Word: asani
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...grew up with a triple heritage. I grew up speaking Indian languages at home--Gujurati [mother's language] and Sindhi [father's language], at school we spoke English and to communicate with other Africans, we spoke Swahili...being Muslim also added another measure to my identity," Asani says...
...Asani says he had a comfortable middle-class upbringing in Nairobi, which was racially stratified under British rule. His father was an accountant, and his mother worked for East African, later Kenyan Airways...
...Asani says he personally did not experience many problems with the black Africans, mainly because his school had already started to desegregate by the time of independence in 1963. "I had lots of black friends." he says...
...Since Indians were used as a buffer by the British from Africans, and also because of their long history of trade, Indians tended to be better off. Also because of this, there was some resentment from Africans toward Indians as a minority," Asani says. "[However] there was no segregation between Muslims and Hindus within the South Asian community in Kenya, unlike the subcontinent. There was a great deal of religious tolerance...
...Asani came to Harvard as an undergraduate in 1973, when the University was "just beginning to diversify racially" and went through enormous culture shock...