The term Multiculturalism has recently come into usage to describe a society characterized by a diversity of cultures. Religion, language, customs, traditions, and values are some of the components of a culture, but more importantly culture is the lens through which one perceives and interprets the world. When shared culture forms the basis for a "sense of peoplehood", based on consciousness of a common past, we can speak of a group possessing an Ethnicity. Ethnicity is not transmitted genetically from generation to generation; nor is it unchanging over time. Rather ethnicity is invented or constructed in response to particular historical circumstances and changes as circumstances change. In this essay, ethnicity will be used to identify groups or communities that are differentiated by religious, racial, or cultural characteristics and that possess a sense of people-hood. The "Multicultural America" is the product of the mingling of many different peoples over the hundred

m is an important source of American multiculturalism. The immigration and naturalizaton policies pursued by a country are a key to understanding its self conception as a nation. If the capacity of American society To absorb some 55 million immigrants over the course of a century and a half is impressive, it is also,true That American history has been punctuated by ugly episodes of nativism and xenophobia. With the possible exception of the British, it is dificullt to find an immigrant group that has not been subject to some degree of prejudice and discrimination. Not all Anglo-Americans were racists or xenophobes. Citing Christian and democratic ideals of universal brotherhood, many advocated the abolition of slavery and the rights of freedmen - freedom of religion and cultural tolerance. Multiculturalism is not a museum of immigrant cultures, but rather this complex of the living, vibrant ethnicities of contemporary America. As the United states approaches the twentieth century its future as an ethnically plural is hotly contested. Is the United states more diverse today than in the past?. Is the unity of the society threatened by its diversity?. Are the centrifugal forces in American society more powerful than the centripetal ?. We need a new model, a new definition our identity as a people, which will encompass our expanding multiculturalism and which will define us a multiethnic people in the context of a multiethnic world. We need a compelling paradigm that will command the faith of all Americans because it embraces them in their many-splendored diversity within a just society. In context of multiculturalism I am going to discuss about "The Asian Indian - American Family" in multiethnic America. Introduction The economic, political, and social oppourtinities promised by life in the united States have drawn immigrants from numerous countries. Although the term "Asian/ Pacific Islander"(Asian American) Has been offically established by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to include all Asians and Southeast Asians, it actually overlooks major national and racial differences as well as the cultural variations that exists within and among nations and races from Asia. The general public's overwhelming perception of Asian-American immigrants is that they constitute a "model minority" are professionally successful, and, according to their own cultural notions of health are well Adjusted both emotionally and mentally. Historical Background Immigration Patterns Although documentation of the presence of asian indians dates back to 1790 in masschusetts, it was essentially in the latter part of the nineteenth century that Indians began migrating to North america in significant numbers. These were voluntary emigrants to north America primarily agricultural laborers from the northwestern part of india, who settled in california between 1899 and 1920 and numbered about 7800(Balagopal, 1995; Chandrasekhar, 1982.While immigrants from India continue to enter the United States, an exceptionally large influx of indians occurred in the mid-sixties when INS relaxed the immigration policies. The 1990 census(U.S.Bureau of census, 1992) indicates that Indians are the fourth Largest Asian American group (81,5447)but more recent data devloped by the census bureau (sphs@fyvie.cs.wisc.edu,1994) indicates that there are currently over 1 million Asian Indians in America and that community grew by 125.6 percent between 1980-1990 from 361,531. Indians compose one of the fastest growing immigrant groups, resulting not only from the arrival of new immigrants, but also from the birth of the second generation. Table Density of Indians in select urban-metropolitan Areas Geographic Areas Population Size Boston-Lawrence-Salem, MA 16,549 Chicago-Gary-Lake Country, IL 59,046 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 17,831 Detroit-Ann Arbor, MI 18,509 Houston-Galveston-Brazoria,TX 26,559 Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside, CA 68,887 New Yo!

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