Are Indians, Asians?

If you are an Indian (the one they were looking for not the one those idiots found), you may had been in this conundrum at some point in your life especially if you are living in the Americas. If you have been lucky enough to avoid it so far, the time may not last. This is a question that had confused me so much that I never knew what to answer. Mostly ended up having either “Do not wish to provide” as a choice. Other times when I did answer, I am sure I answered it differently every time.

In short, yes they are Asians as far as the geography is concerned. However the intent of the question is not to determine the geography an individual belonged to but to address racial discrimination. Hence the question is related to the race of the person.

Referring to the race, the question is much more complex to answer.

So are Indians, Asians?

Yes and No.

If you belong to one of the northeast states and have characteristic traits or facial features resembling most people from that region. You are an Asian (Mongoloid race which I believe are also people from China, Japan and Korea).

However if you are from one of the Western, northern, central Indian states including West Bengal or certain south Indians, you may be better classified as a Caucasian that share racial traits with most European and Arab countries.  Please note that the race is not determined by the color of the skin. Facial features however are not very different with the middle world.

Many south and western Indians (especially Siddis or Makrani) will be Negritos solely because of their origins from Africa (Bantu).

As if the above was not sufficient, someone created an "East Indian" category. The India on the east of the GMT as if there was one on the west. 

If your (or parent's) nationality is/was Indian, you can be an Asian, Caucasian, East Indian, Mongoloid or even Negrito. Wow!

If you see one or more of the options above, then you might be able to infer which race to choose. The other way to look at it is from HMDA requirements perspective. For the purpose of HMDA, yes all Indians (nationals as well Indian Americans. Not American Indians) will be Asians.