‘Targeted because you are Indian’: How two Indian-Americans are healing from racial trauma
Summary
TLDRThe video script narrates a personal journey of racial identity and healing. It features individuals confronting racism and embracing their cultural heritage, particularly the Indian-American experience. From childhood struggles with cultural acceptance to adult realizations of the importance of self-identity, the script highlights the power of sharing personal stories to challenge perceptions and foster racial healing. It underscores the resilience and hope in overcoming racism through community engagement and cultural pride.
Takeaways
- 🌟 The video discusses the impact of racism on personal life, highlighting a moment when the speaker was told they were targeted because of their Indian heritage.
- 🏙️ The speaker embarks on a journey to challenge racial perceptions by traveling and engaging in one-on-one conversations to promote racial healing.
- 🌐 The conversation takes place in Washington, DC, with Kevin Fong, the founder of The Kakule Institute, which focuses on cultivating communities of belonging.
- 👶 The speaker's name, Omash, has cultural significance, and they discuss the tradition of passing down the father's name in Tamilan culture.
- 📚 The speaker's experience with their name at school led to a desire to assimilate by considering a more common name to avoid mispronunciation and confusion.
- 🌈 Growing up in a predominantly non-Indian community, the speaker faced challenges in embracing their culture due to a lack of understanding and acceptance from peers.
- 💼 The speaker recounts a personal experience of job loss due to racial bias, being told that a 'brown person' was not wanted to represent the company.
- 🍛 The speaker's mother's traditional Indian cooking was a source of pride but also led to bullying at school, causing the speaker to hide their cultural identity.
- 🏡 A traumatic event, the burglary and desecration of the family's home temple, was a turning point for the speaker, leading to a re-embrace of their Indian heritage.
- 📘 The speaker uses their platform to educate and promote acceptance, sharing personal experiences with microaggressions to foster understanding and change.
- 🌱 The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to share their stories and contribute to the collective effort of ending racism, one story at a time.
Q & A
What is the primary mission of the Kakule Institute founded by Kevin Fong?
-The primary mission of the Kakule Institute is to cultivate communities of belonging and engage in conversations to challenge perceptions of who we are and what we can do to bring racial healing to our communities.
What is the significance of the name 'Omash' in the script?
-Omash is a Sanskrit word that means 'Heaven'. It is the first name of the person being interviewed, which was passed down as a last name in Tamil culture.
Why did the interviewee consider changing their name during middle school?
-The interviewee considered changing their name to avoid the difficulty of having their name mispronounced by substitute teachers and to make it easier for people to understand.
What was the cultural challenge the interviewee faced growing up in the suburbs of Georgia?
-The interviewee faced the challenge of being one of the few brown kids in their community, and the lack of acceptance and understanding of their Indian culture by their peers.
What incident led to the interviewee losing their job post-911?
-The interviewee lost their job because they were told that the company did not want a brown person representing them, highlighting a direct experience of racism.
How did the interviewee's schoolmates react to the traditional Indian food they brought for lunch?
-The schoolmates did not understand or appreciate the traditional Indian food, making the interviewee throw out their lunch because it was considered 'stinky' or unappealing.
What was the turning point for the interviewee in 2017 that changed their perspective on their cultural identity?
-The turning point was when their house was burglarized and the intruders disrespected their home's temple, leading the interviewee to realize the importance of embracing their Indian identity.
How does the interviewee use their platform to combat racism and promote acceptance?
-The interviewee uses their platform to encourage people to be more accepting of others' opinions, to educate about microaggressions, and to console and help people recover from racial experiences.
What is the role of curry in the interviewee's narrative and how has it been used to bridge gaps between people?
-Curry is used metaphorically as a foundation for the interviewee's blog, where they write about different narratives and aim to build bridges by sharing their own experiences and encouraging others to make the recipe their own way.
What is the interviewee's hope for the future in terms of racial healing?
-The interviewee holds hope that racism can be ended within their lifetime and is committed to using their platform and experiences to educate and promote acceptance and understanding.
What advice does the interviewee have for others who might be experiencing racial challenges?
-The interviewee advises others to share their stories, embrace their cultural identity, and use their experiences to educate and help others understand the importance of acceptance and racial healing.
Outlines
🌏 Encountering Racism and Cultural Identity
The first paragraph introduces the theme of racism and cultural identity through a personal narrative. The speaker, who is of Indian descent, recounts a life-changing moment when they were explicitly told they were targeted due to their race. This experience led them on a journey to facilitate conversations about race and cultural perceptions. The speaker's name, Omash, is highlighted as an example of cultural heritage and the struggles of maintaining a unique identity in a society that often fails to recognize or respect it. The paragraph also touches on the speaker's upbringing in India and the challenges faced in the United States, including instances of racism and the impact on their self-identity and career.
🍛 The Bridge of Curry: Overcoming Prejudice Through Food
In the second paragraph, the narrative shifts to the role of food, specifically curry, as a cultural bridge. The speaker discusses the misconceptions and stereotypes associated with curry and how it has been used to connect people from different backgrounds. They share an anecdote about a cookbook review that criticized the lack of curry recipes, leading to a personal policy of not providing curry recipes unless the reader is willing to make it their own way. This reflects the broader theme of embracing individuality and authenticity in cultural expression. The speaker also recounts a painful memory of being ridiculed for bringing traditional Indian food to school, which led to a difficult conversation with their mother about the desire to fit in by abandoning their cultural food practices.
🏡 The Assault on Identity and the Resolve to End Racism
The third paragraph delves into a traumatic event where the speaker's home was burglarized and their religious shrine was desecrated, an act that the police attributed to their Indian identity. This incident served as a turning point, prompting the speaker to stop hiding their cultural identity. They reflect on the futility of trying to assimilate by suppressing their heritage and express a renewed commitment to ending racism. The speaker shares their current efforts to use their platform to promote acceptance and educate others about the harmful effects of microaggressions. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for everyone to share their stories as a step towards racial healing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Racism
💡Cultural Identity
💡Microaggressions
💡Representation
💡Acceptance
💡Healing
💡Perceptions
💡Discrimination
💡Narrative
💡Community
💡Education
Highlights
The moment of realizing racism's impact on personal life when being told directly by the police that one was targeted for being Indian.
The struggle with job loss due to racial bias, with a company not wanting a 'brown person' to represent them.
Initiating one-on-one conversations across the country to challenge perceptions and promote racial healing.
The importance of understanding and weaving individual stories together for a collective understanding in communities.
Cultural identity and the significance of names in reflecting heritage and personal history.
The internal conflict of wanting to assimilate by changing one's name to fit in with the majority.
Growing up as an Indian immigrant in a predominantly non-Indian community and the cultural challenges faced.
The disillusionment with the idea of equality and acceptance in the United States, especially post-9/11.
The painful memory of having traditional Indian food rejected at school due to cultural misunderstanding.
The difficult decision to hide one's cultural identity in an attempt to fit in and be accepted.
The transformative experience of a home invasion targeting an Indian family, leading to a reevaluation of one's cultural identity.
The role of food as a cultural bridge and the narrative around curry as a means of connection and understanding.
The personal journey of reclaiming and embracing one's Indian heritage after years of suppression.
The commitment to using personal platforms to promote acceptance and educate others about racial biases.
The healing process of sharing personal stories and experiences as a means to combat racism.
The collective effort required to end racism, emphasizing the importance of individual stories and actions.
The power of education and support in helping individuals recover from experiences of racism and discrimination.
Transcripts
what was the moment that changed you the
police tell you to your face you were
targeted because you were Indian the
moment that racism changed your life I
remember losing my job and was told we
don't want a brown person representing
the company we're traveling the country
to host one-on-one conversations that
challenge perceptions of who we are and
what we can do to bring racial healing
to our communities first stop Washington
DC
[Music]
we're in the nation's capital for a
uniquely aapi perspective on race with
Kevin Fong founder of The kakule
Institute a space that works on
cultivating communities of
belonging we're here today to engage in
conversation with folks to find out who
they are who's they are and what their
hopes and dreams are to create a better
future for us all in that way we can
take their story and weave it together
with another person's story and another
person's story and no two stories wo
together quite like these
two because my first name it means
Heaven it's a Sanskrit word omash
Shankar is actually my dad's first name
in uh tamilan culture you move your
dad's first name to become your last
name and it moves on like that we belong
to a very small group of people
from um from the west coast of India
it's a tiny village and anyone with the
last name of good bully is related did
you ever consider like I wish I didn't
have this name what does is what does
this look and feel like you are reading
my mind right now because in I think it
was in Middle School I considered going
by like violet or Vanessa or something
just so that people could get it cuz I
remember like substitute teachers
reading the Roll Call list and them
being like viha VI VHA like they didn't
know how to pronounce it they didn't
know what it meant and so there were
days when I just went by V and I hated
it I still hate it when people call me V
I'm like that's not my name tell me
about where you grew up I grew up in
India so I grew up around people of uh
that looked like me I grew up in the
suburbs of Georgia and I was one of the
very few brown kids in my community and
not just brown but Indian specifically
and my parents being very proud of their
culture very involved in their culture
they wanted me to become proud and
involved in my culture but it was really
difficult because people don't really
see and understand your culture I mean I
was growing up in the mid 2000s and you
know kids weren't as accepting back then
as they may be now when I came to the
states I really did feel like okay well
the world all should be all equal and we
should all have a place and we are all
working hard and we all have something
to give back to the society and to the
communities that we are part of and um
some of that didn't go so
well so uh there were instances where I
was reminded that I was an immigrant and
I was a brown person and I wasn't
welcome in a you know non Brown
workspace environment and when my
daughter was born um I had just n it was
she was born in the post 911 time frame
and I remember losing my job uh during
that time because and was told we don't
want a brown person representing the
company and it was a very you know they
said it very off-handed but it stuck
with
me so when we had our daughter I taught
about her place in this country that's
going to be hers and what it meant and
so slowly slowly just you know one
Pebble at a time working to ensure that
her future is one of acceptance for who
she is one of my Fondest Memories from
elementary school is my mom making me
traditional Indian food to take to
school for lunch I would love eating it
and I would love having that opportunity
to you know Savor my mom's cooking but
some of the kids they just didn't get it
and so they would make me throw out my
lunch because it was stinky or it didn't
look good or whatever they may have said
back then so it was really difficult
growing up as someone who wanted to be
proud of being Indian being brown but
just not being accepted by the people
around you that you know you want to be
friends with you want to you want to
connect with them but it's just it's
just there's a block you can't really do
that you talk about communication and
and you have this blog and you use Curry
as the foundation for your blog and um
and so and you write about this no that
um there are different narratives and
sometimes false narratives about Curry
or disrespectful narratives give me a
specific example where Curry was used to
build a bridge between two people
yourself perhaps and another person who
couldn't be more opposite than you that
might require some thinking but I want
to just say that every cookbook I have
written when a reviewer said does not
have a single recipe for curry terrible
book and so since then I've in uded this
note that if you're looking for a recipe
for curry please return this book to
your seller I say this often I'll give
you a recipe but you're going to make it
your way and that's what I love about
being in that space where I can give you
the tools and it's not um it's not a
secret you know Coke
formula you can make it your own so
helpful um that's what we do in the work
of of racial healing circles is that you
know it's this concept just give me the
formula give me the the recipe as were
and then we can uh you know find healing
in this community or this or that it's
like no you have to you can't follow
that you have to actually bring in the
heart and that's what you do is you
introduce the heart introduce that in a
different way I introduce them to the
components of them and let them build it
your mom takes great pride in her
cooking and you said that you you held
great pride in in taking it there but
then you ridiculed you were shunned for
bringing this food and how do I go home
and tell this to my mom and all of this
I it was hard it was really hard because
my like you'll taste my mom's food she
is an amazing cook she's one of the best
but to bring up to your mom hey I don't
want you to make dalb and chop for me
anymore this isn't this isn't working
and to tell her that you would prefer
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to
whatever traditional food she's making
to you that was hard I remember having
this conversation with her I told her I
can't eat what you give me anymore and
she she was like why you know is it not
good do you not like it is it did did I
make something wrong or what what's
happening and I told her it was because
the kids at school they they would call
it Curry and I just didn't want to have
that associated with me and it was it
was difficult because you know this this
woman she's waking up at 5:00 a.m. 6
a.m. to sit and hand roll Roes for me
every morning every morning fresh Roes
and it now it's like I want that to have
someone love me so much as to make me
fresh jees every morning to take to
lunch you just don't get that anymore
and so it's unfortunate that I had to
give up so many years of you know that
love and care that she offered because I
wanted to fit in and obviously I look
back on it now and I'm like darn it why
did I do that why did I give up all of
that so the price of acceptance right
the price of acceptance you paid a high
one and um my question is
uh at the end of the day were you really
accepted was it worth the
price I don't think it was worth it I
genuinely don't because I look at who I
was then and I was I was hiding such a
big part of my identity and I was
unhappy with it I was unhappy with who I
was because I I was just Frank quite
frankly I was just trying to be another
white
girl you mentioned 2017 as a turning
point for you can you talk about that of
course
um sorry never apologize here just take
a breath 2017 was a hard year for us I
had just come back from spring break we
came home from the airport my mom and I
I remember opening the front door and
the smell of our house wasn't the same
usually our house smells like spices and
incense and you know the loving home
smell that you always recognize and and
it just didn't smell like that and I
walked through the door and I just
immediately knew something was wrong and
turns out that a couple of burglars had
broken into our house earlier that day
um they broke in through the back door
and they pretty much ransacked our home
what was the most shocking was the fact
that they attacked our temple in a lot
of Indian homes we have little shrines
for all of our gods and goddesses and
they completely ripped it apart all of
the the little statues we had were
scattered and they were on the floor
with no respect for their meaning
whatsoever and that was hard to see and
I remember going outside standing in our
yard and just screaming cuz I had no
idea what to do and you know you call
the police your neighbors hear you being
loud and aggressive and you don't they
don't know what's going on so they come
and check and the police tell you to
your face you were targeted because you
were Indian
and in that moment I was like what did I
do wrong was it did I did I put out some
joli that they didn't like is it the
garlands above our above our door what
like what did I do but it's not what we
did it really wasn't and that took so
long for me to accept I had kind of
shunned out any part of my Indian
personality or any part of my culture I
just I ignored it entirely and in that
moment I realized there was no point in
me hiding it because I was never going
to be white everyone was always going to
see me as Indian and see me as brown so
why am I hiding it you know I firmly
believe and hold hope that we can end
racism within our lifetime what are one
or two things that you could personally
commit to or that you're personally
doing now that helps to further that
vision of ending racism within our
lifetime I I use my platform whatever I
do um
to encourage people to be more accepting
of another person's opinion and I think
releasing ourselves from those
boundaries of expectations of ourselves
of some more than ourselves of someone
else the releasing yourself from that is
freeing but is
also it's such a community that you're
building because then you start seeing
each
other I think I'm in a position where I
can help to educate the population I've
had my fair share of microaggressions
against me and so I know now that I can
tell people hey that's not cool let's
not say that you know but I think my my
place is less of fighting and more of
consoling and helping people
[Music]
recover I'm so encouraged by what
everybody body shared here their stories
their strength their power and that they
will take their commitments forward
because we're going to do this one story
one action one person at a
time what can you bring in the two
ending races out and I do have a good
answer for that it's like I can educate
I can be there as a source of we know
comfort and helping people recover all
of that but that's not would enough you
know and I think that there is hard it's
a start yes changing the narrative
starts with sharing stories share your
story with
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