Indian-American Racial profiling of a Texas county commissioner candidate

An Indian-American policy specialist running for Fort Bend County Commissioner in the US state of Texas has said that he has been subjected to hateful remarks on social media directed at his race, country, and religion.

Taral V. Patel, a Democrat trying to unseat Republican Andy Meyers in Precinct 3, said that he and members of his family, neighborhood, and coworkers were subjected to “racist,” “anti-immigrant,” “Hinduphobic,” and “disgusting insults.”

In a statement made public earlier this week, Patel said that as a candidate for county commissioner, he is always open to criticism of my policy ideas and viewpoints on problems.

However, he said, “that crosses a line when my Republican opponents’ supporters choose to hurl racist, anti-immigrant, Hinduphobic, or other abhorrent remarks at my family, religious community, coworkers, and myself.

Patel also posted a collage of images of hateful tweets on X (formerly Twitter):

Patel also shared a collage of screenshots of hateful comments on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Unfortunately, we are facing a barrage of racist attacks.” Some of the comments called Patel a “dirty Pakistani who supports terrorists,” “was he even born here,” and “foreigners like you trying to take away my freedom and guns.”

Patel was up in Greater Houston. His parents came to the US from India in the 1980s. He attended Cinco Ranch High School and received his degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016.

In 2021, he was chosen by President Joe Biden to act as the White House’s liaison.

“As the son of immigrants who flocked to these shores like many others before us in search of freedom and opportunity, I have dedicated my life to giving back as an active volunteer, community member, and lifelong public servant,” Patel said.

Patel has reportedly assisted in successfully leading Fort Bend county through multiple flooding crises, the Covid-19 epidemic, winter storm Uri and the power grid breakdown, droughts, and other significant calamities to emerge stronger and more unified than ever before, according to his campaign website.

According to Patel, “Fort Bend County’s diversity has made us all stronger, and these hateful images, a small sample of which is attached here, are from a place of deep and misguided fear — incited by people like former President Donald Trump and the extreme Republican party of today fear that immigrants are “taking their jobs” and attempting to harm our own communities.

Judge KP George of Fort Bend County, an Indian-American who has previously been the target of xenophobic remarks, responded to the hateful remarks by saying that there is no place for hatred in the neighborhood.

“Please stand with me in vehemently opposing this sort of bigotry and foul language in Fort Bend County. We support @TaralVPatel in this. To put it simply, hatred has no place in our community, George wrote on platform X.

Patel formerly served as the deputy financial director for the public integrity division of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.

He also played a significant role in the White House Committee on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.