Chasing Desi Dollars
As one of the fastest growing minorities in the U.S., Desis or South Asians, are beginning to
influence more facets of American
cultural life.
Like other minorities, the Desis do not control the majority of the American market share. However, with their increasing immigration and large family sizes, the Desis are controlling more and more financial and cultural territory in America. Indians alone command $76 billion worth of disposable income, and of all the ethnic groups in the U.S., the Indians have the highest annual median household income. Making an average of $64,000 every year, above the $52,000 of all Asians, and $45,000 of whites, the Indians are becoming an influential part of the way American entertainment and other industries are doing business.
Take MTV’s recent venture, MTV DESI, for instance. A complete music channel devoted to Desi music, it has already garnered sponsorships and funding from major American
companies hoping to sit well with the Desi community. Interestingly enough, unlike other MTV subsidiaries, MTV DESI is targeted at Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Bhutanese, and Nepalese Americans. Despite the vast national differences, MTV DESI recognizes a sort of cultural solidarity among Desi Americans. Like many other companies that are aiming to attract Desi dollars, MTV Desi tacks itself onto what it sees as traditional Desi values and struggles. The mere identification (Honest identification, not stereotyping) of so-called “Desi values” speaks volumes to ethnic coalescence and the potential of it. It is a cultural solidarity that perhaps other ethnic groupings such as East Asians have yet to achieve and have recognized on such a large scale.
Today’s rapidly diversifying and globalizing world is harnessing the power of coalescing cultural identities and cultural capital. Marketing, entertainment, commerce, and trade are all molded and shaped by these “ethnoscapes”(Taken from Appadurai). The trendiest, most profitable companies and industries must cater and address the growing commercial power of entire cultural and ethnic groups.
Chasing Desi Dollars, TIME Inside Business August 2005.