As the Trump universe devolves into a meltdown between the MAGA white supremacist base and the far-right Silicon Valley Big Tech base, the responses of the segment of the Trump supporting upper caste techies offers critical insights into the workings of caste in the technology sector in the diaspora.
Although this particular analysis focuses on the U.S., we can see similar patterns of racist upper caste Indian investment in upholding the far-right across the West, including in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In this post, I will analyze the response of an X handle Siddharth @Cloudwatch199 that declares itself as "High skilled Indian Immigrant. Investor. I'm a Technopreneur & Engineer. I create jobs and work with young Indian and American grads." The handle is accompanied by the U.S. and Indian flags, announcing its patriotism. I will mark in bold the key words in the tweets to help you see the pattern.
The discursive trope of victimhood at work is intricately intertwined with casteist concepts of deservedness and merit, telling us about how the critical drivers of innovation in the U.S. (i.e. upper caste Indians) have been turned into scapegoats. The upper caste Indian believes in his/her heart that Western countries are lucky to have him/her (this is precisely how caste privilege works), that he/she is saving the West with the brilliance of his/her merit (best minds globally). Attend to the narrative around filling vital knowledge gaps and creating jobs for Americans (this is a narrative which you will often hear in family and community conversations, about how the U.S. or Aotearoa New Zealand are lucky to have us, because, you know we make the economy going). In this narrative, upper caste Indian migrants are the best gifts to happen to the U.S./New Zealand/Fill in the Blank Western country.
Note further the strategic deployment of the tropes of misinformation and vilification, the performance of victimhood at being portrayed as "fraudsters due to isolated cases of misuse." Contrast this frame of misinformation with the fact that India-based IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys have used H1B visa processes to replace American workers and facilitate the offshoring of U.S. jobs.
The Tech Bro suddenly discovers diversity as a good thing, all the while rallying around the MAGA hysteria around "woke culture."
So, what is the kind of diversity the upper caste Indian Tech Bro wants? The diversity (aka casteist ideology of merit) that he sees as the source of "America's strength." The mobilization of diversity, incorporated into Big Tech's extreme neoliberal expansionism, strengthens America's ability to attract the best minds (aka upper caste Indians), mixed in with all the right words, "talent," "innovation," and "brighter future."
Juxtapose this merit-based framing of diversity to craft immigration against the broader attack on what this community of upper caste Indians constructs as "illegal immigration." Their deservedness to immigrate and bring the right kind of diversity (caste-based merit that strengthens the neoliberal economy) is positioned against their support for curbing the wrong kind of immigration, developing stringent policies for keeping out what they consider as illegal immigrants, refugees, etc. In my ethnographic work, I have observed the deep sense of anger and disdain these upper caste Indian immigrants feel at sometimes being mistaken as "Mexican," as they put it.
The aspirations to whiteness and entitlement to migration processes among the Indian Tech Bros is reflective of their deep investments in caste.
Juxtapose this merit-based framing of diversity to craft immigration against the broader attack on what this community of upper caste Indians constructs as "illegal immigration." Their deservedness to immigrate and bring the right kind of diversity (caste-based merit that strengthens the neoliberal economy) is positioned against their support for curbing the wrong kind of immigration, developing stringent policies for keeping out what they consider as illegal immigrants, refugees, etc. In my ethnographic work, I have observed the deep sense of anger and disdain these upper caste Indian immigrants feel at sometimes being mistaken as "Mexican," as they put it.
The aspirations to whiteness and entitlement to migration processes among the Indian Tech Bros is reflective of their deep investments in caste.
Casteist concepts of merit shape entrenched notions of migration and citizenship, ideas around who deserves to have access to the pathways to citizenship and who doesn't. These same casteist ideas of deservedness and merit shape the entrenched work of boundary making/marking that upper caste Indians participate in, separating themselves as a model minority from the bad, poor, darker/Black-skinned migrants and refugees that are framed as the sources of trouble in the U.S.
The handle then goes on to share its purchaser's remorse, writing:
"I’m deeply questioning my decision to support the Republican Party after witnessing the persistent and dehumanizing attacks directed at me and my community by individuals who, despite hiding behind a veneer of respectability, openly harbor and amplify racist ideologies. I’ve tried to hold onto the belief that these voices represent a vocal minority, not the broader values of the party. But time and again, I am disheartened as accounts with massive followings—many of them wielding significant influence—parrot unhinged conspiracy theories and perpetuate overtly racist tropes without consequence."
The self-righteousness of the post is stomach-churning, as the good immigrant that expects to receive the recognition he deserves [is entitled to]. Note further the emotive response to the dehumanization, community [referring to the so-called meritorious Indian community] being attacked, conspiracy theories and racist tropes.
The twitter handle seems to have woken up to the problem of racism in a party and in a campaign that has across its various platforms parlayed in extremely racist, anti-Black, dehumanizing rhetoric, rife with disinformation about illegal, dark-skinned/Black migrants taking over the U.S.
The handle then goes on to share its purchaser's remorse, writing:
"I’m deeply questioning my decision to support the Republican Party after witnessing the persistent and dehumanizing attacks directed at me and my community by individuals who, despite hiding behind a veneer of respectability, openly harbor and amplify racist ideologies. I’ve tried to hold onto the belief that these voices represent a vocal minority, not the broader values of the party. But time and again, I am disheartened as accounts with massive followings—many of them wielding significant influence—parrot unhinged conspiracy theories and perpetuate overtly racist tropes without consequence."
The self-righteousness of the post is stomach-churning, as the good immigrant that expects to receive the recognition he deserves [is entitled to]. Note further the emotive response to the dehumanization, community [referring to the so-called meritorious Indian community] being attacked, conspiracy theories and racist tropes.
The twitter handle seems to have woken up to the problem of racism in a party and in a campaign that has across its various platforms parlayed in extremely racist, anti-Black, dehumanizing rhetoric, rife with disinformation about illegal, dark-skinned/Black migrants taking over the U.S.
Recall the concocted dehumanizing narratives around migrants eating pets, directed at Haitian communities. Or consider the dehumanizing portrayals of migrants at the border, and the violently racist policy platforms around removing citizenship pathways, deporting illegal migrants, surveillance of communities, and incarceration. This ideology of keeping out the bad immigrants is built into the casteist concept of hierarchy, with those at the margins deserving to be oppressed, exploited, erased, and kept out of the system.
The handle goes on to write,
"This isn’t just about isolated comments or fringe behavior; it’s about a pattern that reveals an uncomfortable truth about the party’s failure to unequivocally reject bigotry. These attacks aren’t simply offensive—they are alienating to communities whose values, work ethic, and aspirations align with many conservative principles, yet find themselves consistently vilified."
Note once again the tropes around values, work ethic, and aspirations "that align with many conservative principles." The richness of the paradox lies in the handle's performance of victimhood at the hands of the same "conservative principles."
The post wraps up with the following:
"The most troubling part is the normalization of this rhetoric by individuals who should be using their platforms to unite, not divide. It forces one to ask: Is this truly the exception, or is it a reflection of an undercurrent that the party is unwilling—or worse, uninterested—to confront? For a movement that claims to champion merit, individual dignity, and opportunity, it’s disheartening to see those ideals betrayed by voices that choose hate over inclusion."
What the handle @Cloudwatch199 describes as undercurrent (of divisiveness) is the core, the mainstream current, of the Republican Party and its movement.
"This isn’t just about isolated comments or fringe behavior; it’s about a pattern that reveals an uncomfortable truth about the party’s failure to unequivocally reject bigotry. These attacks aren’t simply offensive—they are alienating to communities whose values, work ethic, and aspirations align with many conservative principles, yet find themselves consistently vilified."
Note once again the tropes around values, work ethic, and aspirations "that align with many conservative principles." The richness of the paradox lies in the handle's performance of victimhood at the hands of the same "conservative principles."
The post wraps up with the following:
"The most troubling part is the normalization of this rhetoric by individuals who should be using their platforms to unite, not divide. It forces one to ask: Is this truly the exception, or is it a reflection of an undercurrent that the party is unwilling—or worse, uninterested—to confront? For a movement that claims to champion merit, individual dignity, and opportunity, it’s disheartening to see those ideals betrayed by voices that choose hate over inclusion."
What the handle @Cloudwatch199 describes as undercurrent (of divisiveness) is the core, the mainstream current, of the Republican Party and its movement.
What matters for Siddharth @Cloudwatch199 is one kind of racism in the Trumpian universe, while the handle seems to be perfectly fine with the deep-rooted racism peddled by Trump, his far-right support base, and the Republican Party.
The normalizing rhetoric of division and hate the H1B-supporting, exceptionally meritorious, upper caste Indian tech bros seem to be waking up to is the infrastructure of the political party and movement they have supported. What upper caste Tech bros such as @Cloudwatch199 find disheartening is that the white supremacist base of MAGA doesn't see the whiteness (merit, dignity, hard work) of the upper caste Indian community (and the gifts they bring to the U.S. economy), and considers the class as outsiders.
The normalizing rhetoric of division and hate the H1B-supporting, exceptionally meritorious, upper caste Indian tech bros seem to be waking up to is the infrastructure of the political party and movement they have supported. What upper caste Tech bros such as @Cloudwatch199 find disheartening is that the white supremacist base of MAGA doesn't see the whiteness (merit, dignity, hard work) of the upper caste Indian community (and the gifts they bring to the U.S. economy), and considers the class as outsiders.
That the handle finds the normalized forms of entrenched racism of the Republican Party and the MAGA campaign desirable while complaining about the racism of the white supremacist base of the party to Indian migrants in the H1B visa category depicts the underlying workings of caste. The deeply entrenched caste system in India shapes the pedagogy of the upwardly mobile upper caste migrant community from India across the Western diaspora, and particularly so in the professions and industries including Big Tech. Moreover, caste pedagogy shapes the shallow opportunism of the Indian diaspora, used to the techniques of "putting under the bus" the very systems and infrastructures that have benefitted their mobility historically.
The notions of merit and high skills feed into the casteist constructions of merit, shaping the ideas of boundary making around migration. These same upper caste Indians perpetuate various forms of violence, anchored in racism, directed toward India's minorities (Dalits, Adivasis, and religious minorities).
The meltdown of the upper caste Indian technopreneurs, engineers, and managers who have rallied behind the Trump campaign at the white supremacist response to the H1B visa showcases the everyday politics of toxic hypocrisy that forms the pedagogy of the upper caste Indian in Big Tech.
It is far more concerning that visa categories for skilled migration such as H1B visas have allowed for the large-scale migration of upper caste Indians into the West, with tremendous economic power, pedagogical power, and influence they exert.
That these technopreneurs, designers, and innovators drive significant proportion of the U.S. and global technology economies is cause for concern, particularly in terms of the impact of caste on algorithmic infrastructures and the design of our societies. Left unchallenged and without the proper pathways of education, upper caste Indian migration into the tech sector threatens to colonize the global architectures of technology with the vile racism of caste.
The notions of merit and high skills feed into the casteist constructions of merit, shaping the ideas of boundary making around migration. These same upper caste Indians perpetuate various forms of violence, anchored in racism, directed toward India's minorities (Dalits, Adivasis, and religious minorities).
The meltdown of the upper caste Indian technopreneurs, engineers, and managers who have rallied behind the Trump campaign at the white supremacist response to the H1B visa showcases the everyday politics of toxic hypocrisy that forms the pedagogy of the upper caste Indian in Big Tech.
It is far more concerning that visa categories for skilled migration such as H1B visas have allowed for the large-scale migration of upper caste Indians into the West, with tremendous economic power, pedagogical power, and influence they exert.
That these technopreneurs, designers, and innovators drive significant proportion of the U.S. and global technology economies is cause for concern, particularly in terms of the impact of caste on algorithmic infrastructures and the design of our societies. Left unchallenged and without the proper pathways of education, upper caste Indian migration into the tech sector threatens to colonize the global architectures of technology with the vile racism of caste.