An Indian-American doctor has gone viral after fearlessly confronting racist trolls who targeted her for wearing a bindi, exposing the wave of anti-Indian hate she faced online.
An Indian-American doctor has gone viral after fearlessly confronting racist trolls who targeted her for wearing a bindi, exposing the wave of anti-Indian hate she faced online. Dr Karishma Reddy shared an Instagram video after a light-hearted reel about a patient interaction triggered a barrage of xenophobic comments, with several users telling her to "go back to India" despite her being born and raised in the United States.
Reddy said she was stunned by the intensity of the backlash, especially because she had spent most of her life in the healthcare profession, where she had always experienced acceptance and respect.
"Earlier this week, I made a reel about a patient encounter regarding my bindi and it was a light, fun memory that I have. But wow, the comment section went absolutely nuts. I have never seen so much anti-Indian rhetoric in my entire life," said Reddy.
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"And I might be naive to that because I've spent a lot of my life in a healthcare setting in the hospital and clinics, and in the healthcare setting, Indian people aren't really seen as a minority."
Reddy said she had always been treated with kindness by colleagues, making the hateful comments even more shocking.
Addressing some of the misconceptions repeatedly mentioned by trolls, Reddy also explained the cultural significance of cows in Hinduism.
"A lot of these comments were regarding telling me to go back to India. I was born and raised here in America. And a lot of fixation with cows, so, just to clarify that, Hindu people don't eat beef. And the main reason for that is not because we have a sacred text telling us not to eat cows. It's because in the olden days when a lot of women died in childbirth, babies survived off of cow's milk, so out of respect for the cow, for giving humans the gift of life. We do not slaughter or kill cows. It's really not any deeper than that," she explained.
Calling for empathy, Reddy said it was disheartening that people had become so comfortable spreading hatred online over cultural differences.
"I hope that this at least opened your mind to Hinduism and cows and cleared that all up because I don't know what in the Ripley's Believe It or Not happened where people think we're worshipping them and doing weird things with their pee. I don't know. Be kind, please."
Her video went viral, and many users condemned the racist abuse and praised her for responding with patience and dignity.
