5 ms·

Racists are now openly targeting Indian Americans

10 points by rawgabbit 11mo ago

andsoitis 11mo ago
> FBI Director Kash Patel looks on as US President Donald Trump lights a candle during a Diwali celebration at the White House on October 21. Fascinating.
- bediger4000 11mo ago
  Can you elaborate?
  - andsoitis 11mo ago
    > Can you elaborate? Trump lighting a Diwali candle doesn't match the impressions my news sources paint.
    - bediger4000 11mo ago
      That's the "I'm not racist, I have a Jewish friend" thing isn't it? Failing that, President Trump is undeniably among the least authentic of us.
      - andsoitis 11mo ago
        > That's the "I'm not racist, I have a Jewish friend" thing isn't it? Failing that, President Trump is undeniably among the least authentic of us. Why jump to racism? I'm just talking about the president participating in a festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists. The news media mostly don't paint this kind of picture, or at least, I have not been exposed to it. Have you? Or maybe you're telling yourself that a raging racist president is lighting Diwali candles in the White House for "show"? I dunno, doesn't compute for me.
        metadope 11mo ago
        Racism, it seems to me, is often applied selectively, an active prejudice that is formed over time, using personal experiences and sometimes exposure to loudmouths. You can be a raging racist and still participate and express respect for Others' cultures. It's a transitory thing, depends on your mood that day. Perhaps. Being racist is not an absolute, right? Or is it, Once a racist, always a racist? For example, I myself have respect and sometimes admiration for Mexicans (for their work ethic, from my personal experience working side-by-side in early life service industry), while also retaining a lifelong negative prejudice against Puerto Ricans (based, again, on personal, early life exposure to some bad apples). I do not consider myself a racist, but I know I have prejudices and preferences that could offend some of my absolutist fellow citizens. I discriminate in my tolerances, enjoying those (sub)cultures that appeal to me, and turning away from those that rub me the wrong way (subwoofers and bass pounding noisemaking mofos). But some haters just don't discriminate, and here is the problem facing our world. Someone, some entity, roused these rabble, stirred them up into a lather, turned them into intolerant hate machines. It isn't racism that fuels their rage now, it is Other-ism. Anything other than the old and familiar is subject to backlash. So, Diwali can engage-the-rage because it reminds of all the other cultural intrusions and pollutions and dilutions and... You Will Not Replace Me! Christmas! Not Kwanzaa! It is easy to rouse the rabble; difficult to rein in (or reign over) the rage. It is easy to tear stuff down; not so easy to build something better. I hope our billionaire corporate overlords are learning a lesson from this...
        bediger4000 11mo ago
        Why jump to racism? Why did you note the Diwali observance wire photo? I was following your lead.
        _yb2s 11mo ago
        > Or maybe you're telling yourself that a raging racist president is lighting Diwali candles in the White House for "show"? I dunno, doesn't compute for me. Trump was sued for running racially segregated housing that excluded black people, and when he lost the lawsuit he dishonestly claimed to have won, and continued to discriminate against black people and didn't comply with the court orders in general. During the case he said to a federal prosecutor "you wouldn't want to live with them either." Here is a direct quote from Trump published by journalist John O'Donnell, that in 1997 he said was accurate, but then changed his mind and now claims to say he never said it: "I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys wearing yarmulkes…. Those are the only kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else… Besides that, I tell you something else. I think that guy’s lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks." His dad was arrested as an attendee at a KKK rally, suggesting he was raised in a KKK household, and numerous acquaintances have said his dad would frequently rant about how great Hitler was. He is now running a terror campaign with masked secret police violently kidnapping anyone that looks Hispanic, even if they have proof of residency or citizenship on their person. He openly courts the support of white supremacists like Nick Fuentes and Charlie Kirk. When members of his own cabinet like Paul Ingrassia have been found to self identify as Nazis, he continues to protect and promote them. When he talks about black people in politics that don't support him, he always tacks on the insult "low IQ" - he does it so consistently, you can tell the race of the people he is talking about by his choice of insults. If you think lighting a candle as a political stunt proves someone isn't racist, you may want to look more into what racist people are actually like in the real world.
- sigwinch 11mo ago
  More interesting is JD Vance suggesting citizenship should be gated on fighting in a civil war.
  - andsoitis 11mo ago
    > JD Vance suggesting citizenship should be gated on fighting in a civil war. I thought it was more nuanced than that. Regardless, his wife, Usha Vance, was born in San Diego, but her parents were immigrants who came to the US from India in the 80s.
    - SilverElfin 11mo ago
      Vance needs to grow a spine and stand up for his wife and for legal immigration. His recent public comments hoping his wife would convert are disgusting and disgraceful and feel like a capitulation. Even if it’s just a political strategy, it’s giving strength to the worst part of the right’s politics.
cyanydeez 11mo ago
The most confusing part of indian-americans is the sect that believes their caste is the equivalent to caucasians, as if being white is a state of mind rather than a shared believe around physical features. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Bhagat_Singh_Thind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Bhagat_Singh_... Really, a fascinating mental gymnastics buring inside inherent bigotry.
- jaggs 11mo ago
  You need to understand that Indians are hugely racist inside their own country. The darker you are, the lower down the pecking order you end up. The caste system is really sad.
  - cyanydeez 11mo ago
    What do you think I just explained?
SilverElfin 11mo ago
I’m seeing HUGE amounts of racism on YouTube and Twitter following the recent split on the right wing side of American politics. All of a sudden everyone feels comfortable saying Indian Americans need to go back to their countries, that they aren’t good at their jobs, that they aren’t compatible with American culture, along with more racist stereotypes I won’t repeat here. But it extends to even denying them constitutional rights. The right is quickly adopting a Christian supremacist stance too, and I’m seeing lots of people saying Indians shouldn’t be allowed to practice Hinduism, or that they shouldn’t be allowed to build temples in America, and so on. The isolationist “America First, America Only” side - with people like Matt Walsh and Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) repeating the slogan - is bringing this out. There’s a weird commonality between the push to stop H1B immigration programs, the push for secure borders against illegal immigration, the isolationist America Only people, the Nick Fuentes / Groyper people, and the anti Israel / anti Jewish people. I haven’t connected the dots but the comments on right wing content has become far worse in the last few weeks. The article mentions of various Indian American political figures are shocked. Some may call them naive for ever thinking the right could be a home for them. But I personally don’t fault them. I don’t know how they feel or see the world but to me the recent surge in extremist racism on the right is shocking.
jleyank 11mo ago
I’m m sure the worst racism is telling Native Americans (First Nations here in Canada) to go back to their country. North America was their country before those white folk fetched up on shore.

10 points by rawgabbit 11mo ago

> FBI Director Kash Patel looks on as US President Donald Trump lights a candle during a Diwali celebration at the White House on October 21. Fascinating.

bediger4000 11mo ago
Can you elaborate?
- andsoitis 11mo ago
  > Can you elaborate? Trump lighting a Diwali candle doesn't match the impressions my news sources paint.
  - bediger4000 11mo ago
    That's the "I'm not racist, I have a Jewish friend" thing isn't it? Failing that, President Trump is undeniably among the least authentic of us.
    - andsoitis 11mo ago
      > That's the "I'm not racist, I have a Jewish friend" thing isn't it? Failing that, President Trump is undeniably among the least authentic of us. Why jump to racism? I'm just talking about the president participating in a festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists. The news media mostly don't paint this kind of picture, or at least, I have not been exposed to it. Have you? Or maybe you're telling yourself that a raging racist president is lighting Diwali candles in the White House for "show"? I dunno, doesn't compute for me.
      - metadope 11mo ago
        Racism, it seems to me, is often applied selectively, an active prejudice that is formed over time, using personal experiences and sometimes exposure to loudmouths. You can be a raging racist and still participate and express respect for Others' cultures. It's a transitory thing, depends on your mood that day. Perhaps. Being racist is not an absolute, right? Or is it, Once a racist, always a racist? For example, I myself have respect and sometimes admiration for Mexicans (for their work ethic, from my personal experience working side-by-side in early life service industry), while also retaining a lifelong negative prejudice against Puerto Ricans (based, again, on personal, early life exposure to some bad apples). I do not consider myself a racist, but I know I have prejudices and preferences that could offend some of my absolutist fellow citizens. I discriminate in my tolerances, enjoying those (sub)cultures that appeal to me, and turning away from those that rub me the wrong way (subwoofers and bass pounding noisemaking mofos). But some haters just don't discriminate, and here is the problem facing our world. Someone, some entity, roused these rabble, stirred them up into a lather, turned them into intolerant hate machines. It isn't racism that fuels their rage now, it is Other-ism. Anything other than the old and familiar is subject to backlash. So, Diwali can engage-the-rage because it reminds of all the other cultural intrusions and pollutions and dilutions and... You Will Not Replace Me! Christmas! Not Kwanzaa! It is easy to rouse the rabble; difficult to rein in (or reign over) the rage. It is easy to tear stuff down; not so easy to build something better. I hope our billionaire corporate overlords are learning a lesson from this...
      - bediger4000 11mo ago
        Why jump to racism? Why did you note the Diwali observance wire photo? I was following your lead.
      - _yb2s 11mo ago
        > Or maybe you're telling yourself that a raging racist president is lighting Diwali candles in the White House for "show"? I dunno, doesn't compute for me. Trump was sued for running racially segregated housing that excluded black people, and when he lost the lawsuit he dishonestly claimed to have won, and continued to discriminate against black people and didn't comply with the court orders in general. During the case he said to a federal prosecutor "you wouldn't want to live with them either." Here is a direct quote from Trump published by journalist John O'Donnell, that in 1997 he said was accurate, but then changed his mind and now claims to say he never said it: "I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys wearing yarmulkes…. Those are the only kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else… Besides that, I tell you something else. I think that guy’s lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks." His dad was arrested as an attendee at a KKK rally, suggesting he was raised in a KKK household, and numerous acquaintances have said his dad would frequently rant about how great Hitler was. He is now running a terror campaign with masked secret police violently kidnapping anyone that looks Hispanic, even if they have proof of residency or citizenship on their person. He openly courts the support of white supremacists like Nick Fuentes and Charlie Kirk. When members of his own cabinet like Paul Ingrassia have been found to self identify as Nazis, he continues to protect and promote them. When he talks about black people in politics that don't support him, he always tacks on the insult "low IQ" - he does it so consistently, you can tell the race of the people he is talking about by his choice of insults. If you think lighting a candle as a political stunt proves someone isn't racist, you may want to look more into what racist people are actually like in the real world.
sigwinch 11mo ago
More interesting is JD Vance suggesting citizenship should be gated on fighting in a civil war.
- andsoitis 11mo ago
  > JD Vance suggesting citizenship should be gated on fighting in a civil war. I thought it was more nuanced than that. Regardless, his wife, Usha Vance, was born in San Diego, but her parents were immigrants who came to the US from India in the 80s.
  - SilverElfin 11mo ago
    Vance needs to grow a spine and stand up for his wife and for legal immigration. His recent public comments hoping his wife would convert are disgusting and disgraceful and feel like a capitulation. Even if it’s just a political strategy, it’s giving strength to the worst part of the right’s politics.

cyanydeez 11mo ago

The most confusing part of indian-americans is the sect that believes their caste is the equivalent to caucasians, as if being white is a state of mind rather than a shared believe around physical features. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Bhagat_Singh_Thind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Bhagat_Singh_... Really, a fascinating mental gymnastics buring inside inherent bigotry.

jaggs 11mo ago
You need to understand that Indians are hugely racist inside their own country. The darker you are, the lower down the pecking order you end up. The caste system is really sad.
- cyanydeez 11mo ago
  What do you think I just explained?

SilverElfin 11mo ago

I’m seeing HUGE amounts of racism on YouTube and Twitter following the recent split on the right wing side of American politics. All of a sudden everyone feels comfortable saying Indian Americans need to go back to their countries, that they aren’t good at their jobs, that they aren’t compatible with American culture, along with more racist stereotypes I won’t repeat here. But it extends to even denying them constitutional rights. The right is quickly adopting a Christian supremacist stance too, and I’m seeing lots of people saying Indians shouldn’t be allowed to practice Hinduism, or that they shouldn’t be allowed to build temples in America, and so on. The isolationist “America First, America Only” side - with people like Matt Walsh and Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) repeating the slogan - is bringing this out. There’s a weird commonality between the push to stop H1B immigration programs, the push for secure borders against illegal immigration, the isolationist America Only people, the Nick Fuentes / Groyper people, and the anti Israel / anti Jewish people. I haven’t connected the dots but the comments on right wing content has become far worse in the last few weeks. The article mentions of various Indian American political figures are shocked. Some may call them naive for ever thinking the right could be a home for them. But I personally don’t fault them. I don’t know how they feel or see the world but to me the recent surge in extremist racism on the right is shocking.

jleyank 11mo ago

I’m m sure the worst racism is telling Native Americans (First Nations here in Canada) to go back to their country. North America was their country before those white folk fetched up on shore.