Moving beyond the aspiration for whiteness: Why South Asians need to be part of the revolt against George Floyd’s killing

As a light skinned South Asian living in New York, I’ve been semi-insulated from the racism that has started to pervade American society. I’ve been told (to my face) that since I don’t look typically Indian, or because my skin is on the lighter side most people would treat me right. While I grew up in a country where white skin signaled privilege, this being said to my face always left me angry, confused and speechless. Being semi-insulated from racist attacks isn’t really a place of comfort. Just because I may not be attacked (based purely on the way I look) didn’t mean that hearing about my Indian friend being slapped in the middle of Columbus Circle for looking like a terrorist and being told to “go back to your country” didn’t keep me up at night.

For the past 8 years living in New York, I’ve only heard of increasing instances of attacks against minorities. Maybe racism is on the uptick or maybe expressing anti-minority sentiments has just become that much more acceptable. South Asians (among other minority communities) faced severe backlash post 9/11, Asians during COVID-19 and throughout history African Americans have been attacked, vilified and denied rights in America.

I’m a Ph.D. candidate studying the impact of gender and gender inequality on crime and fear of crime in South Asia; so you would think I would understand a thing or two about racism. I am mortified to admit this but I only recently learnt about the model minority myth. This myth basically claims that Asians comprise the racial minority group that has “made it” in America. They did this by working hard and educating themselves; and should serve as a model for other racial minorities.

This is problematic at many levels.

First, labeling one minority group (which in itself has variation) as the model minority erases the history, context and struggle of different minorities. Also different minorities face different kinds of discrimination (the discrimination faced by Asians can’t be compared to the dehumanization of Black people since during slavery). Second, by claiming that the model minority had made it by working hard and getting an education, the entire onus of minorities “making it” is placed on the people; steering attention away from deep rooted systemic inequalities that limit people’s access to resources and ultimately limiting their ability in “making it.” The underlying pretext is that moving towards whiteness is an indication of “making it.”

Success being defined by your proximity to whiteness is deeply problematic. I’ve always been painfully aware of the Colorism that exists in the South Asian community. Like I said before I was always regarded as the “lucky one” because I didn’t look Indian enough, my light skin was bound to get me places. Racism and Colorism are not the same. It’s defined by Margaret Hunter as “a process that privileges light-skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market.” The underlying aspiration for whiteness is what binds the two terms.

As a South Asian I never quite understood how this aspiration for whiteness creates a racial divide between South Asians and Blacks. After living in America and experiencing the context of racial discrimination, I’ve finally started to understand that not only is this deeply problematic but it is also time for the South Asian community to call out its own affinity for whiteness and become vocal/active participants in the revolt against George Floyd’s killing (and discrimination against minorities).

We need to stop hiding and pretending to be the model minority, it isn’t working for us, it never will. Instead it is creating a divide between us and the Black community. Our silence only reinforces the existence and perpetration of discrimination against minorities. In the words of Daisaku Ikeda, “Remaining silent in the face of injustice is the same as supporting it.”

For many years, I chose to stay quiet or only spoke to my friends about racism in America. Being vocal about this means facing not only professional repercussions (cause I’m violating the model minority code), it could mean issues for my visa status and then losing relationships (professional and personal). But I think it’s time that me and other South Asians (among everyone else in the world) begin to recognize their own biases. Call out our families, aunties and uncles for their obsession with white skin. We need to move away from this aspiration to be white (since its basically positioning ourselves as anti-Black). It is time that we understand the problem with being the model minority and how it erases differences. We should collectively take a stand against minorities being persecuted in America (and the world).

As for myself, I pledge to stopping being that person who wouldn’t do something, just because I’m scared of how it will hurt my own privilege. Now, it’s your turn.