By Karanjeet Kaur | ThePrint | India |
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s violent murder, I expected that the many Americans he appealed to would forget his racist, misogynistic, and homophobic views overnight. But I was certainly not prepared for the brown men falling over themselves to defend him as a free speech advocate. Indian men mourned the same Charlie Kirk who died believing that America was “full” of Indians.
On 2 September, Kirk had tweeted: “America does not need more visas for people from India… Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first.” Days later, he questioned whether conservative influencers were being paid by Indian lobbyists to spread propaganda about India being a great ally to America.
Kirk embodied the “America First” ideology that viewed anyone who wasn’t male, straight, and White as outsiders. Across the West, the far-right “Great Replacement Theory” has gained ground, and Indians have been caught up in it. In Canada, people of Indian origin are assaulted and told to “go back to India.” In London, far-right activist Tommy Robinson led a “Unite the Kingdom” march with 1,10,000 people.
For decades, Indians were the “good immigrants”, who kept their heads down and followed the unwritten rules of assimilation. Their success was widely celebrated at the individual and community levels, and reflected in Bollywood’s frothiest romances. In addition to heading some of the biggest tech giants in the world, earlier this year, Indian Americans also became the country’s highest-earning ethnic group. The Indian diaspora has wielded genuine soft power — and canny Indian politicians, aided by a googly-eyed media, have heralded them as definitive evidence of the homeland’s rising global status.
Somewhere over the last year, though, that vision has soured. Twenty minutes on any social media platform will confirm the bitterness with which Indians are viewed. Right-wing accounts take immense pride in scapegoating a population that were the darlings of Silicon Valley until last year. Stereotypes that were out of vogue even 15 years ago have made a rousing comeback.
A world that once embraced Indian talent has now reframed the narrative to suggest jobs are being “stolen.” Pew Research shows favourability toward India declining in most countries.
This unravelling is partly because we’ve stopped honouring our end of the bargain. Some Indian content creators, like Malik Swashbuckler and Jyoti Malhotra, have displayed racism and misconduct abroad.
Cultural insensitivity has spread: noisy weddings, public misbehaviour, and theft incidents abroad have tainted perceptions. Professor Aditi Sen of Queen’s University notes Indian students growing more insular and vulgar.
The diaspora once built respect through discipline and dignity. Now, as Indians go viral for arrogance, entire communities pay the price. The model minority myth was flawed—but what’s replacing it is worse.
Karanjeet Kaur is a journalist, former editor of Arré, and a partner at TWO Design. She tweets @Kaju_Katri. Views are personal.
(This is an abridged article from Karanjeet’s original article here)
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