The attacks of terror carried out on September 11, 2001 gave rise to waves of hate-fueled violence across the country. It has been argued that the attacks and the subsequent, current context of war have resulted in a heightened sense of American intolerance. They have led to discernable shifts in how certain minorities are perceived and treated in the United States. Since the attacks, an alarming number of Arab, Iranian, and other Muslim Americans have been targeted and hurt, becoming victims of a vicious brand of "patriotism." The FBI reports that the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes filed has spiked from 28 in the year 2000, to 481 in 2001--representing a seventeen-fold increase. Backlash continues to take on the form of verbal taunting, airport profiling, and even physical violence. The group hardest hit by hate crimes post 9-11 has been the South Asian Americans. Today, young desi Americans find themselves--perhaps for the first time--in the shaky, undesirable position of standing out for the "wrong" reasons. Listening to reports of hate crimes directed at South Asian and Muslim Americans after the events of September 11th, they must now contend with the understanding that their position in this country is more tenuous than they perhaps realized. In this paper, the author discusses what growing up during a time of rising confusion and xenophobia has meant for the children of Indian immigrants. (Contains 24 endnotes.)