In the story you talk about a group of white girls beating up an Indian boy in school-perhaps because he deserved it, perhaps simply out of racism. Was that a common experience at the time that you lived there? There was an enormous amount of physical violence when I was growing up. I wouldn't necessarily say it was driven by racism. I think it was just malice. There was a minority, and they appeared vulnerable and so they were attacked.
I don't think they feel responsible. I think they feel smeared by Mr. Narayan's actions. Communities are regularly stereotyped. Currently, there is the sense that many Indian immigrants are doctors and engineers, and so Indians in the U.S. get the benefit of being considered a model minority. The people in the story worry that Mr. Narayan's bad behavior will stigmatize the whole community and, thus, cause all of them to be judged poorly.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]