Racism alive in India: Story of Kim Barrington Narisetti, an African-American professional
By Kim Barrington Narisetti (Publisher, Urban Crayon Press)
Coming back to Delhi from the US after summer vacation, we were held up at customs by an official who turned my daughters' OCI cards and my PIO card over and over and over again. The questions came fast and furious: How did we get it?
How long have I been married? Where exactly in Hyderabad is my husband from. He stopped short of asking what could have compelled a Hyderabadi boy with a wheatish complexion to marry an African-American.
I drew the line when one of the men in the small crowd that had gathered proceeded to touch my youngest daughter's hair and stroke the arm of my eldest. Did he think the colour would rub off ?
Having visited India for 13 years as a tourist to meet my husband's family and friends, before living in Delhi for the four years, I realise a lot of the behavior toward me and people who look like me stems from the infatuation that Indians have with light skin. Unless I told people I was American, the assumption was that I was African. But that is really neither here nor there.
(Kim Barrington Narisetti is publisher of Urban Crayon Press. She also held editing positions at The Wall Street Journal, TheStreet.com; Advertising Age and The Source magazine.)
Read more at:
Racism alive in India: Story of Kim Barrington Narisetti, an African-American professional - Economic Times
