Aditya Prakash and Urmi Bhattacheryya, an Indian couple, have reached a $200,000 settlement with the University of Colorado, Boulder, following a civil rights lawsuit they filed due to a series of alleged “microaggressions and retaliatory actions” stemming from an incident involving a microwave. The battle that broke out over September 2023’s “Food Racism” incident was a perfect case in point. People are starting to look critically at its effects on marginalized communities within Western countries.
The legal action was inspired by a recent incident in which Prakash used a microwave on campus to heat his home-cooked meal of palak paneer. As one British staffer even described, the dish exuded a “pungent” smell. So he immediately let Prakash know that there was a rule against using strong-smelling foods at that microwave. The staffer suggested that sandwiches were not smelly, but curry definitely was.
The couple argues that the harassment campaign started after this episode, resulting in severe consequences in their academic careers. Their complaint is that they lost their research grants and university teaching positions. They claim that they were left to fend for themselves by their PhD supervisors from the concerning retaliatory actions. Prakash shared his stories of discrimination based on food consumption. In Italy, during mealtime, he would often be a victim of ostracism for the fact that his meal would stink up the room.
Prakash expressed the emotional toll of these experiences during a lecture, stating, “No matter how good you are at what you do, the system is constantly telling you that because of your skin colour or your nationality, you can be sent back any time. The precarity is acute and our experience at the university is a good example of this.”
Prakash and Bhattacheryya were right to pursue justice. They wanted their university to recognize the deep hurt and pain they experienced from being treated like “other.” They aim to shed light on how identity and cultural expressions, such as food, can be weaponized against individuals from marginalized backgrounds.
That incident has catalyzed a national discussion on food racism. Countless others are taking to social media to tell their own stories of being made fun of for their eating habits while living outside the USA. Prakash noted that incidents like isolating him from his European classmates or restricting his use of a shared microwave illustrate how systemic discrimination can manifest through seemingly trivial acts. He stated, “Acts like isolating me from my European classmates or stopping me from using a shared microwave because of how my food smells are how white people control your Indianness and shrink the spaces you can exist in.”
Far-right activist Laura Loomer further inflamed tensions with an incendiary social media post that went viral. She even went on to claim that if Kamala Harris were to be elected president, the White House “is going to smell like curry.” This comment made me realize the stigmatization of ethnic foods and the prejudices that lie behind them.
In response, the University of Colorado released a statement reiterating the university’s continued commitment to diversity and inclusion. “Individuals who are determined to be responsible for violating university policies preventing discrimination and harassment are held accountable,” the statement read. Both Prakash and Bhattacheryya experienced profound personal and professional consequences as a result of their time spent at the institution. Sadly, accountability came too late for them.
In their September 2023 lawsuit against the university, the couple reached a settlement. After passing this resolution, they went back to India and thought they might never come back to the United States. Yet these experiences have deeply impacted their lives. This has contributed to their ongoing appetite for validation around the challenges that they faced while studying abroad.