The answer is nuanced, and it’s time that we face multiple truths…

In December 2024, entrepreneur, right-wing politician, and the collective embarrassment to Indian Americans, Vivek Ramaswamy, took to Twitter to talk to white people the way that white people talk to Black people, and white people did NOT like it.

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long…a culture that venerates Cory from Boy Meets World, or Zach and Slater over Screech in Saved by the Bell, or Stefan over Steve Urkel will not produce the best engineers..” 

He doubled down, “Fact: I know *multiple* sets of immigrant parents in the 90s who actively limited how much their kids could watch those TV shows precisely because they promoted mediocrity…” 

I saw screenshots of his X post on Threads. Here were my initial thoughts: 

1. WTF is wrong with Boy Meets World? 

2. Did he forget about Topanga, the beauty and the brains? 

3. Why does he sound like almost every Indian uncle I know? 

Vivek’s comments ignited a debate about the H1B visa process in the U.S. Many people took to the internet to share their opinions. Unfortunately, many of these opinions were rooted in xenophobia, or anti-immigrant sentiments. Some of these opinions came from the expected sources, such as MAGA Republicans, the Far Right, and white supremacists. However, many Indian Americans (including myself) were shocked to hear some of these sentiments be expressed by liberals, progressives, and even other people of color. Some Indian Americans (and I actually kind of have to agree with this take) believe that we actually need to face this racism to understand that Donald Trump is not our God.

Even though most of us intended to vote for Harris and Walz this election, with more favorable attitudes towards Harris than Biden, it’s about time that Indian Americans start having conversations about our socially and politically conservative values. At the same time, I know that many of us exist in insular communities, and are not entirely aware of where we stand in the racial hierarchy of America. Many of us lack the racial analysis to understand the difference between racism (the structural hierarchy that determines who benefits from the status quo, protection, and access to resources based on the social construct of race), and prejudice (negative assumptions about a group of people, often the result of interpersonal interactions, trauma, and cultural mistrust that can exist between minority groups). 

I understand that this can be extremely disheartening, frustrating, and intense for many Indian Americans who are new to learning about racism. This is not meant to shame you, but perhaps this can be a learning opportunity for all of us to heal together, and build coalitions across communities. So where did this start, and how did this come to be? 

How did we get here? 

Our history is extremely nuanced, and it’s important to recognize all of its intricacies. We are on the receiving end of racism and we can also be complicit!

1. Model Minority Myth: Part of the reason why there’s so much prejudice towards the Indian American diaspora is because, well, we can also be prejudiced too, and we often take a lot of pride in that. The model minority myth is the belief that a racial minority is more superior than other minorities because of their hard work, success, education, and their ability to be respectable, meaning their ability to be deemed worthy of respect by the dominant group in society. This can reinforce perfectionism anxiety, people-pleasing anxiety, and guilt around not working “hard enough”. For many Indian Americans who are the children of immigrants, we’re familiar with the guilt that comes with making our parents proud of the sacrifices they made to come here, along with the usual “What will people think/say?”, and the pride that comes with being exceptional. These cultural factors can reinforce the Myth of the Model Minority. While we did not create this myth, and this myth was imposed onto us by white society, we have been pit against Black and Latin communities. The model minority myth was used to oppress Black and Latin American communities to justify systemic racism against them. This is called conquer and divide.

   
   Unfortunately, many Indian Americans uphold the Model Minority Myth, using terms like “#BrownExcellence”, and believing that cultural pride is about how we’re “doctors, lawyers, engineers”, instead of learning more about the beauty of our history and our roots. Many Indian Americans like Vivek and Kash Patel believe that this is what it means to be “Indian”, and strongly believe that we benefit from the Model Minority Myth. As a therapist who has seen the mental health impacts of people-pleasing and perfectionism, I couldn’t disagree more. There are many mental health side effects to the Model Minority Myth. Not to mention that not all Indian Americans fit this myth. What about those of us who aren’t doctors, lawyers, and engineers, who aren’t wealthy, or are undocumented? Are we not “Indian enough”? 

   Indian Americans who uphold the Model Minority Myth have used it to justify their anti-Blackness and prejudice against other minority groups in the U.S. We also have very prejudiced assumptions about people we perceive as “different” from us. Many of us from more conservative households are familiar with the “no BMW” rule in our families: no Black, white, or Muslim when it comes to friends or dating partners. Many of us also have this false belief that other minority groups do not work as hard as we do, or are somehow undeserving. We have used this belief to prop ourselves up by putting others down. This can be a slap in the face to the Black American community, whose Civil Rights Movement fought for our rights to come to the U.S. and allowed for us to partake in Western comforts. 

2. The multi-racial far right: The people in our community who have benefited from propping themselves up by putting others down include Vivek, Kash Patel, and Nikki  “Nimarata Randhawa” Haley. But that’s not just in America. Rishi Sunak and other politicians of Indian descent in Western countries like the U.K. have also benefited from pulling the ladder from underneath them. Sadly, these right-wing politicians get more of a platform than progressive and Democratic Indian American politicians, such as Pramila Jayapal and Ashwin Ramaswami, who ran for the Georgia senate position. There are many Indian Americans who support the Democratic party, but we hear very little about them. 

3. Hindu nationalism and caste: The rising Hindu nationalism in India, combined with Modi’s recent statements calling Indian Americans “brand ambassadors” for India, paints all Indian Americans with a broad brush. Not all of us are Hindu or Brahmin caste. Some of us did not grow up with wealth or privileged caste status. Unfortunately, caste is still a very real issue today, and yes, even in the U.S. There are many Hindu nationalists in the U.S. who support Modi, who do not support the recognition, representation, or the equal rights of Indians who are not religiously Hindu, and seek to oppress Dalit voices. Equality Labs, an educational Civil Rights organization run by Dalit Activist Thenmohzi Soundarajan, faced many death threats by casteist Indian Americans when putting on programs to educate the public about casteism. Sadly, many of these Indian Americans support the Republican party, and are against affirmative action, because they see the parallels with India’s educational reservation policies for Dalit people, India’s own version of affirmative action.

4. The gross and smelly “other”: Xenophobia, or the dislike and prejudice of people from other countries, also plays a part in anti-Indian sentiments. Many Americans hate the idea of a Brown immigrant “stealing their jobs’, yet are unwilling to pursue or value the STEM fields that leave employers looking elsewhere for talent. Despite Vivek’s underlying resentment about being the nerd in grade school, a broken clock is right once a day on military time: the rise of anti-intellectualism, along with the cost of higher education in the U.S., means very few Americans are pursuing these fields. In addition, the stereotype that Indian people smell like curry, don’t use deodorant, and don’t practice good hygiene is a trope that Americans use to justify their anti-Indian stances, and don’t often realize that this sentiment underlies their otherwise valid points that yes, Indian people can be just as racist as they are. 

So where do we go from here? 

This information is relatively new for a lot of Indian Americans, and I find that many of us, even those who are South Asian Gen Z, struggle to understand how structural racism is. Due to the fear of collective punishment as a result of xenophobia, we’re more focused on protecting our own community than learning more about other people’s realities. Here are some ways that we can slowly start building coalitions: 

1. Make friends with people outside of your culture: My hot take is that sometimes you don’t need therapy from a therapist of your culture, you just need to hear a different perspective. We have a lot more in common with other people than we think. There are many cultural and historical similarities that we share with Black and Latin American communities. Make an effort to get to know colleagues and classmates, and you’ll find that there are both similarities and differences. Making friends with people who are different from you can improve your cognitive flexibility, your options, and thus, your hopefulness. 

2. Invite them to the function: One of the most common complaints I hear from Black American friends is that they don’t feel included in our community functions, but we will invite white friends to our cultural events. It’s true—when we come to the U.S., we assimilate to whiteness and white standards of American culture. If we can befriend white people, what is stopping us from getting to know Black people? So much of our existence in the U.S. is because of their fight for civil rights. Consider inviting Black friends into your life and letting them learn more about us and our culture! 

3. Join anti-racist affinity groups at work or at your school: There are many DEI educators and consultants who are creating spaces for learning and accountability that can also be very healing. Part of healing is unlearning biases about other people that we may also harbor towards ourselves. While these spaces can be emotionally uncomfortable and mentally taxing, they are also designed for self-reflection. Sometimes things hurt before we can feel better. 

4. Identify the difference between constructive feedback and bad faith arguments: Yes, a lot of criticism against Indian people is racist and invalid, AND not all criticism is an attack. Is the criticism about our actions or is the criticism about our relatively innocuous traits? Criticism of the way that we treat other people is valid. Criticism about the culture that does not affect other people is made in bad faith. It’s not your job to assuage the racial anxieties of other people, nor is it your job to be a “good Indian”. When confronted with valid criticism, you don’t have to apologize either. Before we get defensive, can we acknowledge the small kernel of truth in their valid criticism? 

I’m sure there are many Indian and South Asian Americans who read this and don’t agree with a word I said, and if you’re one of those people, that’s OK. After all, why should we not be proud of our accomplishments? We have also contributed to American society! But being proud of our accomplishments doesn’t mean we have to put other people down to feel good about ourselves. You can’t pride yourself on exclusivity and then be mad that no one wants to be part of your club.

I don’t expect you to agree with me. That goes against my very belief systems about what it means to be socially just. You don’t have to be perfect to be a good person. But is our diaspora open to learning new information, and building coalitions with new people? 

We deserve a safe space where we can process our relationship to race, imperialism, caste, the model minority myth, and mental health. Having discourse does not mean that we need to 100% agree with each other on everything, and conflict does not always have to be a bad thing. In a cultural diaspora where these conversations are deliberately discouraged and challenged, the most important thing that we can do is to at least start the conversation, even if it doesn’t lead to solutions. Sometimes the best thing we can do is process new information. We cannot heal unless we acknowledge the truth. 

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