The ghost of racism continues to haunt and threaten the Indians living in the United States of America. In the latest escalation, an American man has been caught with evidence, who is apparently intimidating an Indian couple with racist remarks. His comment of “go back to India” has drawn widespread criticism and has exposed the harsh realities of the American society entangled with the racist shadow, which has been a nightmare to the immigrants in the world’s oldest democracy.
A video viral on the social media platforms depicts an American man confronting an Indian couple and reiterating them to go back to India. This unfiltered, unsolicited and raw conversation caught on the camera, with evidence discloses darker facets of American society. The video clip is posted on the X social media platform by a user named “Tone”. The American White man has recorded the video from inside his car as he confronted the Indian couple.
The man got down from his car, approached the Indian couple and began interrogating them regarding their background, whereabouts and reasons behind visiting or living in the United States of America. Watching the video, people on the internet reiterated how racism is being normalised and gradually spiralling with intensity across the United States.
How did the white man escalate the racist row?
The video posted on the online platforms shows that an American white man got down from his car, approached an Indian couple while recording the video and began interrogating them. He initially questioned the couple whether they are from India. When they answered “yes” he further continued the conversation by asking whether they liked America.
He later began targeting the Indian couple with controversial or irrelevant questions such as which country they believed was better, India or America. The couple tried to respond in a diplomatic and safe way by asserting that both countries had their own positives. They further added that each place had its own value.
However, the American man did not stop there and suddenly turned the conversation into hostility. It seemed like selective abuse. The American man said, “India is so incredible, why don’t you just stay in India? Why do you have to come to America?”. To this the Indian couple reiterated that they wanted “to explore the world”. To this, the white man arrogantly crowed, “No, we don’t want you here. You got to go home. Okay? Get out of my country”.
The man further provocatively escalated the issue by posting the video online with the caption, “I encountered some incredible H-1B Indians and I had to let them know something!”. However, this video clip drew sharp criticism, where netizens coded the American man’s act as unnecessary, provocative and discriminatory. They said how racism is being selectively promoted across the United States under the guise of patriotism. Racism is being systematically normalised in the US, other users on the internet proclaimed.
Confronting immigrants over their ethnicity and nationality is a clear sign of intolerance, people reiterated. Infact, the American man tried to provoke the Indian couple and abusively targeted them, despite the latter remaining calm throughout the encounter. They attempted to handle the situation in a calm & composed way and aimed to not escalate the row.
The latest row related to racism targeting the Indian couple surfaces in the United States just days after the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while speaking in India defended his country against racism. He refuted allegations of racism being active in America and had said that comments made by the stupid people online and at other places doesn’t align with the policies of Washington DC. He also said that the United States is a very welcoming and immigrant-friendly country”.
However, the latest racist row targeting the Indian couple reflects how selective abuse and stereotypes are still prevailing in American society and the immigrants who form the skillful workforce, contribute to the US economy and pay large portions of taxes are irrationally targeted.
