offices in the area had several months' waiting list.
Ankle. :(
Ouch. Get better soon. Don't let it rankle.
He didn't have a SS#, but was able to lease a place. Not sure if laws in TX are different. They used his passport and I-20.
Not all the apartments I know have asked for SSN. In fact the ones that have did so more to verify my credit history than for primary ID. I suppose it is not mandatory in all states.
To those local residents who are complaining to the authorities about these immigrants - if they have sons and daughters who will someday go to college and live in a rented house, they will also be 'living in a residential community' and they will also be 'not related to the people they are sharing their houses with'. How would they feel if similar homeoweners brought complaints against their kids? And immigrants don't have any support structure in this country when they first land, their roommates are their families. This whole thing just reeks of racism!
This weekend's New York Times magazine featured an article on Carpentersville, Ill and the Hispanic/white tension there regarding immigration.
Many of the arguments sound the same as the NJ article, except that in Carpentersville the "white" population has used the "everyone-has-to-know-English-argument" to cover up the "there's too much brown in my town" sentiment.
(I remember people who grew up in Edison complaining about the place going downhill since 1996--this from white 'friends' who grew up around there. I guess it can be un-nerving for them to see such quick melanin fluctuation among the populace . . . especially when they can't be attacked for not knowing English.)
* Not all the apartments I know have asked for SSN. In fact the ones that have did so more to verify my credit
* history than for primary ID. I suppose it is not mandatory in all states.
Thats another factor that plays in to the situation : Credit History.Most immigrants/workers on a work permit/visa have little or no credit and definitely no credit history.So its virtually impossible to get a place all by yourself.Hence the shacking up with roommates.
if they have sons and daughters who will someday go to college and live in a rented house, they will also be 'living in a residential community' and they will also be 'not related to the people they are sharing their houses with'.
Until a few years ago, the University of Michigan at Flint used to have an asinine policy regarding on-campus housing. Roommates either had to be the same sex or have the same last name. This was apparently done by some paperpushing bureaucrats in a wanton orgy of self-righteousness, to prevent unmarried couples living together (OMG teh horror!!1!oneone). So married couples were OK, as were siblings, as were also apparently same sex couples living together, judging from the rules. But this being Flint (as opposed to Ann Arbor), I suppose in addition to being paperpushers, the bureaucrats were also unimaginative paperpushers whose philosophy did not allow for such unspeakable aberrations that would clearly destroy the society they knew.
"But the mayor’s rationale for the crackdown — to clean up potentially dangerous living situations, like a house in Iselin found to have as many as 10 people living in a basement, and another house that was used as an unlicensed day care center — is similar to those cited by leaders in heavily Hispanic areas."
"In another case, a house with five renters, including a few students, was cleared out by the owner after the township sent him a violation letter. A family of eight has moved in, three more people than were there before."
When I was kid, I lived in the north, and the lawn season was not that lengthy. Plus we had a small lawn. THen I moved to India and you know how we do not have to worry about lawns there. Now I live in Atlanta, and the lawn season is loooong. Lawn sizes are bigger.
I am one of three Non white homeowners in my entire neighborhood(upper middle class) north of Atlanta. I used to get nasty anonymous letters , a couple were even racist in tone(no namecalling,just a lot of references to culture and how things are done by regular folk or something and the letters were very passive aggressive initially pissing me off). I know for a fact that it wasn't my immediate neighbors. Quite honestly, mine is not in the top 50% of the lawns in my neighborhood. And my grass is one of the fastest growing (During that time, I was mowing every week-two weeks and grass would still be a little unsightly). And each time I would get a letter, it had the opposite effect on me. I would actually mow a little less and not give a crap about weeds(well I would mow the weeds down instead of worrying about eliminating them) just to spite these letter writers.
Some of my neighbors seem to spend their entire day fixing things. I need to set up a Japanese rock garden or something.
Some of my neighbors seem to spend their entire day fixing things. I need to set up a Japanese rock garden or something.
Rock gardens are greener! :D
The most common symptom I knew of where I used to live was that the sewage pipes would clog and back up
There came a point when we started pouring Draino down with every flush as a precaution.
Who knew that desis, when living in herds, tend to eat a high-fiber diet? Maybe the folks who did that social network study on obesity should do a desi equivalent for colon cancer in Iselin.
Hell, I'm an ABCD and my lawn (ok, the small garden/landscaping area in front of my townhouse) is pretty unsightly.
Amardeep, I believe that explains the "C" in your self-identification. Those ABDs on the other hand...
Seriously, many communities seem to have all sorts of rules on how they like yards etc. of houses to look so that they can conform to some specific image. Personally, I find these kinds of rules and guidelines intrusive, but they do not seem to be uncommon. The Daily Show had a great piece on a Florida community whose association had an Iraq vet (I think) as a chairman and was going against a resident who had one of those flags supporting a local Democrat, because the rules of the community prohibited lawn kitsch. The money line was by Jason Jones, who asked the chairman, "But without tacky shit on your lawn, how will anybody know you're in Florida?" (I paraphrase).
As for the article itself, one other wonderful piece by the Times with very little concrete information on the important tangible issue of whether there is actual discrimination or not. I am as enlightened after the article as I was before it.
Rock gardens are greener! :D
Time for a Pravin Rock Garden then. Even better, FieldTurf!!!!!
* Not all the apartments I know have asked for SSN. In fact the ones that have did so more to verify my creditThis is true, but everytime I've gone up for a lease I have been UNABLE to get one without surrendering my SSN.
I don't know if this rule is meant to be discriminatory prima facie, and it's hard to tell if the concern is about overcrowding/populating housing, or if it's an easy way to target people and make them feel unwelcome. A bald patch on one's lawn? It sounds similar to the ridiculous BS/complaints my masi's neighbors would lodge against her with the Homeowner's Assoc. in her Anaheim suburban neighborhood. It was just a way to fine someone out of living there, or to make them feel so unwelcome (on small infractions) that they would get fed up and move. She's a little ornery, so that isn't what she did, but there was a clear race dimension in that case. On one hand I worry for the workers -- is this a glorified slum-lord-esque arrangement? On the other hand, maybe it's just a way to help folks transition in and live in comfortable, adult, family-friendly housing. Either way, this sucks.
Also, anecdotally, when I worked with the Civil Rights Division (DOJ), New Jersey was in our top 5 "most racist" states, so I find myself skeptical of this being "business as usual." Our caseload, even when controlled for population, was always particularly high for New Jersey.
Ankle. :(Anna, why would your ankle keep you up at 2AM?
Rock gardens are greener! :DLove rock gardens! My parents just put one in (the deer were eating their flower garden to dust). It also has the added benefit of not contributing to the drought.
As for the article itself, one other wonderful piece by the Times with very little concrete information on the important tangible issue of whether there is actual discrimination or not. I am as enlightened after the article as I was before it.I felt the same =/
Anna, why would your ankle keep you up at 2AM?
It was paining me. :(
i thought desis took over edison already...
Aiee! I'm sorry :( That's the worst, along with the ITCHINESS. Ugh.
It was paining me. :(
feel better...
i thought desis took over edison already...
I think this is next to Edison? You'd know better than I would, but is it possible that they are worried about becoming "Edison...the sequel"?
::
(Thanks, C. and P.)
"Edison...the sequel"
oh, the humanity...
Yup, you don't get an SSN without having a job-offer in hand. Being on campus, and currently 'hosting' juniors who are getting to school, I look back on the days 2 years ago when I just got here, and how hard things were for a grad student. It took me 2 months for an SSN, 6 months to get a cell phone, 1 year to get a credit card ... so on and so forth. By the time I had my driver's license, it was 2 years in the US.
One thing I love though is the co-operation and 'pay it forward' attitude by desis on campus. I am not sure how many unis have this, but here at A&M, every desi hosts the 'newbies' till they are well on their feet. Providing food/shelter to a complete stranger for 1-2 weeks might seem like a bit too much, but we were all given the same hospitality when we arrived here by our seniors, and hence the good-will goes on. An incoming newbie desi is taken care of right from the minute he arrives at the airport till he is comfortable enough and finds his own place. I'm really proud of the desi communities at unis across america who have such a system in place.
I don't know if this rule is meant to be discriminatory prima facie, and it's hard to tell if the concern is about overcrowding/populating housing, or if it's an easy way to target people and make them feel unwelcome.
It's just that 'housing concerns' seem to come up almost exclusively among the white folks in towns with fast-growing immigrant populations... Whether or not there's a legitimate zoning concern here, the racist element seems pretty clear-cut.
People probably saw this news, but the Hazleton, PA anti-immigrant zoning law was overturned by a federal judge. The nasty little kicker to that law was that it allowed landlords and city officials to harass anybody who looked brown about their citizenship... I heard stories from several Puerto Ricans who had to explain to their white neighbors that Puerto Rico is a part of the US. Sigh.
I was hoping to set up some sort of racist exchange program so that areas with low concentrations of racists would be able to experience the joys of racism, but it never worked out. Lazy ass racists.
Heh.
the guy in the picture is so DBD, nice comb over, thick moustache (especially if you're from S.India) and white sneakers (Nike or Reebok) and if he has just moved to the US of A and still cooks and eats at home, you will smell the faint trace of sambhar and crisp papads from his sweater as he walks by you, going about his work on a cold weekday afternoon, BEEN THERE..DONE THAT!
Ohh how I miss grad school !!!
Time for a Pravin Rock Garden then. Even better, FieldTurf!!!!!
As a not-so-proud owner of an oversized lawn and recipient of attendant oversized water bills, I personally would love to see the Great American Lawn go the way of the Dodo. Much better to have a well designed garden of native plants and trees. Who, except for ugly flamingoes and gnomes, uses the front yard anyway?
the guy in the picture is so DBD, nice comb over, thick moustache (especially if you're from S.India) and white sneakers (Nike or Reebok)
He's Mallu. :)
i thought desis took over edison already...I think this is next to Edison? You'd know better than I would, but is it possible that they are worried about becoming "Edison...the sequel"?
My family used to go to Iselin all the time for groceries and such. The area of the now-famous Oak Tree Road that developed first is actually in Iselin.
I remember around 15 years ago, my teenage brother and my 11 year old self were standing outside Nina Jewelers laughing about something while our parents were shopping. This angry white guy came out of his house, looking at us and grumbling something, before storming away. The only word I made out was "motherfuckers." He stormed away. Around 10 minutes later, he stormed back, staring at us and grumbling something again. This time I made out "sons of bitches" before he stormed into his house. His house was this tiny place with a big American flag, in between Nina Jewelers and some other shop, and was the sole residence among all these Desi stores. I think he moved, and probably got paid a ton of money for his place.
It seems like the towns that have these large minority populations tend to have racist rules. Palisades Park NJ, a highly Korean community, used to have (and might still have) a rule that only restaurants that served "American-style food" could stay open 24 hours. There was a huge rally, and speakers told people over and over again, "This is why you have to vote!" I have no idea what happened in the aftermath.
You know what was the most heartbreaking thing about this story.
the mayor’s crackdown here has hit another group of immigrants: middle-class Indians who rent rooms or parts of rooms to Indian students, technology workers and others seeking a first foothold in this country.
I remember growing up in India, our little home had a revolving door open to everyone from my fathers and mothers hometown. In came a slew of cousins visiting for college for a few years, another getting his first job in the city and moving to Mumbai and knowing no one. A visiting uncle exploring options and help for his gall bladder operation, my grandmother's sister coming to live her last days after her DIL kicked her out. Today I'd do it in a heartbeat. Help out a cousin or uncle/aunt or a friend and I have. I can't imagine anyone telling me I'm violating some rule of "multi family dwelling". I'd have to pull a can of whoopass on someone if they tried to tell me what I should be doing inside my own home.
This just makes me so mad.
The 'racist' neighbors and 'discriminatory enforcement' are elements of the story, but it is also relevant to look at the fact that the house(s) in which these 'software engineers' were living - were owned by the person or company that employs them. Sojourners as workers, and employers as landlords. Scary.
These arrangements appear to elide the distinction between 'domestic help','slavery' and 'professional jobs'. Presumably, the rent plus utilities plus groceries (stocked in the house) all comes out of the paycheck, just like in the old company store, and like many domestic help arrangements today. It also reminds one of the classic 'bachelor rooming house' where men sometimes slept in bunk-beds in eight-hour shifts - a staple of old milltowns and company towns in the 19th century. This is something to ponder - and the similarity between this situation and the 'Hispanic labor is also striking, even if the former are not 'illegal'.
The point that the Professor at UT-Austin is making (about joint families, and three generations living under one roof in India etc) does not seem to me to be relevant in this context. Similarly, the undergrads living in a house as juniors or seniors is not too relevant - they often do it to get out of more expensive dorms, or to have greater 'freedom', or etc. Although college town neighbors don't complain much - in larger cities, they do - so 'students' vs 'townsfolk' - noise and behavior during parties - comes up as an issue quite a lot.
I'm surprized, however, to hear about students arriving from India not having SSNs - campuses are usually authorized to issue temporary SSNs, and usually most campuses have guaranteed housing for first year international students (though this is usually more expensive, partly from having a captive market). This might also mean more students from India are arriving without assistantships or fellowships or are self-funded - than used to be the case.
There was a clause on an apartment rental lease I signed years ago about not exceeding the maximum occupancy mandated for the apartment because of the fire code rules. Auditoriums have that rule posted all the time. Dunno if that had anything to do with this case.
I realize my post didn't answer any questions. Go here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=iselin,+nj&ie=UTF8&ll=40.552744,-74.352379&spn=0.055172,0.160675&z=13&om=1
Oak Tree Road begins in Iselin and runs west into Edison which is ridiculously large, as you can see by the fact that it's name is centered in the lower left of the screen.
what I should be doing inside my own home.
I'm surprized, however, to hear about students arriving from India not having SSNs - campuses are usually authorized to issue temporary SSNs, and usually most campuses have guaranteed housing for first year international students (though this is usually more expensive, partly from having a captive market). This might also mean more students from India are arriving without assistantships or fellowships or are self-funded - than used to be the case.
campuses are not authorized to issue SSN's---come on, brown students are terrorists, aren't they :)?---and most big campuses in CA have severe housing shortages. most grad students never make it into university housing---which is usually cheaper, not more expensive. it was true of me and practically every grad student i have known in my university as well, and most of us were funded by the university. the above paragraph can be wrong on every count in the most prestigious universities of your country.
that said, i must add that #54 doesn't convey the correct tone for a grad student experience---which is usually very good. officially there are many problems, and despite how much a select few and/or the govt want to clamp down on foreigners, universities are universities. there is usually lot of goodwill, fair play and cooperation at the ground level---i hope that remains. it is understated, but probably the biggest strength of the US. and this, not language, is the reason so few dbd's want to go to continental europe to build their career (which will contribute to their society, which the cont. europeans keep forgetting).
I think this is next to Edison? You'd know better than I would, but is it possible that they are worried about becoming "Edison...the sequel"?
Technically Iselin is next to Edison, but it's actually Iselin that people (desis) are referring to most of the time when they think of 'Edison'...that's because all the main desi shopping areas and concentrations of markets, restaurants, jewelry stores, etc. are actually in Iselin (the famous 'Oak Tree Road'). But few people use that name in everyday converstaion. In my family for example we say 'let's go have lunch in Edison today' when what we really mean is Iselin. That's very common in Jersey. Both Iselin AND Edison have huge desi populations. I am surprised that they are teaching Hindi and not Gujarati there...maybe because of the Bollywood glamour associated with Hindi and better teaching books and materials available.
Lastly, there is a LOT of latent racism in the area. It was predominantly white middle and working class about 25 years ago, and it's changed completely. It's not as desi as Southall in the UK but it's still VERY desi.
Sort of. The very first big concentration of shops was in Iselin. The various other strip malls are mostly in Edison.
Having gone through the no SSN/ no lease / no credit card / no DL I know how painful the whole exercise can be. Did you know that the SSA checks with Immigration to ensure that your visa is valid before issuing the card. If there a transmission error in that process(bound to happen) you are screwed. A mate of mine had to wait 9 months to get an SSN due to a transmission error.
Anna's dad seems to have been a wise man - did the genes skip a generation ;)
Many ABDs wont experience the stress and pleasure of uprooting oneself and moving to vastly different country. Am currently reading "Ten pound Poms" which is a moving story about the english migrants. Migrants often forget to document their experiences which is a real shame. Hope that DBDs keep a daily journal so that future generations may understand the joys and travails of immigrant existence. Verbal sharing is good but the written word is heaps more powerful.
Paying it forward is a lovely desi practice. Randomizer - my bro is coming to A&M this year - may I give him your contact details?
You know, I think you could be right...I'm not sure where the border between the two towns is, I always thought the desi parts of Oak Tree Road were all in Iselin, but I guess they do extend into Edison. When I think of Edison I'm thinking more westwards, Route 1 and all that.
I'm trying to remember back, a long time ago, to when I took sociology in college. I believe there was some finding along the lines that a majority ethnic population more or less ignores a minority population until the minority reaches some "visible" percentage of the population. Then, once that threshold is reached you see a lot of backlash. I don't remember what the percentage was though!
From a citation I found, it looks like around 17% of Iselin is identified as "Asian-Indian". Assuming this data comes from the last census, and that the population percentage has probably increased some by then, it sounds like receiving a quarter of the citations would be about what you would expect drawing randomly from the Iselin population. So, I'm not seeing evidence of a particular racist targeting, at least from the numbers.
These sorts of crack downs happen a lot in college towns as well. Any place where there are rentals with a relatively large number of people, will get backlash from the people who own nearby complaining about whatever they can come up with. Somehow the large number of people is okay if it's *family*, but the definition of "family" is usually nuclear family. So, you can have a mess of kids, but don't let your uncle stay... or something like that. At least that seems to be what's going on in N. Virginia. *That* does seem to have an anti-immigrant flavor. So, maybe this is going on in NJ as well.
Anna's dad seems to have been a wise man - did the genes skip a generation ;)
Hahaha, very phunny. The sad truth: he'd probably agree with you, since I still haven't gone to law school
With all due respect to my less irate, cooler-headed peers...while I see the logic of comparing the % of desi residents to the number of violations, when the article plainly states this:
Mayor McCormac conceded that many of the complaints had been unjustified and, as in Mr. Patel’s case, turned out to be cases of cultural differences in the definition of family more than illegal subdivisions.
I still get angry and angry me thinks it's a coincidence. This entire C.F. may not be overtly racist, but it's ignorant. If certain Americans can't relate to the concept of "joint families"
a) that's their problem
b) where did all that bullshit about family values suddenly go?
6 months to get a cell phone
Don't you guys have prepaid cell phones?
The other thing that the illustrious angry non-desi residents of Edison/ Iselin forget about is that Iselin (and Edison, though to a lesser degree) were pretty much run down you-know-what-holes before the Indian community moved in. Does anyone here remember what Oak Tree Road used to look like 20 years ago? I do. Today it is a bustling, vibrant community where desis and non-desis are welcome and hang around. Yes, the traffic sucks. Yes, they need more parking. Blah blah blah, without the revenue coming in from those shops I would love to see what taxes would really be like in those two townships. The desi community has been nothing but good for central NJ except for one small, sad fact that many "long timers" cannot get over no matter how they try: they're brown. That's why the cops are always looking for opportunities to ticket as much as they can on OTR and the streets surrounding it.
The bottom line here is that you have a status quo being changed, and that's never easy no matter what, especially to those who are on the short end of the change. But it is changing, and much like the glorious British Empire had to pack up and ship out of all those nice places it once owned, time waits for no man (or woman, because I know here I'll get called out if I don't throw this in ;)
Anyways, this is going to be an interesting story over the next 5-10 years as the community in the area continues to grow. Years ago, when I was a wee lad, there were like 3 desi stores on OTR. Now, it is moving up and down the street in both directions, especially towards Edison proper. I am really interested to see how this will affect the demographics in the long term (i.e. if you're going to see more and more "white flight" or not).
On a brighter note, Ming Restaurant which is up OTR a bit, is just fabulous. It's next to Mughul for those who don't know, which is also great, but Ming is where it's at.
Oh, and ANNA hope the ankles is better soon!
Building codes and zoning laws are used to keep out the 'undesirables'. Housing associations in major indian metros are equally guilty of similar practices. Some have rules that you cant cook certain foods. For folks like myself who love their karimeen / chala this is really painful.
Minority backlash is reality and one that desi immigrants and their offspring will face in increasingly over the next few years.
Does anyone know if the desis (ABD/DBD) normally vote? Does the same middle class apathy as displayed in India continue?
The desi community has been nothing but good for central NJ except for one small, sad fact that many "long timers" cannot get over no matter how they try: they're brown.
They're also afraid of their kids not being able to get into an Ivy if the desis take up the valedictorian & salutatorian spots. The funny thing is that I am sure that many of the Iselin/Edison residents are probably only a generation or two from living in extended/multigenerational European immigrant families.
They're also afraid of their kids not being able to get into an Ivy if the desis take up the valedictorian & salutatorian spots. The funny thing is that I am sure that many of the Iselin/Edison residents are probably only a generation or two from living in extended/multigenerational European immigrant families.
Well, Anna had pointed out on her recent Brian Lehrer appearance that the politics of the ABDs on this board are very different from the politics of DBDs, on immigration for instance. We're only one generation away too.
"That's the way the whole durned human comedy keeps perpetuatin' it-self"
The other thing that the illustrious angry non-desi residents of Edison/ Iselin forget about is that Iselin (and Edison, though to a lesser degree) were pretty much run down you-know-what-holes before the Indian community moved in. Does anyone here remember what Oak Tree Road used to look like 20 years ago? I do.
I agree with that observation. But it doesn't follow automatically that Indian revitalized the area. Many, many towns in North Jersey look way more prosperous today, after 20 odd years of decent economic growth, than they did 20 years ago. Come to think of it, while we're on the topic of shared housing and therefore college towns, any oldtimers here struck by how wealthy college towns compared to what they used to look like back in the day?
re: cookiebrown @68
I have cousins in Edison/Iselin, so I've seen its growth over the years. I'm 22 now, living in Hoboken, NJ (just across the river from nyc) which has seen its share of growth, but nowhere near the factor Edison has seen. Hoboken went from kinda dumpy to pretty nice. Edison/Iselin brought Subzi Mandi, jewelry stores (i've heard 100+ just on the oak tree road strip?) and parking lots packed with cars from all over the northeast (read: sales tax, revenue for the city).
I grew up in Southern California and the same thing is happening on Pioneer Blvd in Artesia, but . There's a lot of resentment, racism (ahem, 'cultural differences') and unwillingness to change. But the people just keep getting permits and building, and generally the towns are realizing how much of an asset these areas are. Still, some friends of my parents opened a Hindu temple in a residential area in Norwalk, CT. The every now and then late night garbas (8pm late for the old garba ladies) frequently resulted in slashed tires for the cars parked out front. One thing's for sure, the status quo is sure as hell changing and the rest of the country had better be ready to change with it.
A desi-born desi veering towards death by dissertation, in case anyone wonders. Although now I'm a DBAC3D- a desi-born american confused displaced diasporic desi. Anyway, living in the tri-state area in Jercity (or Jersey City to non-residents), I had plenty of fellow desi flatmates. We didn't have to mow our lawn or shovel the snow because the landlady(RIP)'s lafanga son took care of those functions in lieu of payment for living in his mother's house and watching tv all day at the age of 45. We got soc's by going to the SSA and waiting in a short line. I assume H1B workers have to do this as well, no? Wouldn't having a SS number be a precondition to getting a paycheck? I don't know.
As for mowing lawns, my father always complains that in India, people keep their streets filthy and their home interiors immaculately clean. Bourgeois response, no doubt, but pace Partha Chatterjee, the outside is not civic space, it is that place that is not-home.
No doubt there are anti-Indian and Anti-immigrant issues lurking not too far from the surface in Iselin (yeah, we always call it Edison too), but I think Sari Virgin has correctly identified the bottom line:
"Any place where there are rentals with a relatively large number of people, will get backlash from the people who own nearby complaining about whatever they can come up with."
We own a single family home. We will probably at some point become a single multigenerational/extended family home. We have several such homes on our street. Nobody has an issue with such. However, once a home gets rented out (which does happen on occasion), all the neighbors, including me, get leery. Why?
(1)Renters and remote landlords generally do not take care of rental properties the way homeowners do - I certainly didn't as a former renter, nor did members of my family as former landlords. People who own homes generally take pride in living in a house/neighborhood that has curb appeal.
(2) When a home is divided up into multiple household units (let's assume legally for the sake of this argument) you generally get more trash, more vehicles, more noise and more foot traffic than if you had the same number of people living in one household.
Goriwife at #71-- everything you said is true. But complaints about rentals only seem to inspire politicians and national media attention when a growing immigrant population is the target of the complaint. Poor white people live in overcrowded rentals and trailers in my hometown (outside Pittsburgh) and there are complaints sometimes, but it never goes farther than the zoning board or the town council-- no organized campaigns, no New York Times articles. There may very well be legitimate grounds for some complaints, but I don't think that robs the issue of its political dimension-- about which we should all be speaking out.
@melbourne desi #58 -
All your bro has to do is register with the Indian Association at A&M , and they will take it from there regarding hosting. This site should be a great place to start. If he needs more info, he get in touch with me at my site, and i could help him with any questions he might have.
But complaints about rentals only seem to inspire politicians and national media attention when a growing immigrant population is the target of the complaint.
inspiring politicians to what end? to prevent it?
Once you own a home and are paying mortgage , the "love" for your hood takes a protective leap. I sued to have liberal views on renters and overcrowding. Used to.
The question is, if it were a bunch of swedish gymnasts renting places, would the reaction be the same?
The question is, if it were a bunch of swedish gymnasts renting places, would the reaction be the same?
Thank you.
inspiring politicians to what end? to prevent it?
Right. I'm talking about the xenophobic headline-grabbers like Tom Tancredo, or the mayors in Hazleton, PA and Riverside, NJ (and more towns keep adding themselves to that list).
The question is, if it were a bunch of swedish gymnasts renting places, would the reaction be the same?
That is exactly the question.
I assume H1B workers have to do this as well, no?
- Yes, H1-B/L-1 workers have to get Social security numbers else they do NOT get paid. They have to stand in line like everybody else in the SSN office. As far as the paperwork is clear, you get an SSN number without any problem
- Students also get SSN numbers( My husband did when he was a student) However, before he officially became a student, and was here on a dependent visa he could NOT get an SSN number (only a Tax Identification number).Spouses/kids( unless America -born) of H1-L1 holders do not qualify for SSNs and have to get a special letter from the SSN office to take to the DMV before applying for a driver's license
Once you own a home and are paying mortgage , the "love" for your hood takes a protective leap.
Agree 100%.All of us tend to get into the NIMBY mode ( Not In My Backyard)
The question is, if it were a bunch of swedish gymnasts renting places, would the reaction be the same
And as far as I know, the answer is probably not. I saw a microcosm of this in Bridgewater, NJ, when the temple there was attempting to expand their housing complexes for the priests. The city planning commission had to authorize this as it was considered public housing. (temple is a public place)
There was a clear undercurrent of racism, as churches had no expansion issues at all, of course their models were differnt, they don't need the reverends to live onsite, as Hindu temples usually have. But the big questions were, "will these new priests coming, bring their kids as well? will they go to our school, will it bring more traffic to rt 202/206?"
I have a house in Jersey City which I rent out desi grad students. It started with five guys and sometimes when I happen to stop by randomly, I see more luggage and the reason they give is, "some guys are staying because they're in transition to find a new place". I know they wouldnt find a nice landlord like me anywhere else :)
...but Ming is where it's at.My friends Father-in-law is the head chef there. the food is alright but Rasoi is by far the best restaurant in that area cuz it doesnt believe in "fusion" and has that punjabi dhaaba taste that I love. Try TANGRA, Queens, for the best Indo-chinese food in the tri state area!
The question is, if it were a bunch of swedish gymnasts renting places, would the reaction be the same?
Only if they had trampolines in the yard.
with this, you never know.
Only if they had trampolines in the yard.
Oh, and if they left fresh herring out in the sun to dry before they pickled it.
randomizer - thank you.
Runa - Not true. Folks on an H1B and L1 do get paid even if they dont have SSN. However on their payslips it is shown as 'SSN applied for'. The company deposits the money in a trust account. Some companies provide advances on salary for as long as it takes to get an SSN.
HMF : great point about the Swedes.
A good way to fight such harassment would be to plough a rotten used car into the houses of a few complaining neighbours. Claim loss of control!!That should shut them up or alternatively they will move - Fighting words ;)
We need to learn to fight back - everywhere.
Melbourne desi,
Some companies provide advances on salary for as long as it takes to get an SSN.Yes, you are right.I meant in general even on H1 you need an SSN because I thought I saw a question from a commenter on whether SSNs are issued at all to H1s!
A good way to fight such harassment would be to plough a rotten used car into the houses of a few complaining neighbours.
That exact scenario works only for Billy Joel.
I just stumbled upon this and don't have time to read all the comments above, but-- it's not just New Jersey. It's happening in NY too (Queens, close to Nassau County). A relative runs an IT company and has a bunch of DBDs living in a rented house while they're waiting for job placement. The neighbors complained about the lawn and the health inspector came along. I can't verify if the lawn really was that horrible though.
I haven't read all the comments above, but I'd like to say that this is true - Iselin is my hometown, and my family has been unfairly attacked more then once about the upkeep of our lawns.
