Shillong, Oct 7: A Meghalaya woman has taken to social media to explain the racist taunts she received as a North Easterner in New Delhi.
Going by the Instagram username @__insolitude, the woman said that racist slurs were directed at her twice in the same day in the national capital.
Racism towards North Easterners is unfortunately not unheard of in various parts of India, but especially in Delhi. The taunts this woman experienced referred to her features and China.
Her video post has been taken up by various national media outlets, who have called out the racism that North Eastern people often face. The video has struck a chord online, with many expressing anger and solidarity.
The victim said that she was targeted twice, first in Kamla Nagar and later at a metro station.
“I went to Kamla Nagar for some work. I was walking, and then there was a bunch of grown-up men, around three or four. They were sitting on their scooty and as I was passing by one man said, ‘Seng chong.’ As soon as I heard it, I turned back and looked at him and then all of them started to laugh. My brain couldn’t process what I just heard and they were looking at me and laughing. Still, I kept quiet and walked to the shop,” she shared.
Minutes later, while taking the metro, another man hurled a racist slur at her, calling her “Ching Chong China.”
“That was the second time it happened in one day. I just stared at him and didn’t say a word,” she said.
What hurt her most, she said, is that these verbal assaults made her feel alien in her own country. “I’ve been to different countries but they never made me feel like I don’t belong there, [like] I am not welcomed there. But today in my own country, fellow Indians made me feel like I don’t belong here,” she said. “It breaks my heart. My only mistake is that I was born in India and I look like this and I don’t look like the rest of the Indians. They make fun of me and they laugh at me just because I look like this.”
In the caption of the post, the woman wrote, “To the guys in Delhi who thought ‘Ching Chong China’ was a joke — you didn’t just insult me. You insulted every person who’s ever felt ‘othered’ in their own country. India is diverse. Our faces, our languages, our cultures — all valid. You don’t get to define who belongs and who doesn’t. I cried today. Tomorrow it could be you or it could be worse than what I experienced. Let it be a reminder: racism thrives in silence. I will not be silent And I prefer to end this Racism with “Love not Revenge” because that’s what My parents have taught me.”
The video has struck a chord online, with many expressing anger and solidarity.
“As a fellow Indian I’m ashamed and downright disturbed as to how common this blatant racism has become,” one user wrote.
“I’m deeply sorry you had to endure such discrimination in our nation’s capital. I hope people will gain some compassion and understanding, but with each passing day, these stories of shameless individuals who mock others, believing it makes them superior, scream that change is far from coming,” commented another.
“The racism we face in our own country is unmatched and those who tell us to ignore it are the first to cry when they’re mocked abroad,” said a third user.
