But Are We Really Surprised by Zarna Garg?

This was originally published on my instagram account on December 5, 2025.

I was going to write something snarky about only making it through six minutes of her standup before turning it off, but we, Indians and South Asians, need to take this seriously and change how we are discussing people like Zarna Garg.

Because if you are South Asian and are shocked by her politics and who her kids look up to, that’s a problem.

Accusing her of wanting to be white or white adjacent will only get us so far.

When you consider what is happening in our country on a Federal level, with Indian Americans at the forefront occupying prominent positions of political power, it is reductive if not entirely irresponsible to keep saying the same tired thing.

She is clearly and proudly Indian, so WHAT ELSE 🗣️ can be informing her politics as an Indian woman?

Why does she, a woman of color, an immigrant from the Global South, align herself with people who are actively making it more difficult for people from her native country to obtain visas, stripping rights away from other women of color and immigrants from the Global South?

What lens is she looking through? What side does she think she already belongs to, and why?

Remember that the Indus River Valley is an ancient civilization, with systems predating the construct of race and the concept of white and whiteness.

Consider her last name and think of its roots.

Garg ➡️ Garga ➡️ Bania ➡️ Vaishya

A hierarchy of privilege that exists on a structural, psychological, physical, and spiritual level.

It starts with a C, and South Asians, particularly democratic and liberal ones, don’t want to talk about it… because they are implicated in its harm too.

It is as if we, Indians and South Asians, see that the house is on fire, and we continue to rush in with sieves full of water, wondering why we are not successful in putting it out. Meanwhile, our friends of the Global Majority are in their respective areas of the house doing everything they can to stop the fire, counting on us to do the same, and are trusting that our urgency for putting out the fire matches our strategy.

We cannot avoid this conversation. The country is on fire, and we are all a liability if we do not address the threat that is caste supremacy.

Rebekah's Note: When I posted this, I was contacted by a journalist at AsAm News. I am quoted in this article, Zarna Garg sparks uproar saying “Indian community loves Trump”