The success of Indian Americans in various fields of America not withstanding [1, 2, 3], there has been a steady stream of anti- Indian sentiments being espoused by those belonging to entire political spectrum of the US.

Case in point is Prof Amy Wax. Recently she appeared in a Tucker Carlson segment and made some “incendiary” remarks against Indians and Brahmin women in particular [4].  A quick internet search reveals that she has made similar remarks against various other groups. For example, she has said that America would be better off with fewer South Asian immigrants [5].

This article tries to unpack her recent appearance on Tucker Carlson show [4] and would limit the discussion to the points she made about (against) India and Indians. Her comments are italicized and the response to them are inline.

“I think there is just a tremendous amount of resentment and shame of non-Western peoples against Western peoples for Western peoples’ outsized achievements and contributions. I mean, it's really unbearable. I was actually — you know, leaving aside American Blacks, who I think do feel that resentment and shame and envy. I mean, it's this unholy brew of sentiments. I was talking to Glenn Loury about this bizarre fact that Asian and South Asian, Indian doctors at Penn Med, which I know people there and I know what's going on there — that they're on the ramparts for the anti-racism initiative for dump on America, America is an evil, racist place. These are immigrants.”

• How does Prof Amy Wax know that now Western people have resentment and shame due to Western people’s outsized achievements? She does not cite any data and it seems that she has just used vague generalizations to make a serious accusation against non-Western people.
• One wonders if the Indian doctors she mentions at Penn Med are first generation or second generation. Because if she is accusing the second generation doctors, one has to take into account their influences in the US and not just the background of their supposedly ashamed parents.

“I’m not saying all Indians are this way. I'm just saying, you look at the roster of, you know, who's leading the programs, the endless number of programs where they talk about diversity and racism and all the racism that people have to encounter in medicine and how racist medicine is and all this. And you see these brown faces or you see these Asian faces and you think, I mean, literally, you think so you're coming from your country, which you're implying, you know, is equal or better than our country —And you're telling us how awful we are. Well, what's the explanation for that?”

• Again, Prof Wax makes assertions without backing them up with data. Are the young doctors saying that American is worse off than their “home” country? It is very patronizing of Prof Wax to mock American citizens solely on the basis of skin color and ethnicity. America is a land of free speech where ideas are debated and the best ones win.

“So, take the Brahmin women who come from India and they climb the ladder, they get the best education. We give them every opportunity and they turn around and lead the charge on we're racist, we’re an awful country, we need reform, our medical system needs reform. Well, here's the problem. They're taught that they are better than everybody else because they are Brahmin elites. And yet, on some level, their country is a shithole, excuse my language. OK, it's not providing them with the opportunities that they feel that they deserve and which in many cases they do deserve. They come here and they see that we have this wonderful developed scientific and medical establishment, which they haven't managed to create. They realize that, you know, we've outgunned and outclassed them in practically every way. And what do they feel? Well, they're very proud people. They're a shame culture and they feel anger, they feel envy, they feel shame. I think the role of envy and shame in the way that the Third World regards the First World is underestimated.”

The vicious hatred Prof Wax has towards Brahmins unfortunately is neither new nor novel. As the research of Prof S N Balagangadhara and his team shows, this has been the standard view of Brahmins at least from the British colonial times. Consider the standard story about India[6] :

1) India has a religion called Hinduism

2) Hinduism is a heathen religion and thus is foundation of immoral society and immoral behavior.

3) Hinduism is also the foundation of the Indian ‘caste system’ which is also terribly immoral

4) As priests of the devil, Brahmins are the worst of the lot for why else would they follow the Devil or his minions?

Now due to a process called secularization of Christianity and colonial consciousness, we accept the above statements about India as Gospel Truth (pun intended) and not as one culture’s way of looking at other culture.

When Prof Wax says that Brahmin women are taught that they are better than everybody else, she just regurgitates the standard missionary hatred against Brahmins disguised in secular form. Without offering any proof Prof Wax asserts that Brahmin women are taught to be better than everybody else.

Prof Wax claims that India is a s**t h**e country. While India is not perfect, one has to ask what makes someone so arrogant that they call another country with that monicker.  She says that “we have outgunned them”. I guess this can’t be argued against. If by “we” she means Brits, she is probably right. The Brits literally outgunned India and depleted India of vast resources [7] [8] [9] [10].

Interested readers are referred to Prof Ramesh Rao’s rebuttal of Prof Wax[11].

 

References

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/29/who-is-parag-agrawal-new-twitter-ceo

[2] https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/090815/look-sundar-pichai-googles-new-ceo.asp

[3] https://www.business-standard.com/about/who-is-satya-nadella

[4] https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/upenn-law-professor-tells-tucker-carlson-blacks-and-other-non-western-groups-harbor

[5] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/penn-law-rebukes-professor-said-us-better-fewer-asians-rcna10905

[6] https://www.amazon.com/What-does-mean-be-Indian-ebook/dp/B09FGV1JHD/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

[7] https://www.livemint.com/Companies/HNZA71LNVNNVXQ1eaIKu6M/British-Raj-siphoned-out-45-trillion-from-India-Utsa-Patna.html

[8] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073VWW2DV/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[9] https://www.amazon.com/Churchills-Secret-War-British-Ravaging-ebook/dp/B003VTZXC2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=397EJ1EA5A92J&keywords=churchills+secret+war&qid=1650668248&s=books&sprefix=churchills+secret+war%2Cstripbooks%2C190&sr=1-1

[10] https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economy-share-since-1000-2014-2

[11] https://www.indiafacts.org.in/amy-waxes-incoherent-it-is-the-poison-in-the-ivies/

 

Image source: Telegraph India