This dynamic labelling a POC as “whitewashed” in itself is very ignorant and demeaning. You have not walked a mile in another individual’s shoes and you don’t know their whole life story. Why do you feel as though you have the authority to determine that someone has abandoned their culture or that they are purposefully “detached”?

Invalidating someone’s identity is not the right approach & if anything, it will scare them off from wanting to learn.

We should be focusing our energy on motivating people to get closer to their roots instead of alienating them.

Many of the folks who cannot speak Panjabi already feel disconnected from their elders & the rest of the community in general.

It is true that many of us in the west have been fortunate enough to have Panjabi as our mother tongue but that is not the case for everyone.

Accessibility is a factor to take into account- not everyone has the means to go learn a new language right at their fingertips.

Many parents were too busy assimilating and trying to grasp the western world to keep the culture alive:(