for an indian...

Dear Didi,

“You’re pretty for an Indian.” I remember the first time I heard those five words. It was freshman orientation at my high school. Coming from a school predominantly filled with Indians and Asians, I was surrounded by kids “like me” so race was never really an issue, or even anything discussed. Coming into my new high school, the diversity greatly changed. I remember hearing those five words over and over and over again, and, surprisingly feeling honored and excited that people thought so. “I was pretty for an Indian,” I thought to myself and smiled. Nothing in the whole world could have been a better compliment. However, as time progressed and I began to hear such remarks reworded continuously, I slowly grew appalled and even insulted. “For an Indian.” Those three words turned a sweet, thoughtful compliment into the biggest, most hurtful insult one could say. The mere fact that these people simply couldn’t compliment me without adding my race into the picture left me in awe. It was as if they had insulted my entire culture, ethnicity, and background, all while simultaneously attempting to compliment me. Was my race not pretty? Who even determined this standard of beauty? What makes one’s culture lesser than another’s? It’s something that needs to change.

#southasian #desi #brown #girls #indian #deardidi #indianamerican #india #america #desilife #southasia