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PoliticsQuiet 3d · day 4

DHS and Texas candidate posts fuel surge in anti-South Asian racism

A trucking fraud tip line image and university photo comment prompt warnings that hate rhetoric has moved from fringes into mainstream politics.

newest coverage 3d agosummary written 15h ago6 pieces MastodonNewswires

What to know

  • Two high-profile social media posts—one from DHS promoting a fraud tip line, another from a Texas GOP candidate about UT students—have thrust anti-South Asian racism from fringe online spaces into mainstream political discourse.
  • The posts come amid months of rising anti-South Asian hate comments online and preceded a stabbing attack on a Sikh trucker, prompting community fears that immigration debate rhetoric is normalizing discrimination.
  • South Asians, long viewed as a "model minority," are now reporting that political figures and federal agencies are wielding stereotypes and targeting language against them openly.

“Before, nobody cared about your race, nobody cared about your color, but now it's a problem. They look at you different.”

Harinder Singh Dhanoa, Sikh American trucker, 71, Sacramento · Boston Globe ↗

Department of Homeland SecurityDepartment of Homeland Security Federal agencyBo French Republican candidate for Texas statewide officeManjusha Kulkarni Co-director of Stop AAPI HateHarinder Singh Dhanoa Sikh American trucker, Sacramento

DHS and Texas candidate posts fuel surge in anti-South Asian racism
Boston Globe

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 3 pieces in one hour at Sep 24, 4 AM; 6 pieces over 4 days (3 articles · 3 posts) Sep 24, 4 AM — 3 pieces · 1 article · 2 posts — Mastodon 2, Newswires 1Sep 24, 5 AM — quietSep 24, 6 AM — quietSep 24, 7 AM — quietSep 24, 8 AM — quietSep 24, 9 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 24, 10 AM — quietSep 24, 11 AM — quietSep 24, 12 PM — quietSep 24, 1 PM — quietSep 24, 2 PM — quietSep 24, 3 PM — quietSep 24, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 24, 5 PM — quietSep 24, 6 PM — quietSep 24, 7 PM — quietSep 24, 8 PM — quietSep 24, 9 PM — quietSep 24, 10 PM — quietSep 24, 11 PM — quietSep 25, 12 AM — quietSep 25, 1 AM — quietSep 25, 2 AM — quietSep 25, 3 AM — quietSep 25, 4 AM — quietSep 25, 5 AM — quietSep 25, 6 AM — quietSep 25, 7 AM — quietSep 25, 8 AM — quietSep 25, 9 AM — quietSep 25, 10 AM — quietSep 25, 11 AM — quietSep 25, 12 PM — quietSep 25, 1 PM — quietSep 25, 2 PM — quietSep 25, 3 PM — quietSep 25, 4 PM — quietSep 25, 5 PM — quietSep 25, 6 PM — quietSep 25, 7 PM — quietSep 25, 8 PM — quietSep 25, 9 PM — quietSep 25, 10 PM — quietSep 25, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 8 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 12 PM — quietToday, 1 PM — quietToday, 2 PM — quietToday, 3 PM — quietToday, 4 PM — quietToday, 5 PM — quietToday, 6 PM — quietToday, 7 PM — quiet 1
Sep 25yesterdaytodaynow · 8:02 PM ET
  1. 1

    Community leaders and truckers link rhetoric surge to real-world violence

    Stop AAPI Hate co-director Manjusha Kulkarni warned that agency posts and candidate statements weaponize hate, and veteran Sikh trucker Harinder Singh Dhanoa said people now look at him differently because of his race. The DHS called blame for the Wyoming attack "RECKLESS" and "FALSE."

    “What we're seeing now is full blown and out in public view. When agency officials and candidates use this language, it gets weaponized and utilized by those who are perpetrating hate.”
    — Manjusha Kulkarni
  2. background

    Sikh trucker stabbed 17 times at Wyoming rest stop — Gurvinder Singh, a Sikh trucker, was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop. Many Sikh Americans drew a connection between the attack and the heightened anti-South Asian rhetoric in recent social media posts.

  3. background

    Texas Republican candidate Bo French posts criticism of South Asian UT students — Bo French, a Republican candidate for statewide office in Texas, posted an image from a University of Texas football game showing students who appeared to be of South Asian heritage, writing that UT graduation "looked like this" and that "the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined." He later claimed the post was about admissions policy favoring international students, not race.

  4. background

    DHS posts fraud tip image featuring Sikh man with anti-immigrant text — The Department of Homeland Security rolled out a new tip line to report truckers suspected of fraud with an image of a Transformers character facing off with a Sikh man, captioned "America for Americans. Get off our roads. You don't know how to drive Mr. Singh." Singh is a common Sikh surname. The post depicted Harjinder Singh, an Indian citizen accused of causing a fatal crash in Florida.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets South Asians, a ‘model minority,’ face surging racism in America

    first by Boston Globe, 3d ago · also NYT

and 1 smaller piece