'You'll always be...': Internet slams brother's diss about sister's heritage
Internet users slam the boy who told her sister that she will always be Indian no matter how much she tries to whitewash herself. The original poster u/Fun-Option-9234 detailed the ordeal on the well-liked AITA platform, which has received over 700 upvotes and more than 600 comments.
The Reddit post titled "AITA for telling my sister she'll always be Indian no matter how much she tries to whitewash herself?" The 17-year-old boy began the post by noting that his parents are immigrants from India. Despite growing up in the US for their whole life, he and his 15-year-old sister have managed to maintain a reasonable connection to their Indian culture, including regular visits to India every other summer and being able to speak the language.
READ MORE
'You didn't betray her trust': Internet sides with man who sent sister-in-law's texts to his brother
'Indians are negatively stereotyped'
The poster continued stating the ordeal, "But recently, I've been noticing that my sister has been attempting to distance herself from being Indian because in her words, it's uncool and Indians are negatively stereotyped. She's convinced that people don't think she's Indian because we have light-ish skin when she obviously looks Indian, and so do I. When asked about her ethnicity, she always says something along the lines of 'I'm Indian but most people think I'm Latina, mixed, or greek/italian' (nobody thinks that). She has started referring to herself by a white-sounding diminutive of her name, talks about only wanting to date white guys because Indian guys are 'unattractive', and obsessively tries to lighten her skin even further.
The poster is concerned about his sister's behavior of deliberately distancing herself from her Indian identity because she thinks it's uncool adding that this mindset could lead to self-hatred and social isolation "no matter how much she changes herself externally, she'll know deep down that she's Indian, and hate herself for it. And not only is it wrong, it's obvious what she's trying to do, and I know many people find it cringe. So she's hurting herself both mentally and socially. So, today I took her aside and told her that no matter how much she tries to whitewash herself, she'll still be Indian, and everybody but her sees her that way. She called me TA for it, but I'm just trying to look out for her. I hope she comes around eventually."
'Good intentions' but 'Baaaaad execution'
Since the post went online, the comment section was spilled with brutal comments, One user wrote, "YTA. Good intentions saying she should be comfortable with her race. Baaaaad execution. Instead of shaming her, maybe try helping her process her negative feelings." Another user criticized,
"Well... She's 15, a teenager. Right now she wants to fit in and not stand out as standing out is always making you a target for harassment. Give it time, she'll grow older and find her personality and who she is. However, your words didn't embrace her. To me it reads as if you're hurt by her not wanting to be Indian, which is understandable, it's part of your heritage and culture and you find identity in it. Maybe try to understand her. Allow her to find herself, your parents will push her hard enough when they see fit. Your sister will need someone to fall back on to."
Another added, "Not to mention, OP is a male. His experiences are going to differ greatly from his sister's. There's a lot of pressure thrown onto young female teenagers to suddenly look a certain way and act a certain way. There's a lot of shame put on our bodies and our looks. His sister is probably just trying to find her way through it. The best thing for him to do is just model pride in their culture and be there to help/support her when she needs it. Soft yta."
