On February 22, 2017, an Indian engineer was shot and killed by a white American man at a bar in Olathe, Kansas. Before he opened fire, the perpetrator told his victims, "Get out of my country." One Indian man was injured and one Indian man was killed. Both of them were US residents working for Garmin, an American technology company.
This crime wasn't a result of a man shooting for fun and games. This crime was a result of racism and xenophobia. This was a hate crime, and the White House has been silent.
I've seen many people on social media and other platforms express their anger about our president's silence towards the death of a member of the South Asian (and even the larger Asian-American) community. As an AAPI woman, and a Southeast Asian woman, it makes me happy to see people standing in solidarity with my community. But there's something that rubs me the wrong way whenever I see someone post something along the lines of, "When is our president going to speak out about the death of that Indian guy?"
"That Indian guy" had a name, and his name was Srinivas Kuchibhotla.
I know that Asian names aren't always the easiest to read or spell or say, but it just seems so disrespectful to refer to Srinivas Kuchibhotla as "that Indian man who died." I don't know him personally, but I know that he wasn't just some random Indian man who was killed. He was his own person.
He was from Hyderabad in Southern India. He got his B. Tech in electronics and electrical engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He got his Master's from the University of Texas, El Paso. He was married to Sunayana Dumala. They made their home in Olathe, Kansas so that he could work at Garmin. He should be remembered as who he was: Srinivas Kuchibhotla.
My father is one of the brightest lights in my life. My father is also a brown, Southeast Asian immigrant. He serves the American people as a nurse, caring for sick and dying veterans at the VA Hospital in our city. Some people may see his presence as a gift to this nation. Others may see him as a threat and a thief.
If my father died like Srinivas Kuchibhotla did, would people refer to him as "that Filipino man who died" because his name was too difficult to pronounce? Would pieces of his memory be forgotten because he was too foreign to be remembered fully?
If non-Asian folks want to stand in solidarity with the South Asian and larger AAPI communities, they need to put the effort into referring to Srinivas Kuchibhotla by his name. Even if you don't feel confident in saying it right, at least try.
Sri-ni-vas Ku-chi-bhot-la
Sri-ni-vas Ku-chi-bhot-la
Sri-ni-vas Ku-chi-bhot-la
Srinivas Kuchibhotla
Say it until it becomes familiar to you. Say it until it seems impossible to forget.
Because y'all have the privilege to forget.
The AAPI community doesn't have a choice but to remember.
