What does that have to do with my Brazilian colleague? Did you just assume his ethnicity?
Honestly, your very premise starts going off the rails. I don’t know what “etc.” is supposed to mean. There is nothing else I can assume about someone based the fact that his parents are both Indian, that he has a “very Indian name” (which I suspect is a pretty common characteristic of people with two Indian parents), and that he wears a turban. You are assuming there are a bunch of other characteristics that go along with this limited information, that I share those assumptions, and that our shared assumptions are accurate. Your assumptions sound racist to me.
I won’t deny that I may make some snap inferences about him based on this information. I will try very hard to recognize that the inferences I make may be wrong and that I should instead try instead to learn about him from him.
Yes, it’s super racist to assume that he represents the entirety of a country of over one billion people who speak (according to Wikipedia) over 400 different languages and where, according to your information, he quite possibly has never been or spoken to a single person.
This is an incredibly limiting view of racism that keeps the United States from addressing oppressive issues of systemic racism. Racism does not always require individual malice to have the effect of continuing to oppress minorities.
Things to consider are that (1) there isn’t one Indian culture [there isn’t one American culture either], and (2) that you used his apparent race to “naturally” assume something about him rather than taking the time to learn something about him from him. You also didn’t bother to ask anyone else. Maybe there is some white lady who spent her entire childhood in India, has travelled extensively through India, and has a PhD earned by doing anthropological studies throughout India but you never thought to ask her because you instead used her apparent race to assume something wrong about her. Do you see how casual racism hurts us all?
Are you a white dude by any chance? Because I don’t think the experience of racism and oppression of Indians in America is particularly similar to the racism and oppression of English-speaking white Canadian men in America. I doubt, for example, most people who look at you would even assume that you are Canadian rather than American.
Nope. I, for example worked, until very recently, with a white dude with an Anglo-Saxon name who speaks fluent Japanese, who lived and taught in Japan for ten years, and who has continued to travel there on a semi-regular basis with his Japanese wife. I also work with an apparently Asian woman with a typically Japanese name who, if you ask her where she is from will say exactly once and with no further information offered, “Cleveland.” Which of these people do you think we should ask for insights about Japanese culture? Maybe we should ask everyone and see who offers better information.
Right. “Where are you from?” is sometimes a perfectly innocent question. Sometimes it’s an exhausting way to marginalize people who aren’t white enough to be seen as fully American by casual racists.
There’s also “how long have you been here?” and “Your English is really good”.
Those are a bit less innocuous of course.
As a white dude, I’ve often been told that my name is “extremely Scottish.” Of course, no ones ever used that as a basis to quiz me on the intricacies of the Scottish postal system.
I didn’t assume anything. I’m just pointing out that it is possible, and quite common, for people to be offended but not say so.
Especially when they are offended by people who are feigning obliviousness.
Did you notice that Acsenray said “where are you REALLY from?” which is NEVER a perfectly innocent question, no matter how much innocence is feigned.
I don’t doubt it is possible, it happens to everyone all the time but race played no part in my example so I don’t know why you bought it up in reply to me.
And I’ve seen no-one here “feigning obliviousness” either.
Using the criterion of whether there was racist impact, I’d say that this (though without malice) turned out to be racist. Part of the reason is that there’s a common theme in minoritization that a person will be called upon to represent their entire demographic group or speak for it in some way. You said, matter of factly, that it was in effect his obligation to act as “resident Indian expert”.
It might have been a bit better if you had said, “I think you have family and heritage in India, does that by any chance help inform you of any solutions here?”
Or, if you had asked your question of the whole group, “Hey, does anybody here know…?” then I think there wouldn’t have been any racist impact, or at least not until somebody else called him out in particular.
Racism doesn’t have to involve malice or disdain, though of course it can and sometimes does.
I noticed and fully understood. I’m saying that the implied first question, which doesn’t seem racist on its face, often is.
Sorry, I misunderstood.
Is that his role? Was that the purpose he was hired to be there? If not, then this statement would be considered extremely insensitive.
See other comments above for context.
I’m don’t agree with the OP but more than that I don’t agree with how many people are being disingenuous with the whole parents thing. All we have is the information the OP provided.
The person in question is not from Pakistan. The person is not 4th generation American. The OP does have enough information to know that the persons parents were born in India.
Again, I don’t agree with the OP. But nobody need to make up hypotheticals or conveniently leave out knowledge that the OP provided.
The evidence the OP provided included that the OP didn’t know whether the person in question had ever been in India. I will grant that I left out that the OP apparently knows the person in question’s parents had been in India; but I don’t think that’s sufficient additional information to be relevant.
Yes, this was racist. Good for him for calling you on it.
Wasn’t just you
Of course you are better placed. That doesn’t mean you’re well-placed, though, and paradoxically your confidence here makes me doubt your accuracy.
I’m not declaring that you’re wrong. I’m suggesting you shouldn’t be confident that you’re right.
What the actual fvck? Blend in?
Next will come the comments on how well he speaks English
(To be clear, not you Ranch)
Can’t speak with absolute certainty about Americans other than myself, but if I had to place a bet, I’d bet very heavily on yes. The average American is only dimly aware of the histories of other countries and ethnic groups, except as it impinges on American history or their own life. I was also unaware of it until I read your post, though I’m not surprised to hear it, since many countries have populations of diaspora around the world. I wonder how many Americans know about Japanese Brazilians? To be fair, the only reason I know about them is because my wife is a fan of Lisa Ono, who is Japanese-Brazilian.
The average American is dimly aware of American history.