Being Indian, it was a constant source of annoyance for me how hating on India and Indians was normalized, and almost seen as cool on Reddit. I haven’t seen it on Lemmy so far.

It was weird, since hating black people or asians was frowned upon (as it should be). But for some reason, Indians were fair game.

Gotta say, it feels better when people don’t try to insult you for your identity. I never took them seriously, but it was very annoying indeed.

  • Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    I’m sure I’ll regret this but I’ll make an attempt…

    First of all you have to define “Indian”. It’s a big country with many religions, ethnicities, castes. etc. At best, it’s a geographic term like saying someone is European.

    I grew up next to a suburb with a large immigrant population. In those days we had Indians, Pakistanis (east and west) and West Indians (people of African descent from the Caribbean). I was lucky as I could learn about these different cultures at first hand. The Indians (mostly Hindus) and the Pakistanis (mostly Muslim) hated each other. The Indian Sikhs wisely kept their heads down and stayed out of it. The one thing that united them was their dislike for the Caribbean people. They all regarded them as their social inferiors.

    Hate comes in many guises and from many places.

    Now onto your main question. When you see anti-Indian hatred online is it directed at all Indians? I can see why some people take exception to Modi and his right-wing mobs killing Muslims and burning down mosques in the same way that lots of people condemn the Taliban for their treatment of decent, moderate people (especially women) in Afghanistan. Whenever religion is involved it always seems to multiply whatever fuckwittery an individual has. Add in some mob mentality and you have the recipe for bigotry and bodies. You have to ask yourself where the hatred is really aimed at. Is it hatred or well-deserved criticism from someone that isn’t articulate enough to make themselves clear?

    Anyway, this is much too big a subject for a simple online response and I couldn’t possibly do it justice. If it’s any consolation I read crap every day about my country and people for being imperialists and yet we’ve been colonised/settled/invaded more than most places. Facts have never stopped a bigot from having their say.

    Take care, friend, and as we say in my mother country: don’t let the bastards grind you down.

    • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρє@lemmy.sdf.orgOPM
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      1 year ago

      I said Indian because that’s how the hate was directed. Things like “street poopers”, “call center scammers” etc. we’re used to refer to Indians. There was a thing that every Indian is supported to be a child rapist. If their hate is universal towards all Indians, why should I distinguish between ethnicities?

      I don’t really take it seriously, but it sure is annoying.

      • Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        All bigotry is based on stereotypes. If anyone thinks less of me because of where I was born then they’re not the sort of person I should be wasting any time on.