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"American-Born Confused Desi" ("ABCD") is an informal term used to refer to South Asian Americans particularly of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, born or raised in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in contrast to those who were born overseas and later settled in the USA.


Neologism

"ABCD" or "American-Born Confused Desi" has become a polarizing factor in the South Asian diaspora in the US, with first-generation immigrant parents and young South Asians of second or later generations. Though the term was originally coined in reference to Indian-Americans, it has been adopted by the South Asian diaspora at large. The term " desi" comes from the
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
word (, ). The word has its origin in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, , and is pronounced ''desh'' in the
Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
. "Desi" means "of the homeland" and is generally used by diasporas of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Although it is not used much in South Asia and not as a set identity like the diasporas do. The term has been commonly known among diasporas since at least the 1980s. The term "confused" is used to describe the psychological state of many second-generation South Asian Americans who struggle to balance values and traditions taught at home with attitudes and practices that are more conducive to the culture of The United States. The longer and lesser known form "American Born Confused Desi, Emigrated From
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, House In
Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
" is also occasionally seen; playing on the alphabet theme, it has been expanded for K-Z variously as "Kids Learning Medicine, Now Owning Property, Quite Reasonable Salary, Two Uncles Visiting, White
Xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
, Yet Zestful" or "Keeping Lotsa Motels, Named Omkarnath Patel, Quickly Reaching Success Through Underhanded Vicious Ways, Xenophobic Yet Zestful". The former version of the A—Z expansion was proposed by South Asian immigrants as a reaction to the latter version that derogated them.


Cultural implications

Among South Asian Americans, the term may be considered divisive, as first generation South Asian Americans use it to criticize the Americanization and lack of belonging to Indian Asian culture they perceive in their second-generation peers or children. Writer Vijay Prashad describes the term as "ponderous and overused" and notes it as one of the mechanisms by which new immigrants attempt to make second-generation youth feel "culturally inadequate and unfinished".


Movies

The term American-Born Confused Desi first appeared in the movie ''
American Desi ''American Desi'' is a 2001 American comedy film with Indian influence, notable for featuring many prominent South Asian American actors. Also featured is an a cappella version of Nazia Hassan's Urdu classic "Aap Jaisa Koi", sung by Penn Masala ...
'' (2001). '' ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi'' is a 2013
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
language movie released in India. The film narrates the journey of two young American Malayalees to their motherland,
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, with the title based on the term "American-Born Confused Desi".


See also

*
American-born Chinese American-born Chinese () (sometimes abbreviated as ABC) is a term widely used to refer to Chinese people that were born in the United States and received U.S. citizenship due to birthright citizenship in the United States. Contested usage In ...
(ABC)


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * {{Ethnic slurs Indian diaspora in the United States Pakistani diaspora in the United States Anti-Asian slurs Asian-American issues Human migration Cultural generations South Asian American Stereotypes of Asian Americans Stereotypes of South Asian people Stereotypes of women rmy:ABCD