The authors conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with members of SAADA Academic advisory Council (n=11). The goal of interviews was to “gain a detailed understanding of the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of subjects from their points of view using their own thoughts” (p.65).
Examples of participants’ responses to researchers’ questions are presented in the paper to support the main findings.
Absence of or difficulty in accessing historical materials related to South Asian Americans before the emergence of SAADA.
When I was growing up in Alabama...no one even knew what South Asian American meant....
I..felt a sense of displacement by not seeing themselves reflected in the American story
The personal affective impact of discovering SAADA for the first time
For me personally, the value of archives is profound. And I think that that may be true for a lot of people who suddenly are able to discover themselves, existing, being documented.
The affective impact of SAADA on responders’ South Asian American Students.
They are surprised that it was us (South Asians) who were directly part of that history.
The ability of SAADA both to reflect the diversity within the South Asian American community and to promote feelings of inclusion within the ethnic community and the larger society (p. 67).
For me knowing there is a long, rich, and diverse history of South Asians in the United States counteracts...feeling of displacement.
