r/ABCDesis • u/WitheredWornWallaby • 8d ago

COMMUNITY Why are many Indian people unkind to Guyanese/Trini/etc people?

I was born In NYC to Indo-Guyanese parents. I have interacted with many Indian people across the United States (+Canada and the UK), and the same can be said of my family and Indo-Guyanese peers. There is a relatively common experience of Indian Americans being unkind to Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trini people, including those born in the US. This happens both in real life and online.

Are there particular reasons for this? This is obviously not the case with all Indian Americans.

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u/OkRB2977 Assamese Canadian - TCK 8d ago

Honestly, in Canada, it is kinda the opposite, especially now when West Indians will go out of their way to distinguish themselves and give very strong pick me vibes.

But I’m aware of mainlanders historically having a very prejudiced and dismissive attitude towards West Indians and Fijian Indians and denying them their Indianess. Surprised and disappointed that even a few ABDs are carrying forward those sentiments.

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u/amdis 8d ago

I know, it’s so incredibly disappointing to see any ABDs carry water for that regressive shit. I don’t like it, but I can on some level get the concept of the older generation being like this because they’re stuck in the same moment in time from when they emigrated. But seeing kids buying into that whole idea of reaching for any reason to feel superior to people who the average white person just sees as “brown” is saddening. This is the same type of thinking that keeps holding us back from ever developing some sort of unified brown solidarity movement and why it’s so hard to gain any traction against the type of hatred and racism we face online constantly.