South Asian

A racial and ethnic classification referring to people with origins in the South Asian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and nearby nations), whose meaning and boundaries have been fluid and contested in US racial discourse. Notably, South Asian identity has intersected with race, religion (particularly Islam), and immigration patterns both historically and in post-1965 contexts.

Claims that use this term

• South Asian racial classification has been fluid and contested in the US.
• Muslim identity stripped South Asian men of their model-minority racial privilege
• Post-1965 South Asian and Arab immigrants enjoyed class privileges that African Americans were denied
• Arab and South Asian identities have been conflated with Islam
• The Runnymede Report conflated Muslims overwhelmingly with South Asian ethnicity
• The Runnymede Report’s evidence was concentrated on South Asian locales