Pre-colonization, India had over 700 languages, seven language families, and thousands of dialects. This intense diversity created fluidity amongst languages depending on the region, situation, and purpose. This all changed with colonization, as a linguistic hierarchy was created that threatened the ease of switching between languages. Although Britain did not ban the use of Indian languages, they imposed bureaucratic and educational rules. These policies led to some languag

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 transformed immigration opportunities for South Asians. The national-origins quota system that existed from the 1920s to 1965 heavily favored Europeans; this all changed when President Lyndon B. Johnson abolished the law that based immigration on race and ethnicity. This new system focuses on accepting immigrants on the basis of family sponsorship and employment-based visas. While there were still caps on immigration with annual lim

Code-switching is defined by UC Berkeley as “ the practice of alternating between languages, dialects, or cultural behaviors (such as appearance or mannerisms) to fit into different social contexts or to navigate power dynamics.” This is used as a strategy to navigate social norms and hierarchies. Individuals from minority groups typically switch aspects of identity like race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, age, and disability status. Many fields, like