Walk through any comedy club in a major city or scroll through a TikTok comment section long enough, and you’ll hit it. That specific, grating brand of humor. It’s usually about call centers, curry, or tech support. Sometimes it’s about hygiene or "accents." We’ve all seen it. Racist jokes about Indians have become a weirdly accepted part of the digital background noise, often excused as "just a joke" or "ironic memes." But if you actually look at the data and the history, there is a much heavier weight behind these punchlines than most people realize.
Comedy is supposed to punch up. When it punches down—or sideways into a massive diaspora of 1.4 billion people—it stops being art and starts being a social cudgel.
🔗 Read more: Why Loving You Long Time Is a Cultural Minefield (and What Most People Get Wrong)
The Evolution of the Punchline
It started with Apu. For decades, The Simpsons character was the primary blueprint for Indian representation in Western media. He was a caricature. He had a thick, exaggerated accent voiced by a white man, Hank Azaria. While some Indian-Americans initially liked seeing someone who looked like them on TV, the "Thank you, come again" catchphrase eventually became a weapon used against Indian kids in school hallways.
In his 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, comedian Hari Kondabolu broke down how this single character laid the groundwork for modern racist jokes about Indians. It wasn’t just a cartoon. It was a permission slip. It told the public that the Indian identity was inherently funny because of how it sounded or what it sold.
Then came the internet.
The 2010s saw a massive shift. We moved from TV caricatures to "Bob and Vagene" memes and "Pajeet" insults on 4chan and Reddit. This wasn’t just lighthearted ribbing. It was targeted harassment that utilized specific stereotypes about Indian men being "creepy" or "unsolicited" in digital spaces. These memes often strip away the individuality of a person and replace it with a low-res JPEG of a stereotype.
Why Do These Stereotypes Persist?
It’s honestly a bit of a paradox. On one hand, the Indian diaspora is statistically one of the most successful groups in the United States and the UK. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Indian-Americans have a median household income of roughly $150,000—nearly double the national average. They lead companies like Google, Microsoft, and Adobe. You’d think this "model minority" status would shield the community.
It doesn’t.
📖 Related: I was unfaithful to my husband: Why it happens and how to survive the fallout
Actually, it sometimes fuels the fire. The "Tech Support" joke is a direct byproduct of India’s massive role in global IT services, an industry worth over $250 billion. Because the West interacts with Indians frequently in a service-oriented or troubleshooting capacity, the "accent" becomes associated with frustration. When people get annoyed with their computer, they take it out on the person on the other end of the line. The joke becomes a way to devalue the person's intelligence or humanity.
The Digital Echo Chamber
Social media algorithms are partially to blame for why racist jokes about Indians stay so relevant. Platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) prioritize engagement. Outrage generates engagement. Stereotypes generate quick, cheap laughs.
A study from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) has shown a measurable rise in anti-Indian sentiment online, often linked to Hinduphobia or general xenophobia. When a "funny" meme about Indian street food goes viral, the comments section quickly devolves. It moves from "that looks different" to "that looks dirty" to full-blown racial slurs.
It’s a slippery slope.
I’ve seen it happen in real-time. A creator posts a video of a bustling market in Mumbai. Within minutes, the top comments are variants of "I can smell this video" or "Don't drink the water." These aren't just observations; they are scripted responses based on decades of racist tropes. They serve to "other" a group of people, making them seem fundamentally different or "lesser" than the Western viewer.
The Mental Health Toll is Real
We need to talk about the kids.
Growing up in an environment where your culture is the butt of the joke does something to your brain. Psychologists call it internalized racism. When an Indian teenager sees thousands of likes on a post mocking an Indian person’s appearance, they start to distance themselves from their own heritage. They might stop bringing "smelly" Indian food to school. They might try to flatten their parents' accents when friends are over.
A 2020 study published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies found that South Asian youth who experienced high levels of microaggressions—which include "harmless" racist jokes—reported higher levels of anxiety and lower self-esteem.
It’s not just "hurt feelings." It’s a systemic erosion of identity.
The "Call Center" Trope and Economic Reality
Let’s look at the call center thing for a second. It’s the most common pivot for racist jokes about Indians. "Hello, this is Steve from Microsoft."
The irony? These centers exist because Western companies want cheap labor. The people working those jobs are often highly educated, bilingual, and working grueling night shifts to match Western time zones. Yet, the joke frames them as scammers or idiots.
The scammer stereotype is particularly damaging. While "scam baiting" videos are popular on YouTube, they often paint with an incredibly broad brush. By focusing exclusively on Indian call centers—despite the fact that cybercrime is a global issue—these "jokes" create a world where every Indian person on the phone is viewed with immediate suspicion.
How to Handle It (And Why Intent Doesn't Matter)
"I didn't mean it like that."
That’s the standard defense. But impact always outweighs intent. If you tell a joke that relies on the degradation of an entire ethnicity, the fact that you "have an Indian friend" doesn't change the outcome.
So, what do you do?
If you’re a creator, vet your content. Is the punchline "this person is Indian"? If so, it’s not a joke; it’s a stereotype. If you’re a consumer, stop engaging. Don't like, don't comment, don't share. Algorithms treat a "hate-watch" the same as a "love-watch." They just see numbers.
Real Steps Toward Change
We aren't going to delete racism overnight. That’s a fantasy. But we can change the narrative by flooding the zone with actual representation.
The success of shows like Never Have I Ever or the rise of comedians like Vir Das and Zarna Garg shows there is a massive market for Indian humor that is actually about the Indian experience, not just mocking it. There is a difference between laughing with a culture and laughing at it.
✨ Don't miss: Simple Words Beginning With E: Why We Use Them More Than You Think
What You Can Do Right Now:
- Audit your feed. If you follow "meme" accounts that regularly post content punching down at specific ethnicities, unfollow them. It cleans up your headspace and starves the trolls of views.
- Speak up in the group chat. It’s awkward. I know. But when a friend drops a "street food" or "accent" joke, a simple "Man, that’s kind of tired/unfunny" usually kills the vibe enough to stop it from happening again.
- Support authentic creators. Find Indian writers, chefs, and artists who are telling their own stories. When we see the full complexity of a people, the one-dimensional jokes stop making sense.
- Educate yourself on the history. Understanding the British colonization of India and the subsequent migration patterns helps you see why certain tropes (like the "servant" or "doctor" stereotypes) exist in the first place.
Racist jokes about Indians are a lazy relic of a world that didn't know better. We live in a hyper-connected age where the person you're mocking might be your coworker, your doctor, or the person who designed the app you're using to post the joke. It's time to move past the low-hanging fruit of the 1990s and actually get original.