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Journalism of Courage
If language is indeed the first marker of identity,your location within a linguistic geography legitimises who you are,and why you are where you are. The success rate of Indian-origin kids in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals in Washington DC is as much a peculiarly Indian-American phenomenon as it easily accommodates itself into the larger,age-old,immigrant narrative of meshing into the mainstream. Thats not to say that the families of the likes of Anamika Veeramani who has just become the third Indian-American in a row to win are fresh off the boat,desperate to show how well they,or their children,take to the land as ducks to water. It is,more elementally and across generations,races and ethnicities,about mastering English,and thereby claiming American-ness.
Now,there are aspects to the Indian triumphs that ride on an industriousness and commitment that have come to be accepted as hallmarks of the Indian-American community. Hispanic children too,usually much less privileged than their Indian counterparts,do very well at the Spelling Bee. But no other community has invested the effort,time and money in smaller spelling league circuits,such as the North South Foundation,that launch Indian children on their spellconquering trajectories.
